Doorstep Pinta is Latest Price Victim

THE cost of the daily doorstep pinta is the latest victim of soaring fuel prices as they hit dairy companies.

As some households face a 4p a pint increase for delivered milk from next Monday fears of a recession have sent consumer confidence diving to its lowest level for nearly 18 years this month, according to a survey published today. And according to a report yesterday consumers believe the price of goods will continue to rise and be higher in a year’s time.

The leading farmers’ co-operative, Dairy Farmers of Britain, which markets almost two billion litres of milk a year from more than 3,000 member farms and delivers to more than 120,000 homes in England and Wales, has told doorstep customers a pint will cost 4p more and a litre will rise 7p next week, blaming rising fuel costs as one of the reasons.

But farmers who also face increased costs are only hoping that some of the money from higher prices will go to them.

Martin Burtt, chairman of the National Farmers Union’s North East Dairy Board who farms at Glaisdale, near Whitby, said fuel and plastics costs might be soaring but milk producers were still lagging behind and were desperately in need of a price rise.

“All the dairy companies have announced price increases in the past week and we would hope that some of that money could come back down the chain to us,” he said.

“Our costs have gone up from 50p to 68p per litre for red diesel and fertiliser has risen from Pounds 150 to Pounds 350 per tonne. In addition the cost of cattle feed has soared from Pounds 130 to Pounds 230 per tonne. For anyone with a 100-cow milking herd feed costs will now be a colossal extra Pounds 15,000 to Pounds 20,000 a year while the fertiliser bill will add up to an extra Pounds 5,000.”

The GfK NOP barometer of UK confidence, published today, scored minus 29 in May, down five points from April and the lowest reading since November 1990 – the start of the UK’s last recession.

GfK’s Rachael Joy said: “We are at a massive 27 points lower than this time last year.Consumers’ confidence in the economy over the next year, plus a reluctance to make major purchases, reflect the popular expectation of a recession… “

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