More price rise misery
Tuesday 30th September 2008, 3:00PM BST.
MORE misery is to be heaped on Islanders struggling with the cost of living with the news that milk and bread prices are to go up by more than inflation.
Jersey Dairy has announced that a litre of milk is to rise by 5p next week, while the company that now bakes the vast majority of bread said that prices would go up before the end of October.
The prospect of above-inflation rises in these staple foodstuffs has been described as ‘awful’ by the Age Concern chairwoman, Daphne Minihane. ‘It is just desperate. There is great concern as to how older people are going to cope this winter.’ She urged the States to take action to help those who are going to struggle most to make ends meet.
Both the bread and milk prices are wholesale increases, and it will be up to retailers to decide how to react when they mark up the products to stack on shelves. Jersey Dairy has given notice that a litre of milk will go up by 5p, with 6p going on to the price of an organic litre of the white stuff. And Cimandis, the division of the Sandpiper group that owns CI Bakery, has confirmed an ‘above 4.3 per cent inflation’ rise in bread prices from 21 October.
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Why is it always the penshioners that people worry about. Why not worry about young families, or those struggling to live at the moment. Its ridiculous the price rises. As if sandpiper ci isnt make enough money!
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How on earth can our States Members justify continuing with these monopolies when they treat customers like this?
There’s a ‘green fields’ argument for the dairy – but with the loss of many local herds that’s getting thinner. There is NO argument for protecting Cimandis – the same company that bakes the bread is in charge of setting both wholesale and retail prices for a great proportion of the imported brands – what would you do to protect your profit margins?
Where is our Competition Authority – and would our standing Economic Development Senator like to work for the consumer for once???
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BRING ON THE COMPETITION !!!! It comes to something when you cant even afford to live on bread and milk anymore because its too expensive ! In an already bad financial situation good old sandpiper/cimandis/CI traders (whatever you want to call them) decide to make life even harder !
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Bring in Tesco. Prices will quickly drop.
I wonder why the States don’t want this???
Obviously, someone in power is profiting from this…so vote them out!
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it is not just the elderly that will suffer everyone is yet again going to have to start making more cut backs and on the basics! where will it stop? it is about time we the people of jersey did something!
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Prices for 1 liter high-quality milk in St Malo start at approx 53 cents (at Carrefor)! Less than half the price here! The quality is the same as in Jersey.
Let’s get a French supermarket to Jersey and let’s stop to do nothing whilst being ripped off.
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In the UK there is a price war going on with the supermarkets with four litres of milk retailing at £1-00, oh sorry I forgot we all earn fantastic salaries so we can afford it, roll on the recession!!!
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These price increases are nothing short of scandalous and I’m absolutely appalled that these companies have a total monopoly and are allowed to rip us all off in Jersey!
It’s about time our States Members did something good for once and allow alternative brands of these items to be sold in our shops!
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The answer is simple do not buy bread from Sandpiper, buy from the smaller companies such as Vienna bakery and tanners.
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Remember not to vote for the States politicians who agreed GST should be levied on milk, bread and other essentials such as children’s clothes –shame on them.
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LIFE ENRICHING! for who????????
There may be something in this annoying sentence.
We are told to vote because whats in the states is as appealling as rotten eggs.
What do you do though when year after year the same rubbish go in for re-election.
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Outrageous. Me and my husband are working 45-60 hours a week just to be able to barely get by without paying off any of our debts or mortgage (on a flat). We are never going to be able to afford to buy a house or have a garden for our 2 year old to run around in here in Jersey. We have had enough and are moving to Sweden where families are supported properly. 18 months paid maternity/paternity leave (yes the father has to take at least 4 months off..) and about £100 (max!) for fulltime nursery. Much cheaper food and lots more to do (without having to pay an arm and a leg to get there). My husband is Jersey born and it is sad that we cant continue living here but Sweden has so much more qulity of life to offer for us.. (And my whole family to support us!)
