Woolworths 10c Increase on Litre of Fresh Milk

Numpty21 on 19/02/2019 - 16:29
Last edited 22/02/2019 - 01:19

On 19 February Woolworths removed $1.00 per litre fresh milk by increasing the price on all 2 litre and 3 litre varieties of Woolworths branded fresh milk to $2.20 and $3.30 respectively.

"The extra 10 cents per litre is guaranteed to go to Australian dairy farmers in full".

Will the farmers really benefit? Woolwoths don’t buy this milk directly from farmers, so i don't believe that the farmers will see the full benefit.

Are consumers happy to pay the extra 10% if it does help farmers or should farmers be treated like other industries and not assisted in this way?

A gimmick IMO and i believe in the long term the only winners here will be Woolworths and their suppliers at the expense of the consumer.

Woolies are doing nothing to help the farmers directly, forcing consumers to pay the extra $ and coming out smelling of roses. Why don't Wolllies donate some of their profits instead if they are so concerned. As a company they are contributing $0 to farmers with this increase.

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Comments

      • GG57 on 20/02/2019 - 13:40

        Nope, it is possible to cross-breed dairy/beef, but the outcomes are apparently not ideal.
        Apparently the offspring revert to be more of the dairy breed later in life, so when to sell, and who would buy, would be points of consideration.
        Similarly, those offspring would need to be kept fed until ready for market; not so easy during a drought.

        • Greihawk on 20/02/2019 - 14:02

          Of course its possible to cross breed dairy/beef, in the same way a Great Dane can breed with a Chihuahua, but the outcome would definitely not be ideal.

          • coin saver on 20/02/2019 - 17:21
            +3

            @Greihawk: A lot of beef farmers actually run dairy cross beef cows to produce prime vealers as an example you have the advantage of extra milk and hybrid vigor.I personally used to run Fresian x Hereford cows with the beef bull of the type the market was looking for at the time to produce prime 9 month straight of the cow weaners that topped the market nearly everytime. A lot of the so called Angus meat that is on the market is also 25% dairy being produced from a Jersey x Angus cow mated to an Angus bull.Calves also take most of their characteristics from the bull.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/02/2019 - 14:43

      learn to use commas in your sentences

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 19/02/2019 - 18:30
    +7

    Sorry biggest marketing gimmick - sure the farmers now get 10c per litre more BUT the big supermarkets squeezed all their suppliers so hard in the past 10 years …. its like cutting your hand off and getting the little fingered returned to you

  • horice on 19/02/2019 - 19:24
    +5

    Lets help out the Little Battler

    Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has commercial shares in Woolworths, it has been revealed after he urged Australians to avoid shopping at Coles and Aldi.

    https://www.9news.com.au/2019/02/19/17/23/australia-politics…

  • [Deactivated] on 19/02/2019 - 19:26
    +5

    Wollies are doing nothing to help the farmers directly, forcing consumers to pay the extra $

    I have particular issue with this. News media are not making it clear enough that #WOOLWORTHS IS CONTRIBUTING NOTHING#

    Came out in media reports today "expected to raise 30 million a year towards farmers" .
    It would be nice (and I would be OK with it) if Woolworths matched the customer donation. Or even woolies give 5 cents for every 10 cents consumers involuntarily donate.
    I see this as similar to door to door charity raisers, the ones that come round for their own benefit. I will donate directly if I am going to donate, cut out the middle person (and the benefit of the middle person). In this case Woolworths is benefiting from consumer donations, (with all the good press they are getting) .

  • Cheeper on 19/02/2019 - 19:33

    Would like to see farmers showing proof that increased price reaches them and not lining the pockets of supermarkets and middle men.

  • askme69 on 19/02/2019 - 19:45

    Obviously milk must cost less to produce than what the farmer is being paid for it?

    If not, pretty simple don't sell it, tell the supermarkets how much it is, i'm pretty sure the supermarkets will last about 2 days without being able to buy milk.

