By KEVIN TAYLOR
The price of milk will rise in the next few weeks as booming export prices flow into the domestic market.
New Zealand Dairy Group will increase the price of its Anchor and supermarket brands by about 10c a litre from March 1, chief executive Peter McClure said yesterday.
And the other big domestic supplier, Mainland, said prices for its Tararua and Meadow Fresh brands would also rise 10c.
One litre of milk now costs $1.50 to $1.55. The price of a two-litre bottle will rise to $3.20.
The increase follows a 10c-a-litre rise last August.
Mr McClure said prices were rising because of a more than 30 per cent lift in the cost of milk from suppliers.
Dairy farmers were having a bumper export year.
New Zealand milk was fetching a high price overseas because of strong demand and the low Kiwi dollar.
"We are buying milk at a cost which is bundled in with all the returns farmers get from their export activities," Mr McClure said.
Mainland's dairy division general manager, Geoff Norgate, said the date for its increase would be finalised in a month or two.
He said 95 per cent of New Zealand's milk production was exported.
The Dairy Group's brands are strongest in the upper North Island, and Mainland brands are stronger in the lower North Island and South Island.
Export boom pushes up home milk price
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