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Thank you Sarah, it is not just the elderly that we have to worry about. It is great that they have people like Age Concern to fight their corner but what about all the young families that cannot cope either? Enough is enough, if the Jersey Dairy and Sandpiper want to continue ripping us off then its time for the Competition regulators to step in. As my young daughter quite innocently said when overhearing my rant to my husband… “Are the cows asking for more money?”
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It’s about time other milk producers where let in.
No more monopoly on milk or even bread.
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More price rises, why should this surprise anyone, but just remember States members, not everyone earns big bucks. My husband has not had a pay rise for 6 YEARS, and with 3 teenage boys to look after we are really having a hard time. We have not had a holiday for 8 years, we do not eat out a lot and if it were not for two of our children being in school we would leave tomorrow (o sorry we can’t even afford to leave this Island) !!!!!!!!
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Until the shoppers of jersey wake up and vote out the government that just supports the ripping of or consumers nothing will happen other countries break up harmful monopolies hear we encourage them.
Use your vote and chuck all sitting members out at the next election then you will see the rest start working for us smell them as well when they know they are next for the chop.
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here we go again more prices rise’s how come
england supermarkets offer such low prices
bread at tesco 3op a loaf today there milk
is cheaper are the states blind or they
just do not want to know prices go up
more gst for them stop proctecting the
supermarket’s we have let them fight like
we have to we need another supermarket
urgently
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Flour prices were bound to go up due to the wet summer last year when British growers could not harvest much of their crop. The States knew this and still introduced GST. Prices will go up again as we have had yet another wet summer but this time Australia, which usually provides a lot of the wheat on the world market, has suffered a drought and lost much of their crop and China is now buying more wheat too.Flour from abroad will soar in price as a result.
A third supermarket will not bring down prices, or at least not for long. When we had Safeways the only price differences were on “own brands” and the rest was pennies more or less on most other items apart from special offers. The real reason for our food being more expensive is because importers / exporters are paying more in harbour dues than the London docks charge! This is our government ripping off its own people. Even now, when we are reeling from the escalating food and fuel charges, Senator Ozouf and Deputy MacLean are proposing to raise the harbour dues by 2.5%. This will be passed on to the consumers. They are proud to say at the hustings that they voted extra funding for the Low Income Allowance and raised the Income Tax threshold a fraction and then behind our backs are planning to steal it all back from everyone, especially the middle taxpayers. This cannot be allowed to continue. Use your vote wisely.
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Jeremy Macon, you make no comment about the cost of milk also being extortionate – ah you are from a farming family so I wonder why.
It is time we stopped this protectionism of Jersey Milk. If it is such a good product it will survive as a luxury product on the international stage but it should not be the only choice for buyers here in Jersey.
It is time we voted for Politicians who don’t have a vested interest in many of the absurd laws we have.
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Give with one hand and take back twice as much with the other. Isn’t that what the States are all about? It certainly feels that way. I know who I am voting for but with the old boys network and backhanders still continuing I am sceptical at best of how much difference it will make. I am sad to say as a Jersey born and raised woman with a young family that my once fond feelings for this island are fading fast and I am starting to wonder if it can recover from the devastation brought about by the current and previous States members. I am no longer sure that I want my children growing up here when all they have to look forward to is more financial problems, no entertainment and nothing to see but high rise blocks of flats – not the future I wanted for my children.
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Jeremy, if you were voted in to the States how would you tackile the issue of over pricing by the retailers along with hidden taxs?
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wonder if the co-op will announce they will not change prices on bread and milk? they like to portray themselves as our saviour when their prices are spiralling out of control and both companies will do anything to stop any new rivals from entering our inept government and competion law lets these 2 open all over the island to try and stop others from entering i heard there was a lidl at carfour in st.maro just opened if this is true i shall do bulk of my shopping there and deprieve these greedy suppliers of any more of my hard earned cash
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Disappointed in JSY get out as soon as you can, we wish we had done it when our children were young, but once they start school it will be hard, as you will not want their education to suffer. One of our sons is in Yr 11 and will be sitting his GCSE’s next year so we cannot move at the moment, we want him to do the best he can and get good grades so he will have the choice to leave (and I hope he does). Jersey is not longer for the ordinary Jersey people, ONLY THE RICH.