    PS: I think most people (apart from the Ag minister) can see it's still the people paying and not Woolworths generosity

  • follow on 19/02/2019 - 20:11
    -1

    https://youtu.be/IIOvRO8k7uI

  • Clear on 19/02/2019 - 21:55
    +1

    I haven't bought the generic supermarket brands in years. Instead opting for the local brands that cost a whole $2 per litre instead of $1 per litre which is significantly better than 10c for farmers.

    Not to mention a family business of products on supermarket shelves I know how cut throat the they can be.

    • CMH on 20/02/2019 - 00:17

      Better still don't shop at a supermarket and shop at smaller stores.

      • Clear on 20/02/2019 - 00:21

        Or IGA at the very least where many are independently owned.

        • follow on 20/02/2019 - 00:39

          my iga has brownes and pura for $1/L. darn them!

  • BigBirdy on 20/02/2019 - 08:20
    +3

    The federal govt describes themselves as low taxing, but here they are pressuring private enterprise to tax consumers to provide welfare to farmers. The ultimate outsourcing of responsibility. This should cause outrage, lest it become the new normal

  • Ade99 on 20/02/2019 - 08:57

    Woolies doe not buy from the farm gate, and so any increase will be taken by themselves, and the intermediate wholesaler / processor etc.,,,they are milking the customer (sic) It is just a way for wollies to look good to hipsta snowflakes. If you want to help the farmer there are lots of other ways to ensure they really do get the mooola.

  • suzley on 20/02/2019 - 09:44
    -1

    I hold shares in Coles, but never shop there because I prefer Woolworths. Maybe Littleproud (or whoever does his shopping) feels the same.

  • Zonty on 20/02/2019 - 09:58
    +5

    It's hilarious Woolworth helping farmers. Truth is customer helping farmers because we are paying it they just sending it money. If Woolworth really care about farmer then donate their profit little bit. They do not want decrease profit so they increase price of milk.cudos to them.

  • Xiaomi on 20/02/2019 - 10:17

    The worst part about this is the consumer pays the increments to support the farmers and Coles will come out plaster the total amount donated on adverts, TV, and tell Australian how much they've helped farmers and how much they care about the farmers. Coles and Woolworths sent a lot of dairy farmers out of business with their $1/L milk war, this is their plan to get good publicity without paying a cent out of their own pockets.

    The amounts passed on could also be pushed as a donation and therefore, receive tax incentives.

    It's absolutely bullshit.

    • MechEng on 20/02/2019 - 21:54

      Remember that donations are tax deductible too ..

      • Xiaomi on 20/02/2019 - 21:57

        If a consumer directly donates to a registered charitable organisation yes, I was referring to Coles using these funds to claim tax deductions based on them being passed as a donation on Coles behalf which is absolutely possible all thanks to you and I.

        • MechEng on 21/02/2019 - 08:47

          That is what I meant. If Woolworths decides to donate the additional revenue to a charitable farmers association, they will be able to deduct taxes from that. Win win win for Woolies

          • HighAndDry on 21/02/2019 - 10:48
            +1

            @MechEng: I don't like Woolies here one bit, but this isn't correct - they have to record the extra $0.10 as income, and then will deduct this against expenses. Net tax implications should be nil.

            • MechEng on 21/02/2019 - 13:13

              @HighAndDry: You are indeed correct. My bad

              • HighAndDry on 21/02/2019 - 13:18
                +1

                @MechEng: I think your original point is still partly valid though, as the implications on the consumer are not nil - given enough donations, those would be tax deductible if directly donated to farmer charities. But not if paid to Woolies for milk.

                • vr4indian on 22/02/2019 - 15:45
                  +1

                  @HighAndDry: Right . Assuming 25% tax in general for average guy, it is technically 13 cents per ltr donation from consumer point

  • Cluster on 20/02/2019 - 10:47
    +4

    Coles/Woolworths have been blamed for $1 milk and sending farmers bankrupt, but the fact is there's a global glut of milk. We have too many farms worldwide. All that excess milk is now piling up in cheese warehouses. The USA has a record cheese surplus of 1.4 billion pounds and it's growing.

    I was in Austria and Germany in 2016, and the USA in 2017 and had a peek at their dairy prices. Sub AU$1 per litre of milk.

