# High Food Prices this article will explain why



## anski

Want to know why food is so expensive in NZ? 



> [New Zealand is one of only five high-income OECD nations that do not allow any exemptions for food - a key factor in our high food prices./QUOTE]
> 
> If you are interested in reading the whole article see link below.
> 
> Divided Auckland: NZ tax on rich among lowest in the world - National - NZ Herald News
> 
> On the other hand NOSH has announced today it is selling milk for $1 a litre & calling on other retailers to follow suit.
> 
> Taken from article in NZ HERALD to read entire article paste this into your browser.
> http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10783816
> 
> "A boutique grocery is calling on retailers to make milk affordable as it drops its prices to $1 a litre.
> 
> Nosh Food Market says margins are too high and it hopes the lowered price can continue indefinitely if competitors and other parties come on board.
> 
> A recent Herald survey found that the price of milk was higher in New Zealand than in Australia, the United States and Britain - despite some studies showing we have the lowest cost of production."


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## Song_Si

the price of milk around the world! we (Thailand) pay 84.5 baht for a 2 litre - NZ $3.27. Put in perspective, the daily minimum wage rate is soon to increase to 300 baht. Little wonder milk is a rare feature in homes, schoolchildren get a gov't-funded 250ml sachet of milk each day at school. Yes it is too expensive in NZ . . . but so is beer!

- this article was linked to the one in Anski's post above: 



> Why is Steinlager much cheaper overseas?
> A major New Zealand beer costs almost three times as much here than in the United States or Britain.
> 
> A six-pack of Steinlager Pure typically sells for about $16 in New Zealand. But travel 10,000km from where it is brewed, to America, and it can be bought for about $6.
> 
> And at British supermarket Asda, a six-pack of Classic sells for the equivalent of just over $4.
> 
> Lion Breweries, which makes the beer, says the prices fall in line with its competitors overseas and reflect the different marketplaces.
> 
> more


and



> Food prices a shock for immigrant
> Sunday Jan 29, 2012
> 
> In the six months since her family moved here from Britain, Lisa Welbourne has done a lot of shopping around.
> 
> Gobsmacked at the price of basic foods, she has visited a lot of Auckland supermarkets and greengrocers in pursuit of lower prices, in pursuit of food she can afford. She finds it cheaper to buy at smaller fruit and vegetable shops - but that means more fuel costs.
> 
> Her friends back home can't believe it when she tells them the price of food in New Zealand.
> 
> ***
> 
> An added difficulty is that Kiwi prices vary markedly with the seasons, making it hard to budget. "In winter, you might get an avocado for $2 but in summer you might get two or three for $1. That doesn't happen in the UK ... consumers would be outraged if prices fluctuated there like they do here."


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## Song_Si

> An added difficulty is that Kiwi prices vary markedly with the seasons


Not defending high prices, but is this a surprise? would you rather pay the top price all year round, or cheaper when 'in season'?


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## Song_Si

he may be recovering that 50c loss per bottle in profit on other goods sold to the same customers; regardless, good on him and may have some impact on the supermarket prices.



> *$1-a-litre deal's 'amazing' response*
> 10:49 AM Wednesday Feb 8, 2012
> 
> *The boutique grocery store that dropped the price of its milk to make a point has sold thousands of bottles at $1 a litre - and is now promising to keep milk cheaper than in supermarkets for the rest of the year.*
> 
> Nosh Food Market chief executive Clinton Beuvink said he had an "amazing response" to his decision to drop the price of 2L bottles of milk yesterday by more than half, making them just $2.
> 
> "We have had so many emails coming through supporting our position...Twitter has been alive with people saying 'well done' and in terms of realtime sales we have probably sold twenty times more milk that we would normally sell," he said.
> 
> Mr Beuvink said he was making a loss of "well in excess of fifty cents" on each bottle of milk sold but was determined to keep prices at $1 a litre at least until the end of the month as a matter of principal.
> 
> "The more I see the more I lose but it's ok. I'm hoping I can sit down with our milk supplier before the end of the month and work out how I can get closer to that magic mark of a dollar a litre and keep to it. I'm committed to it.
> 
> more


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## Neil M

Song_Si said:


> he may be recovering that 50c loss per bottle in profit on other goods sold to the same customers; regardless, good on him and may have some impact on the supermarket prices.


Web sites are saying there are more dairy cows in NZ than people, so it's a little surprising that milk would be a bit expensive.


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## Song_Si

^ export demand for dairy products - NZ's Mainland Cheese is the sole variety (apart from locally produced slices that bear little resemblance to cheese) at our nearest Tesco-Lotus, and the cheapest 250g block (largest size they sell) is NZ$8, so $32kg. 
Looked at a NZ online supermarket they have 500g for $10.45 - $21 per kg.
Even with freight, imagine there is good profit in selling it here.


> 09/02/2012
> Dairy giant Fonterra, which controls 90 per cent of the raw milk supply in New Zealand, has attributed strong dairy prices at home to buoyant international commodity prices.
> source


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