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Jeremy Macon – Do you remember the well known boycott of Safeway AFTER the very dubious takeover by CI traders? This was partly because the prices went up over night. Lowering the harbour and airport taxes is required for many other reasons including to boost our dwindling tourism levels. However that will not stop the ‘local’ supermarkets overcharging their customers. The only way to do that is bring in REAL competition and abolish all these rules which are ancient and outdated and causing the people of Jersey, not born with the preverbial silver spoon, to suffer.
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I do come from a farming background but now that my grandfather has retired and no-one has taken over the farm after him, none of the family derive any income from farming, so it’s not accurate to say that I have a vested interest. What I do have is a good understanding of the farming industry and a genuine love of the land. Like everyone else at the moment, farmers are at the mercy of market conditions. They are paying much more for feed, fertilizers and fuel as a result. Yes, our milk has always been more expensive than in particular French milk but the French agricultural industry is heavily subsidised. Ours is not, so the price of milk in Jersey is the true price of producing it. UK milk is cheaper but the cost of living in the UK is slightly less than over here, even then, the UK farmers are in dire straits as they also have little by way of subsidies and are competing with the EU. A great many of them have either had to start up alternative businesses or leave farming. For our farmers there obviously has to be a profit margin or the farmers would go out of business but as has been evidenced with two large milk producers having given up recently, the profit margin is not high. It is not the farmers that are making a killing and definitely not the small producers that are still hanging on by a thread. The fact is that if we allowed imported milk into the Island that would be the end of our dairy industry, as would stopping free school milk. The industry is starting to pick up a bit under its new management but there is a long way to go before its future is assured and what is of particular concern is how few young people are entering the industry. If there was big, easy money to be made, don’t you think they would be clamouring to start up on their own or continue the family business? If the farmers go then the land will not be used and it will be developed. Is this the Jersey you want for your children – a concrete jungle of high rise flats and offices? Yes, our milk is expensive but it’s worth every penny to safeguard our heritage and keep at least some of it green for future generations.
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MarkG – There is a big difference between ripping people off and making an honest living. I sympathise with retailers who are paying excessive rents for their premises and are caught between either trading in the backstreets where they will have less customers or paying exorbitant rents on the high street and having to pass this charge onto their customers. You have to sell an awful lot of goods to pay £100K+ annually in rent. I don’t sympathise at all with retailers who are blatantly ripping us off. Very often we can buy items more cheaply over the internet and so many people do this now that it has impacted on the retailers who have less trade plus the fact that people are feeling the pinch of the credit crunch and failed harvests as well as GST so if retailers sell less, they still have to pay the same overheads and they have to charge more for the goods they do sell.
Retailers have to contend with freight charges (and soon increased harbour dues) GST, Social Security for themselves and their staff, staff wages including holiday pay and paying staff when they are ill, liability insurance, buildings / contents insurance (depending on whether they own or rent the premises), light and heat costs, telephone, bank charges and if they deliver goods, all the costs involved in maintaining and running a vehicle. Lots of paperwork is involved so a secretary, bookkeeper and accountant will probably also have to be paid. They will of course also have to pay income tax. This doesn’t always leave too much in the bank so if they are to remain in business they have to make a reasonable amount of profit.