  • tik tok on 20/02/2019 - 11:00

    Coles had their prices up by 10cents till a few weeks ago. Then they dropped it back to a dollar.
    Price hipster proves this : https://pricehipster.com/product/2Wpq92CLfBylkD_vixoaLA~BkG5…

  • Traveller107 on 20/02/2019 - 11:52

    I reckon it might help. Also read something about farmers drought levy donation or something woolies has been helping with.

    Although there's always the option to buy 'farmer friendly milk'. We only ever buy Norco or Maleny and they're the first to fly off the shelf and not as well restocked as supermarket brands. I always make the blokes check in the back and find them. It costs a little more but at least you know the money is going to the right people. Also the quality of milk is class apart and mind blowing. Cheers!

  • Topdog on 20/02/2019 - 12:38

    If woollies really cared about the farmers and the consumer, they would of payed the brunt of paying the farmers more. The raised the price of milk to pay the farmers more but they dont lose a cent. how about raising it to $1.50 a litre and charging the consumer 25 cents and they match the other 25 cents, it wont happen.

    Although I cant comment on the taste of the milk cause I always buy farmers milk etc not the supermarket branded milk. We just need to stop buying it, like we did for a while in protest last year. But no we love it at that price.

  • GG57 on 20/02/2019 - 13:24
    +2

    Quite a few comments on here about the duopoly (or similar) of Coles / Woolies and how that affects the prices of milk.

    We should also note that farmers don't deal with those supermarkets (or the majority of other outlets). Most farmers enter into supply contracts with the major dairy wholesalers:
    - Murray Goulburn (Aust)
    - Fonterra (NZ)
    - Bega (Aust)
    - Lactalis (France)
    and a couple of other foreign-owned operations.

    Those are the entities that Coles / Woolies deal with, and agree on prices, not the farmers.

    • taoz on 20/02/2019 - 20:27

      lactalis own Parmalat

  • Greihawk on 20/02/2019 - 13:30

    I have friends in the dairy industry, i asked them a little while ago when they were complaining about gate prices why don't they just go on strike? Get everyone involved and just do rolling stoppages, it's worked for every other job, why not them. They didn't really give me an answer.

    • Cluster on 20/02/2019 - 13:42

      Cows produce milk whether there's a strike or not. Farmers could resort to dumping their milk but then it's a PR disaster: Perfectly good milk being willfully destroyed. Plus they'd have to pay to dump (milk dumped in rivers kills fish) and not receive any income at all.

      • unelectric on 20/02/2019 - 14:21

        Cows only produce milk after having birth

        • Cluster on 20/02/2019 - 14:23

          If there's a strike declared tomorrow farmers can't shut off supply. The cows need to be fed and taken care of anyway. The income disappears but costs don't.

        • MechEng on 20/02/2019 - 21:57

          @phosphoresce
          Not true.

          • unelectric on 20/02/2019 - 22:21

            @MechEng: Explain?

            • MechEng on 20/02/2019 - 22:30

              @unelectric: Milk cows do not only produce milk after giving birth. Factors like breed and feed are important.
              I dont know about many breeds but Hollandaise cows will start producing milk once they are adult and stimulating results in more milk produced…

    • GG57 on 20/02/2019 - 13:42

      Maybe they were being polite.
      What would they do with the milk on their 'strike' days / weeks?
      What volume supply contracts are they on with their dairy?
      What are the penalties for not supplying to those contact volumes?
      Can they afford to lose the income?

      • Greihawk on 20/02/2019 - 14:00

        Yes dump it.
        Everyone loses income when they go on strike.
        If they have signed a contract, then there should be no reason for them to complain.

        • GG57 on 20/02/2019 - 14:20

          If they have signed a contract, then there should be no reason for them to complain

          Did you mention that to your friends?

    • samfisher5986 on 20/02/2019 - 14:32

      Not sure why they didn't give you an answer…

      Its illegal for them to go on strike.

      • HighAndDry on 21/02/2019 - 10:56

        It's not "illegal", it'd just be a breach of any contracts they've signed. Which is as it should be - imagine you have a contract with a shop to give you a TV for $2,000. And then suddenly they "go on strike" and refuse to give it to you unless you pay an extra $1,000.

