Reply #34: Bay Area charged higher prices for milk

[UpInArms]

Consumers pay 29% more than U.S. average in study

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/29/MNGNT7V0M21.DTL

Getting milked? Apparently so. A gallon of milk costs 29 percent more in the Bay Area than it does, on average, across the country, a consumer group reports.

And, the largest grocery chains in the region continue charging the most, getting about $2 more than mom-and-pop shops for a gallon of milk.

It adds up to a big bill for a common, and sometimes necessary, purchase. "Our survey shows that big grocery supermarkets are gouging consumers and earning huge profits from this important family grocery staple,'' said Elisa Odabashian, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union's West Coast office in San Francisco.

In a report released Wednesday, Consumers Union surveyed milk prices in 83 food stores in San Francisco and in Alameda, Marin and San Mateo counties from June 14 through June 18. It found the average price for a gallon of milk was $4.71, or 29 percent higher than the $3.66 average price reported by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in a survey of 29 major U.S. cities outside California.

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At the time of the survey, the farm price for a gallon of milk was $1.90, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture estimated that retailers paid an additional $1 per gallon for processing, distribution and store costs, bringing the total cost to $2.90 for retailers. The Consumers Union survey showed that Albertson's charged $5.49 per gallon at most of its locations for its Berkeley Farms brand of whole milk or $2.59 more than cost (an 89 percent profit), while Safeway charged $4.79 for its Lucerne brand of whole milk or $1.89 more than cost (a 65 percent profit).

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