When we buy items via the internet it is often difficult to gauge the quality or exact colour of the goods and sometimes there are difficulties with returning faulty items or having them repaired, all problems you should not have when buying locally, particularly now that we finally have the Consumer Protection Law that has been sat on by our States for 20 years! (funny how P Ozouf has finally got this passed just before election time). Most local retailers keep a certain amount of stock which they will be paying for shortly after delivery and storing for some time before it is sold on. If they don’t have the money in the bank, they are incurring overdraft charges which have to be passed on to the customer but if they don’t keep any stock the customers get frustrated because they have to order everything. It is very expensive to be in the retail business and that’s why we see so many businesses fail in a relatively short time over here. The States should have controlled the rents for retail properties long ago and this would have helped keep prices down for customers whilst allowing retailers to make a decent profit. There should be a review of the rents being charged for retail property and some form of control.
As for retailers charging VAT or some percentage of it, this should have been outlawed years ago and offenders should have been named and shamed and heavily fined. This is further evidence of a government that has never cared enough to protect its people. We need new people in the States who will look after both the customers and the retailers and stop property speculators, very often from outside the Island, who are charging ridiculous rents.
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“Do you remember the well known boycott of Safeway AFTER the takeover by CI traders? ”
I do – and very effective it was too.
If I recall Ozouf had more than a little to do with that deal didn’t he?
I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. The electorate never forget…
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Anita, I know where you are coming from but despite all the problems I still love this island. My family are here and I have such good childhood memories. I did live in Wales for a few years as a teenager and had some very bad experiences so that I have not been back in 7 years ! I could not wait to come back home to Jersey with my family. I only hope that it is not too late and there are some people out there who really do care and want to revive Jersey to be the home I remember and loved not pushing out the young and elderly to make way for the rich and thoughtless. I still live in hope !!!
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It’s amazing how much greener the grass appears on the other side of the channel. The people of Jersey demanded that our government reduce spending and remove subsidies from the various “trading” departments. Hence through “user pays” the importer no longer gets to use the harbour cheap but has to pay the full cost plus the exorbitant transport costs. Perhaps we should return to the subsidies and the States buy a dedicated shipping company although this will inevitably lead to an increase our taxes!! Maybe we should reduce the high quality of our education system as this seems to be a barrier to some people wishing to leave.
Like many I signed the petition against GST and lets face it any petition against tax is popular. After all its not the signatory who has to face the social consequences of reduced services, healthcare, education etc on which our taxes are spent.
To answer Groove – I would not trust any politician who promises to cut taxes and increase spending. There is no magic pot. It may get the idiot vote but we will all end up paying more in the long run through additional stealth tax as with the UK labour government or services such as harbour dues. By then they are getting paid a good wack and will blame the “establishment”.
Tesco will bring prices down but will put them back up as soon as they have decimated local competition, as they do in the UK, not to mention the suffering of the many thousands of local workers employed in this sector. They pay the farmers rock bottom prices for their produce which is probably why last year they again increased their profits in line with the hype in food prices. Sorry Peter but you should not believe all the fairy tales.
Whilst we can import milk just think of the consequences for our country side. I don’t believe our few remaining local farmers are making huge profits at present so they will not stay in business for long. Again it is an easy vote catching solution but just think of the longer term social and financial costs.
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Don’t people realise that the people making these decisions don’t care about anyone but themselves – I think they want an island consisting of millionaires supported by constantly changing immigrant labour..
How far can people be pushed?
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Disappointed in JSY, I know what you mean I am Jersey born and would not really like to move, but I have three teenage sons, one has just spent a year at Highlands training to be a car mechanic but at the end of the course (which he passed with merit) he cannot find a job. He has finally found a job (not in the motor trade) but on his wages he will NEVER be able to buy in Jersey, so his only option is the move.
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IMPORT MILK!!
The agricultural industry is heavily subsidised and yet they still charge extortionate prices for milk. Too greedy!!
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Pip – exactly what subsidies do our farmers receive.
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Don’t believe all the rubbish about schools in Jersey being so superior to the U.K. My children have been to schools in Jersey and the U.K and they are every bit as good in the U.K.
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I’ve just got back from the UK with a boot full of Tesco. Thats my rip off free shopping sorted for a few weeks!
I’m happy to pay for Jersey milk though.
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Has anyone noticed that milk is now £1 and 6p!!
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