  • petry on 20/02/2019 - 13:41

    I wonder how many of you know how many independent dairy farmers there are…..

    if I am forced to pay a milk tax the I would expect it to be debated, if I am forced to pay a charitable donation its not charity.
    neither can I claim the tax back.

    this reads to me as if woolys is claiming the tax back on a mythical charitable donation, when in fact its a price increase pure and simple and just being misrepresented for financial gain in true woolys fashion.

    regressive taxation of the worst kind, like the reductions in their close to end date markdowns. woolys routinely sell out of date food meat and fish as a consequence. that certainly isn't helping the poor or the elderly who are far more disadvantaged than the bloody farmers.

    A price rise being spun as good for people who are unidentified - typical crap.

    ps woolys milk is crap anyway read the labels

  • unelectric on 20/02/2019 - 14:33
    +1

    It's bitter for me to accept that the kind of land clearing that is done for agriculture may increase the severity of flooding and yet it is farmers that will cry when flooding destroys their livelihoods. Add to that rural farmers voting Nationals who as part of LNP have very a poor track record on climate change.

  • c0balt on 20/02/2019 - 16:39
    -1

    I'd be fine paying double, $2 a liter, and I'm a cheap ass that buys the cheapest cage eggs.

    The increase is long overdue.

  • michaeltee on 20/02/2019 - 16:43
    +3

    I think most people don't see the forest for the trees. What Woolies is telling us is that they have unilaterally imposed a 10C charity donation without its customers having a say in it. The money will go to able bodied businessmen and businesswomen.There is such a thing as donation fatigue. What about all those people who needs charity but are not able bodied? Why made it mandatory? From what I have been reading, almost everyman and his dog supports the farmers; with their large houses and landholdings; and possibly great rural lifestyles.

  • zombrex on 20/02/2019 - 17:09
    +1

    $1 a litre is an absurdly cheap price for milk. But unfortunately people have become to accustomed to it. People happily pay a lot more for bottle water and flavoured sugar water. But scoff at milk more the $1 a litre.

    Dairy farming is essential to our food security and important to our economy, the super market duopoly has pushed it to breaking point.
    We need a floor price for milk or another solution such as rebates to farmers to stop the supermarket rorting farmers and destroying the dairy industry.

    • MechEng on 20/02/2019 - 22:10
      +1

      That is arguably. The price is set by the market (supply and demand).
      I don't agree with your assertion that the duopoly has put lower pressure on the price of milk. Woolies and Coles do not produce the milk, other large processing companies do. These companies will not sell to Coles or Woolies at a loss, so they are making a profit on that $1 milk. If the gate price is inadequate the farmers have the option not to sell to these processing companies.
      You mention that we pay more for soft drinks, well in this case the duopoly Coke-Pepsi sets the price. I bet you coke will not reduce its price, and I bet you the margins are different between soft drink and milk. My point is that you can't really compare.

  • Okayy on 20/02/2019 - 23:41
    -1

    Why milk is cheap and water is expensive?

    • HighAndDry on 21/02/2019 - 10:57
      -1

      Potable water is charged at something like $0.275 per kiloLitre.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/02/2019 - 12:45
      -2

      For the same reasons why people buy organic food.

  • cheapisgood on 21/02/2019 - 01:19
    +4

    Woolworths also benefits for this by being to write the extra 10c donation as a tax deductible expenses rather then we the consumers. If you guys would like to help the farmers, better to directly to them knowing your money will go to them and plus you can tax deduct it so you can at least get a percentage back (if you're above the tax free threshold).

  • wallet72 on 21/02/2019 - 08:51

    I don't buy fresh milk, and I don't see the extra 10 cents being applied to Woolies brand long life milk - this whole thing smells of a PR campaign.

