Editorial: Are we being creamed?

Who would have thought, in a country full of cows and lush grass, milk has become a luxury product?

Carly Gibbs' investigation into the cost of a pint in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend today reveals that the price small retailers sell milk is largely dictated by their suppliers, Fonterra and Goodman Fielder.

Both these suppliers and the main supermarket groups, Foodstuffs and Progressive, refuse to comment on their margins, deeming it commercially sensitive.

Sensitive perhaps because, if the mark-up was made transparent, consumers would not tolerate it.

While the suppliers keep secrets, the farmers talk politics.

Farmers deny they are making a lot of money on milk. They point the finger of blame away from the farmgate and towards the shops.

One of the local farmers Carly Gibbs spoke to claims the public should not focus on the price of milk in the shops, but the benefit we get from high overseas milk profits. He admits it's hard for the public to get our heads around.

It certainly is. Parliament's commerce committee inquiry into the price of milk must challenge every stage in the milk chain.

New Zealand consumers have a right to know if this is a fair market or a monopoly which is creaming us.