Editorial: Drinking the milk of retail kindness

I can remember as a child putting coins or tokens on top of the empty milk bottles by the letterbox and waiting for new bottles to be dropped off.

The milkman would come around our street with his small truck and we kids would wait with anticipation.

My favourite back then was the silver top, full-cream milk.

Of course things have changed hugely since the 1970s and 1980s.

These days we have to buy our milk from a shop, most of us wouldn't dare leave any coins by the letterbox for fear of someone stealing them, and many of us now drink the lower-fat varieties.

The other big change, of course, is cost.

It staggers me when I go to the supermarket to see milk selling at nearly $4 a bottle - and that's for a budget brand. I wonder how some families cope.

I found it interesting to read today's story about The Good Food Trading Company deciding to sell Cow and Gate milk for $2 for two litres this month - and actually lose money on the deal.

The food outlet has decided to make a stand and push some buttons in the marketplace in an effort to get more people drinking healthy milk.

Cynics might say it is a ploy to simply get customers through the door in order to sell other products as well. Whether that is true or not, I think the move is to be applauded.

It will hopefully achieve a number of things: It should create more awareness of the high cost of milk, allow people to drink it for cheaper, and put some pressure on supermarkets and milk suppliers.

Most of us would agree we pay too much for milk.

A parliamentary inquiry has started into whether people are paying too much for milk and whether the market is operating effectively at all levels.

The average price of a standard two litres of milk in December was $3.67 - that's up 1.7 per cent on December the previous year but 15.4 per cent higher than in the same month in 2009.

A number of dairies and superettes we spoke to are also sacrificing profit so they can sell it cheaper, saying it is a service to low-income customers.

Is this a sustainable business model?

The Good Food Trading Company says it will continue with lower prices if the demand is there during this February trial - otherwise it will have to reassess. Ultimately, consumers will decide.