  • BuDWiZe on 21/02/2019 - 08:53
    +1

    I pay a lot more for my organic milk. Because of the funds he gets paid it was easy for the farmer to buy hay bails when the grass dried up during draught.
    I find to many farmers rely on these 2 big boys and just sign contracts where now days there are other avenues to sell your milk, veg ect where your getting the bulk of the profit rather than other way around but people tend to get stuck in the curcstances

  • charkwayteo on 21/02/2019 - 09:38
    +1

    I wish my car ran on milk

    • [Deactivated] on 21/02/2019 - 13:01
      +3

      And if it is lactose intolerant, I guess it would be a turbo.

  • haemolysis on 21/02/2019 - 14:17
    -1

    I can never get my head around why we treat farming like a charity. I mean people are actually using the phrase "donate" here, with absolutely no sense of irony. At the end of the day, farming is a business. If they can't afford to supply, someone else will. Don't know why the consumer is expected to make "donations."

    • samfisher5986 on 21/02/2019 - 16:30

      This logic is perfect as long as you are willing to get your milk from a different state in Australia. (depending on where you live)

      Personally I would rather keep local milk.

      • haemolysis on 21/02/2019 - 17:05

        I would prefer, but ultimately, milk is milk. If our local business is SO uncompetitive that importing milk interstate is more cost effective… so be it. Local products already have a huge advantage of decreased transport and logistics cost. If that’s not enough to keep local afloat… I don’t think many consumers want to pay more to make up the slack.

        • samfisher5986 on 21/02/2019 - 17:12

          Milk is not milk.

          Have you ever tasted fresh milk made in the last 30 mins?

          Have you tasted fresh milk on the shelves at a supermarket?

          Have you tasted milk that is nearing its use by date at the supermarket?

          Local milk means fresher milk which means it tastes better.

  • BrendaEagles on 21/02/2019 - 15:18
    +2

    I don't support forced charity especially since this seems to be a pr stunt like plastic bags and will be buying elsewhere simple as that

    • petry on 21/02/2019 - 16:58

      forced and charity and woolworths is more than an oxymoron, its an abomination of the concept of charity.

      'The company's profit increase was based on a 3.4 per cent rise in sales at continuing operations to $56.7b and an increase in pre-tax earnings to more than $2.5b.'(BILLION)

  • points4life on 21/02/2019 - 16:21

    Can't remember the last time I bought milk…

    • petry on 21/02/2019 - 16:54

      white pus with dubious health effects, especially after storage and additives…

  • this is us on 21/02/2019 - 17:37
    +1

    I don't think the following link has been shared yet:
    https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/dairy/milk/buying-g…

  • Flying Ace on 21/02/2019 - 18:18
    +2

    Helping farmers with what exactly?

    How many of these farmers vote election after election for a party with no climate policy (Liberal/Nationals) and then complain about lasting droughts?

  • gstfree on 21/02/2019 - 20:42

    Pass the 10 cents to Aussie farmers for 2 months?

  • [Deactivated] on 21/02/2019 - 23:49

    Woollies, not Wollies. Actually no, Wollies sounds funny, so i'll use that.

    Many years ago there were all these inefficient small dairy outfits - mum, dad, dog, and a few cows. That's why milk cost a fortune back then. But then there was consolidation - big operators took over, introduced efficiencies, and milk got cheaper to make, and then got cheaper at the checkout.

    Competition is the key, and i don't buy any crap from Wollies that any extra money will go to 'farmers'. Not only that, but many 'farmers' are corporatised bodies, not mum and dad outfits.

    I'll be buying my milk from Aldi and Coles, as they'll do it for $2/litre. The money i save i'll spend on cannabis.

  • Kerm70 on 25/02/2019 - 13:15

    As a farmer I am loving all the comments about let the market decide. The supermarket sets the price independent of market forces, as milk is highly perishable.
    Farmers will go in or out of dairy farming, well someone has to breed the cow about 3 years before you can milk her and put out $4-5 million to set up a modern dairy. Also most Australian farmers compete on the global market with their produce, so they are competing with producers globally who have different cost inputs, and still profitable. Perhaps some of the commenters would like to put their job out for global pricing and let the market decide who gets paid to do the job.
    We don’t need charity just fair pay for the effort of providing our quality produce. Don’t think you need farmers?

