Down at the Aussie Butcher today I noticed the $120 turkeys.and the $2 Pig spleens, maw, tero tero and beef tendons.
For the confused: maw = stomach, tero tero = intestines.
Hmmmm. Next we'll have cow heads in store - no, don't mention beef cheeks.I know.
For a country with so many animals why is meat (not counting it's innards) so expensive! Maybe I should pop over the fence and hunt down a few of next doors rats.
budgel,
Dec 17, 2:36am
I think that meat is expensive because we are usually paying the global price for it. If the USA and other large markets are paying good dollars for beef etc. then we pay what the processing companies can get for it. If those prices fall there is a surplus of supplyandthey will accept a lower price for local sales.
kuaka,
Dec 17, 3:03am
That sounds fine in theory, but it doesn't explain why my sister in the UK regularly buys vacuum packed legs of NZ lamb at four quid a kilo, when it is on special here at $18.99 a kilo.How can she buy legs at $8 a kilo and we have to pay more than that for scungy fatty neck chops.Something wrong somewhere.
shop-a-holic,
Dec 17, 3:37am
$120 turkeys will be fresh turkeys. Not pre-frozen nor fuel-injected. A lot of work is involved to get them ready for the xmas season.
lythande1,
Dec 17, 1:43pm
Yes. And actually, why do we have to pay the overseas prices! That's Fonterras excuse too - but they don't do that in Aussie.
punkinthefirst,
Dec 17, 2:43pm
Well, its the same answer as the milk one - supermarket gouging. There are basically only two supermarket chains here, and no competition. And you SHOULD pay the price that farmers receive from overseas. Otherwise, what farmer in his right mind would sell produce to you! They own businesses, and have to pay all their overheads and costs just like other businesses do, and make a profit so it is worth getting up in the morning to go to work. Currently, farmers are getting anywhere between $2.90/kg to $4.55/kilogram for a P2 steer, and $7 - 7.50/kilogram for a mid-weight lamb. Dairy farmers are currently receiving around 70 cents/litre for whole milk, plus a catch-up payment at the end of the season, after their dairy company works out the year's company profit and puts some working capital aside for the next year. Local farmers don't have any say in the prices that shoppers pay in supermarkets, here or overseas - but they sure get the blame for them!
dreamers,
Dec 17, 2:48pm
We used to pay about $7 a kilo for turkey when we lived in Europe and it was available all year round and never went up at Christmas.and like Kuaka said we used to buy NZ lamb a lot cheaper than here.
punkinthefirst,
Dec 17, 3:31pm
But there is more competition between the supermarkets in Europe and even Australia. The price at the farm gate is still the same, and should be. Also, there are huge farm subsidies in Europe, don't forget.
beaker59,
Dec 17, 3:50pm
Also the competition between all the producing countries.
grannymum,
Dec 17, 10:47pm
I wouldn't mind so much paying the price if wegot the same quality here as what goes overseas & that includes cheese & butter.
uli,
Dec 17, 10:52pm
Ummm - usually you are quite clever lyt - so I am a bit astounded at this question! If you had a company that can export stuff at 10 times the price that they would get in NZ - would you sell it for 10% because you felt charitable here in NZ! Or maybe would you try the get the max out of it while the luck lasts!
uli,
Dec 17, 10:53pm
Yep! I remember the lovely cultured butter we got for about 4 years - until "they" decided it is not worth it to supply the small amount that the supermarkets sell and it got withdrawn and now sells in Europe!
motorbo,
Dec 17, 11:50pm
beef cheeks are delish
kuaka,
Dec 18, 4:18am
I doubt that the locals in the big oil producing countries pay the same price for their petrol and diesel that we do !Why should we pay the same price for milk, cheese, butter as folk overseas and why should we pay more for lamb than folk overseas!Sorry, I don't go along with this argument.We are not just one big customer.Have you never heard of a manufacturer selling goods at both retail and wholesale prices!They obviously still make a profit on all goods sold, just that they make more on some and less on others.I think in the end it comes down to greed - and I'm not saying it's the farmers who are greedy, but the likes of Fonterra and the supermarkets are creaming it and we are paying through the nose.I think it stinks when low income people can't afford to buy milk and cheese for the children, but because it's so much cheaper they can afford to buy coke and fanta.I don't think that's right.
fisher,
Dec 18, 5:38am
chicken necks.our 3 poodles luv em. Twofold for us. we boil them up and after the water is cloth strained, I keep it to make stock by reboiling the water with veges peelings and other things.tasty tasty.the dogs get them cut up into pieces for meals with other things. Used to be 1.79 a kilo.and back then, most folks turned their nose up at them. slowly increased in price as popularity increased and are now 4.79 a kilo.
