A two-pint carton of milk now costs the same as a four-pint carton did at the beginning of the year, further straining consumers’ already tight finances.
All own brand goods offered by UK merchants have seen major price increases in reaction to the rising cost of living crisis.
According to data from Analysis of Assosia, the price of four pints of own-label milk at £1.45 in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, and Morrisons increased by 10p, or 7.4%.
Waitrose’s equivalent line climbed from £1.40 to £1.50, but Lidl kept its four-pinter price at £1.35.
Two pints have increased by 10p (or 9.5 percent) to £1.15, with the exception of Waitrose, which saw a 5p increase.
It suggests that consumers are today spending the same amount of money on barely half as much milk as they might have in January.
It occurred at the same time when Cravendale and Lurpak milk manufacturer Arla Foods predicted that prices will continue to rise as a result of the high cost of fuel, feed, and fertiliser as well as persistent hiring difficulties.
A container of Lurpak butter recently priced £7.25 at Sainsbury’s, highlighting the seriousness of Britain’s problem with growing living costs.
A 750g tub of the well-known brand has just gone up in price from £5.90. A 1kg pack costs about £10.
British milk production has already decreased this year by 3%, according to Ash Amirahmadi, UK managing director for Arla. The first decline since 2015 is this one.
He declared that “we are on the edge” of a dairy crisis and warned that “more inflation is to come” as food prices rose at the fastest rate in 13 years.
According to him, the government’s involvement is more about maintaining the flow of the product than it is about combating inflation.
“We know that if that 3 percent increases to 5 percent, it would cause shortages since we won’t be able to meet the demand,”
One in ten farms had to decrease production because of personnel concerns, and 13% have already done so or soon will do so with their milking herd.
Two thirds of farmers believe it’s tough to recruit skilled personnel, and 12% of them say they’ll quit the dairy business if nothing changes in the upcoming year.
Arla is urging ministers to take steps to protect the industry, including lowering entry-level immigration standards in some cases.