    • MechEng on 25/02/2019 - 19:25
      +1

      Hi Kerm
      Sorry, but what you say does not make sense.The Supermarkets can only set up the price up to a certain extent. If people were really worried about the farmers, they would buy the branded milk. At the end the customer decides what to buy. So even thought the supermarkets are paying low for some milk, the increase in sales of the branded milk would quickly see the overall price of milk go up, as demand for the most expensive product increases.
      You may argue then, that this does not make any difference as the farmers are being ripped off by the middle man. Well in that case phasing off the $1 milk would not solve the issue.
      There are many industries that suffer competition from overseas, including engineering, IT, manufacturing, mining. Nine of these having captive market as the dairy and meat industry have. Have someone tried to import milk or beef to see how easy it is?
      I have a question for you,how do you decide if it is worth investing in a cow that will produce only in 3 years? Probably, the same as any other investment, you gauge that people would want to buy more milk, thus demand will increase leading to a suitable price.
      I really have sympathy for the farmers but there's no way around the market other than intervention, which I am against.

    • BigBirdy on 25/02/2019 - 20:29
      +1

      A lot of us do have had our jobs put out for global pricing, or have had the market decide who gets paid to do our job. My IT job went to India to save my employer money, as did hundreds of thousands of other jobs from call centres, IT support and development, radiology and other medical analysis, teachers and trainers, receptionists and marketing, etc. No help from govt, consumers or farmers. Welcome to a globalized market economy.
      You should also read my other comment on this thread, about govt outsourcing taxation (WW milk levy) and welfare to private enterprise, in lieu of regulation. Unregulated capitalism had its problems …

      • Kerm70 on 26/02/2019 - 12:17
        +1

        Hi, Not saying poor farmers boo hoo. What I mean is supermarket has so much market monopoly or duopoly that they can arbitrarily set prices, as can milk processors. How can a supermarket decide this week TimTams (part of any staple diet) are going to be half price, do they then halve their profit for a week or tell Arnotts how much they are going to pay them, or has Arnotts over produced TimTams and have to reduce their wholesale price.

        The whole milk $1 started way back with milk crossing state boarders Vic or Qld could produce it cheaper than NSW. Then deregulation let large international cooperates buy up local farmer owned milk cooperatives, and now the price is not set by what it actually costs to produce.

        If you want cheap milk expect a cheap product. If you want to import any agricultural products, fine but the products should have to be produced with the same quality assurance gateways that I have to carry out. (Hepatitis in frozen Imported berries, white spot on imported farmed prawns).

        As to the international pricing of jobs, I suspect that if I was able to use labour on my farms Imported from New Guinea for example and pay at slightly above their home salary there would be riots here. Not talking about jobs that can be done from any location on the planet remotely with a computer (BigBirdy I’m sorry to hear your job went overseas, that sort of economic rationale also annoys me). I’m taking physically having to be present on site to carry out the job. I use local labour because it is good to be part of the economy of your community and growing the skills of local people.

        I also do not believe in govt handouts to farms, mines, or any other private enterprises. In this current drought, and it’s bad here, I am using management strategies to get by. De stock, don’t spend money on fodder in a drought, have previously (in good seasons prepared water storage) were possible put money away, don’t spend money. I am eligible for some assistance but haven’t applied because I don’t need it and others are worse off.

        The economic model seems to be a race to the bottom, the alternative is costly over regulation, or far price for fair input of producing quality products. Unfortunately farmers will always be price takers of whatever the market is offering.

        I hope that clarified my ideas

  • coin saver on 26/02/2019 - 10:02

    "Also most Australian farmers compete on the global market with their produce" yes and a lot of dairy farmers also bought sharefarmers in from NZ (funny that was when the industry started its downward slide) so they want an international market for their labour but don't want to compete with their produce.Same with other farming types farmers exploiting overseas backpackers fruit picking as an example. Anyone remember the wide combs shearing debacle where NZ shearers were being bought into Australia to work against our award system (our laws) in a partially successful attempt to destroy the award.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/10/2020 - 12:01
    Merged from Woolworths Drought Relief Milk

    Not being a dick or anything but it was an increase of 10c per litre now its 20c a litre

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