punkinthefirst,
Dec 18, 3:03pm
For those of you who don't know already, Fonterra is a Co-operative which is wholly owned by the farmers who supply it. The farmer suppliers of Fonterra receive 70 cents a litre, approximately, for their milk. There is some cost, obviously, for milk treatment, bottling and transport, and, when all is tallied up at the end of the season, the management board of Fonterra with-holds some of the profit for working capital and re-investment, and pays the rest to its farmer shareholders. Fonterra supply milk to domestic companiesalready for the domesticmarket, at less than the cost they pay for it. In a lot of cases, those domestic companies are further processing and exporting that milk in the form of yoghurt, icecream, specialty cheeses, etc., in direct competition with Fonterra. Fonterra did announce the margin they make on fresh milk, at one stage. I'm sorry, I just can't put my finger on the article. Farmers do not HAVE to supply milk to Fonterra. Anybody is allowed to buy milk from the farm gate. If you can't do that, dairies sell cheaper milk than the supermarkets. I think it is time for someone in authority to do an in depth survey of just where price-gauging is actually occurring. I live in one of New Zealand's food producing areas. Fruit and vegetables are less than half the price at the roadside stalls - and fresher and tastier, to boot. If I had a family at home, I'd be looking for a dairy farm to buy my milk from, and a local abbatoir, where I could send a beast bought from the saleyards. Re Coke and Fanta. They're not foods. They are water, with sugar and flavouring added. Unlike milk and milk products, they need no refrigeration anywhere in their distribution chain, and can be stored for months on a shelf with no deterioration. Anyone who has a Sodastream knows how little they actually cost, and how much of a margin their sellers are making! Sorry OP - got a bit carried away. Just needed to correct a few misconceptions.
punkinthefirst,
Dec 18, 3:17pm
Oh .and re oil. Our government takes a huge lump of tax from every dollar we pay for our petrol and diesel. Some oil producing countries have so much income that they can afford to subsidize their citizens' oil consumption. If you wish to have your milk consumption subsidized, that's well and good, but it should be the Government that is doing it, not the person who puts his or her backside on the line, takes all the financial risks and produces the stuff. I didn't see anyone from the cities offering to help us with our dairy farm mortgage in the 1980's, when many farmers were being threatened with foreclosure by the banks and inflation was running rampant because of stock market overheating.
pickles7,
Dec 18, 7:30pm
It is a disgrace how the Supermarkets "special" off coke, sweets, biscuits,and raise the prices for the for, milk, cheese, meat, eggs, vegetables etc. When has coke, sweets, biscuits, ever satisfied, hunger for more than a few minutes. We are paying more and more for poorer quality.
kuaka,
Dec 18, 7:34pm
I couldn't agree more - I think it stinks!
uli,
Dec 18, 8:50pm
And think: we live in a free country - you do NOT HAVE to buy coke, sweets, biscuits at all and neither eat them nor feed them to the kids. Of course they can special stuff off that has no value - like the above items, all made from very cheap carbs.
uli,
Dec 18, 8:54pm
There was a mention about a turkey disease outbreak in one of the bigger "production sheds" in this country. Here is the answer to that one:
You're quite right, you do not "have" to buy the coke on special, but when you're on a very limited budget, with several kids and it's about a quarter the price of milk, it must be very tempting to buy it instead of milk.Thankfully I'm not in that situation, and don't have to provide for anyone other than hubby and myself, and even though we are on a low income we manage, but people with not much money and little in the way of budgeting skills must be sorely tempted.
uli,
Dec 19, 12:23am
I think this just means that those parents have no clue as to the nutrient and chemical content of coke and milk. Coke is not food - milk is. So I cannot understand why people compare it. I would never compare MacDonalds to a nice salad with fish or meat.
punkinthefirst,
Dec 19, 2:25am
Am I wrong in thinking that school kids no longer have Home Ec. as part of the basic curriculum! I'm a grandmother of adults, but even they were being steered at school towards university subjects, with no thought about how they might feed themselves. Luckily, their mother is a talented cook, who taught her children well. I have noticed, however, that there is a resurgence in vegetable gardening. The primary school near me has a large patch in our Community Garden. They don't seem very adventurous with the plants they grow, unfortunately, but I have noticed that a few of the older boys, who otherwise might be getting up to mischief, are gardening after school. It's good to see. Time to start cooking lessons again, though. I'm astonished often in these threads by the very basic recipes that people request, which are the tools in every beginner cook's toolbox. I don't suppose we can expect any different when parents can spend so little time with their children these days, and children spend their waking lives being "educated" by other adults.
kuaka,
Dec 19, 4:05am
I didn't compare them, I compared the prices, and noted that it is a sad state of affairs when milk is more expensive than coke, and because of this people struggling to make ends meet often purchase coke (and the like) in preference to milk - simply because milk is not affordable for a lot of people.
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