Shoppers set price of milk sold in stores
A CARTON of milk could be about to change decades of price rows between dairy farmers, dairy companies and supermarkets as Carrefour is set to sell a brand where customers have agreed the ‘fair’ price.
Under the name ‘C’est qui le patron?’ semi-skimmed milk will sell at €0.99 per litre brique with farmers receiving €0.39, compared to the 27.5 centimes that dairy giant Lactalis agreed to pay them last month. Lactalis had previously paid 25.69 centimes but farmers said even the new rate was still less than cost.
While those negotiations were ongoing, Nicolas Chabanne, head of the anti food-waste group Gueules Cassées, was in the middle of an online vote for ‘C’est qui le patron?’ in which 6,000 consumers decided a ‘fair’ price for the milk which goes on sale at the end of this month in 5,200 Carrefour stores.
Mr Chabanne, who launched the Fruits et Légumes Moches ‘ugly fruit’ label in 2014 which sold under-sized or mis-shapen products at savings of up to 40%, described the launch as ‘a turning point’ for the food industry. “This is the first time consumers have actually had a say in what they pay and what they are paying for.
“The milk costs €3.50 a year more than before but shoppers know the cows will be fed with local forage, no genetically modified products — and will be at pasture up to six months a year. They know this as it is what they voted for.”
The 7-10 million litres of milk comes from a farm cooperative in the Mâcon region, which was on the verge of going out of business due to low prices. The farmers agreed to the brand’s demands on production methods. Mr Chabanne said: “We can do the same for any other products we offer ... we are already speaking to Fleury Michon about ham.”
Now other supermarkets want to get involved with dairy products such as yoghurt and butter, as well as fruit juice and pasta.
There has also been interest from abroad with producers in Germany, Japan, the US and Brazil proposing a global ‘Who’s the boss?’ brand.
