Buying cheap supermarket cheese, am I guilty of bankrupting UK farmers

[saunaman 10]

I have long been aware of super cheap cheese offers in most supermarkets , every week mature cheese is on offer at ridiculously low prices . Have bought but often wondered how it can be sold so cheaply , even given that it is one of those "loss leader" items that attracts customers.

 

Would be interested to hear any dairy farmers' opinions on this .....given today's milk protests....

 

Surely cheap cheese is part of the problem and , if so , should I be boycotting it ??

 

Would like to know , if anyone could advise

 

Sorry if this thread is boring to the majority of forum users

[Eater Sundae 12]

Even if the cheese was more expensive, how would you know if an y more of the money went to the dairy farmer? Aren't the expensive cheese makers just as likely to buy the cheapest milk that they can.

[crookedspire 10]

It's the same thing as milk, the farmer has to produce his product at a set price otherwise the supermarket walks away. The customer wants his cheese cheap so the supermarkets pay the farmer next to nothing and in time the farmer goes bust its a vicious circle and one not any time will be broken.

[tinfoilhat 11]

I have long been aware of super cheap cheese offers in most supermarkets , every week mature cheese is on offer at ridiculously low prices . Have bought but often wondered how it can be sold so cheaply , even given that it is one of those "loss leader" items that attracts customers.

 

Would be interested to hear any dairy farmers' opinions on this .....given today's milk protests....

 

Surely cheap cheese is part of the problem and , if so , should I be boycotting it ??

 

Would like to know , if anyone could advise

 

Sorry if this thread is boring to the majority of forum users

 

Not boring at all. I guess if you feel that strongly about it you should boycott it, and boycott the supermarkets in general. If it's not dairy farmers it will be someone else, or it will be at the expense of animal welfare. You could by you stuff from farmers markets, all organic and fair trade (does fair trade apply to farmers in this country or just abroad in poor countries?)

 

But you probably don't have time or the money, so you'll queue up in tesco or asda like me and millions of others and pretend it's not really a problem. And arguably it isn't. I remember listening to Hallam FM of all things about 15 years ago talking about how dairy farmers were on the brink of disaster. Now unless we import an unholy amount of milk those dairy farmers are getting by. PR job to get a better price for their milk?

[Janus 28]

I only buy cheese now and again, but have no idea what the price of cheese is per kilo. What is the going rate for 1 kilo of mature cheese for example, and what price are you meaning by ridiculously low prices? I can honestly say that I have never seen the price low as you describe unless it is "use by today’s date kind of situation".

 

As an aside (or maybe relevant?) Some minister on the TV said we import two thirds of our cheese.

See vid from 1m 06secs

Edited August 4, 2015 by Janus
Added YT clip

[saunaman 10]

Thanks Tinfoilhat, will take your advice and much appreciated, regards , saunaman

[Annie Bynnol 612]

You may also want to consider that most cheese sold in the UK have a very high fat content.

 

A myth that "slimy" foreign cheeses like Camembert, Brie, Gouda, Edam etc are high in fat is not true- they have a higher water content and have less fat.

 

Also the Dairy Product manufactures supplying the UK market have tried to shift the fat from skimmed/semi-skimmed manufacture into their cheeses.

 

Bulk cheese is made industrially in factories supplied by milk from cows processed in industrial units-not farmers.

They have high water and higher fat content are regarded as tasteless. Flavourings and colours are added and a highly organized, expensive ad campaign persuades us to buy cheeses at between £6-12 a kilo.

 

Within this price range you can get much more flavoursome cheese and even if it has the same fat content - so you need less so its cheaper and healthier.

[apelike 10]

Dairy farmers are not hard up and any low supermarket price they are getting for milk is offset by the EU subsidies they receive. The current restrictions on selling dairy products and especially milk to Russia are hurting sales all across the EU. If they can buy up the supermarket milk and then give it away the all I can say is which supermarkets are they going to as I want some.

 

As far as cheese is concerned I buy it from supermarkets, generally get mature cheddar and dont care about the fat content as like most I dont eat kilo's at a time.

 

It would be interesting to know how much the individual consumes each week as 500g probably lasts me around 2 weeks.

[sheff1johnny 10]

We ought to have a fairtrade version for farmers, so we can buy things at a fair price. Milk, cheese yogurts

[Hopman 46]

We ought to have a fairtrade version for farmers, so we can buy things at a fair price. Milk, cheese yogurts

 

Surely buying authentic named cheese is fairtrade. If Whatsit Farm is genuine, wouldn't that solve the proble,?

[code word 10]

Fake cheese <<< Click!

[sheff1johnny 10]

Surely buying authentic named cheese is fairtrade. If Whatsit Farm is genuine, wouldn't that solve the proble,?

 

i meant by a fairtrade version a price agreed by farmers, and supermarkets. Morrisons are creating a version of this milk. called farmers milk.