Tauranga retailer joins price fight

The challenge to supermarket milk prices is being joined by Tauranga based The Good Food Trading Company with it selling two litre bottles of milk for $2 until the end of February.

Director Jamie Blennerhassett says the drop from the normal price of $4.50 for two litres is made following the large amount of publicity that the high price of milk is receiving.

“As a store we try to focus on getting people to eat fresh, healthy and sustainable options.

“When people start drinking less milk because of its price compared to less healthy soft drink options, you know something is wrong,” says Jamie.

“We decided we needed to take a stand and encourage people back to the more healthy option of milk by slashing the price to one that everyone can afford.

“We’re going to take a loss on every bottle we sell because we don’t have the buying power of the big supermarkets, but it’s about making a stand which we feel passionate about and which fits within our core philosophies.”

The Good Food Trading Company focuses on getting people to eat healthy and fresh by buying more regularly and only buying what they need for the next couple of meals, thereby reducing waste, says Jamie.

“Healthy and tasty food options don’t need to come at a cost and people need to look to fresher and healthier staples instead of the mass produced snack and processed food items of the big supermarket brands.

“Milk is a base food item and one that should be able to be a staple in everyone’s diets.”

The move is being made in conjunction with another independent food retailer Nosh Food Markets based in Auckland and Hamilton, which are also slashing the price to $2 in their six stores in Auckland, Hamilton and Matakana.

Meanwhile, Federated Farmers dairy chairman Willy Leferink is hoping the price war will ramp up.

Federated Farmers is calling on retail outlets, and particularly supermarkets, to do the same. “If dairies can sell milk cheaper and a small supermarket like Nosh can sell it as a loss leader, surely Foodstuffs and Progressive can do the same?” says Willy.

He’s hoping the skirmish is the first step in a wider retail war between Foodstuffs and Progressive.

Price comparisons in Wellington show 22 per cent differences in pricing, an indication the retail margins are pretty healthy.
Foodstuffs Auckland, which owns New World and Pak ‘n Save has announced it will not be reducing milk prices owing to the discounts, though store owners can set their own prices.
Countdown owner Progressive also has no plan to reduce its price of milk.