London – A milk price war has broken out in kosher shops in London and Manchester after the arrival of a new supplier.
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Until now, milk for the strictly Orthodox community has been produced by Charedi Dairies and Edgware Dairies under licence from Kedassia, the kashrut division of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, and the London Beth Din. It has been typically sold for 94p a litre.
But a fortnight ago, the Milk Company in north-west London launched its product under the licence of the London Beth Din and two independent rabbis.
It is being sold in kosher shops in London and Manchester for 79p, a price now matched by Charedi Dairies. The new company plans to move into door-to-door sales at 84p a litre.
It also says it has received inquiries to extend its operations to the Gateshead community.
Leading strictly Orthodox figure Rabbi Avraham Pinter, principal of the Yesodey Hatorah Schools, said: “Competition has never done anyone any harm. However, we need to be sure there will be a continuous supply.”
A war among Jews? That is unacceptable in my books. The milk may be kosher, but the fighting sure aint!
Just to clarify a few points. The old milk used to be sold over £1 a bottle! A large number of people were unhappy with the price and on a few occasions tried to compete but kedasia would not give a hechsher as they owned the fairy farm and would cause them big monetary loss… Bh people are now very happy to buy the new milk even if the kedasia milk goes cheaper as for the last 10 years kedasia has been taking adventage!
Somehow I don’t think it will impact on Manchester as much as in London, the staunch MH chevra will stick with what we have now with an MH hechsher and excellent door to door service. The same goes for the loyal MBD customers who also enjoy excellent service under the MBD hechsher. The new milk would need a keddassia hechsher to really compete, plus a good track record, which they just don’t have yet…….
With the loss of government benefits in england you will see this happen with everything not just kosher milk. Good old fashioned deflation.
Kedassia is a mafia & just think of their own pockets. It’s about time someone took them to pieces.
The new milk tastes better as well.
Come on others give kedassia more compertition
We believe that KEDASIA is the only ones in Europe that remove the Veterinary procedured cows from their farms. It’s a known fact that all of the vet procedured cows are a “treifah”, and the milk is forbidden. We have spoken to the Vet associations & verified that indeed Europe does have the same Vet issues in the range of 4-7%, Shishim is only 1.666…
The European Vets claim they don’t have any vet procedure problems. The Vets count an incidence of 1-2% as “no problem”. When we have 2-4 different procedures that may make the cow a treifah, with an incidence rate of 1-2% we are talking about 4-8% of Treifahs.
Competition is the BEST thing for the frum community and will lower prices in the long term. In too many cases, the “old reliable” brand has been prices subtantially in excess of what would be a reasonable markup over normal prices to reflect the additional costs of kashruth and hashgacha. Competition will hopefully either force these older firms out of business or as in this case, result in a price war which will lower prices.
So in essence the European milk even cholov Yisroel may actually be Cholov Treifah? If the only one removing those Treifah cows are Kedassia, that’s why it’s more expensive. This would impact the Swiss chocolate as well.
When you are on a good thing, stick to it. Chareidi has been good enough, I don’t need any other.
#2 askan, where did you by a litre for over £1. In the Isle of dogs?? How is it that I or anyone else I know, have never paid more than 94p.
The cost of cholov Yisrael in London is reported to be between £0.79 and £0.84 per pint (i.e. half a quart).
To put this into its proper perspective, a pint (568 centiliters) of cholov stam costs £0.51 the other day and that is £0.15p dearer than many supermarkets charge.
Unfortunately, for many UK Jewish families this difference in cost can be crucial.
dont go crying over milk
Go for it! More competition = better prices for Jews.
There is no more cholov stam nor for that matter cholov akum, as it’s all cholov treifah, due to the veterinary procedures which range in the 4-75 range. There is no Shishim on the farms and the milk goes into large holding tanks, so there is no safek.
sounds as if London cholov yisroel is the cheapest ch y anywhere.
I wish someone in Vienna would be as daring, where we pay 1,70€(!!!) for a litre of milk…. And i wont even comment on its quality. As for the prices and tastes of the rolls and bread!
When there is no competition people truly get away with anything. Shame
12 you got it wrong it is £.79 a litre not pint. The competition is good. About 7 years ago they had the same problem on a cottage cheese when it change it hecksher. The new milk is fine and the old milk company dropped is price; which is about time.
I did not like how they try to say that the Charedi dairy gives money for people to sit and learn. I also give money but I can’t overcharge to do this
#Askan, you haven’t responded where you bought ch y milk in London for over a pound. If its not true, its motzie shem ra!
as long as the milk hasn’t appeared in ALL the groceries it shows that there are still staunch MH chevra. The fact that Golden Valley hasn’t folded is another sure sign of lots of staunch MH chevra….
I live in a orthodox-secular Jewish community (100,000+ Jews). Kosher mammal meat (beef, lamb, goat), is more than double the price of the non-kosher. Fowl (chicken, turkey) is 50% more.
If the non-kosher is $6.00/kilo then the kosher is $12/kilo or more. This has driven the elderly retirees to buying the non-kosher, and salting and treating the non-kosher meat as kosher. Before you blame these elderly poor, realize that 1) they live on small pensions, 2) meat inspection in Canada by the government shows often that non-kosher is more bacteria free than kosher. and 3) Aside from removal of some veins, the difference between kosher and non-kosher is the slaughtering.
Double the price is way too much of a difference. 10% or 15% is reasonable.
As for milk, from the same cows and from the same dairy, Chalav Israel milk is 25% more expensive than regular milk.
Come on #22 , even if a family buys 7 litres a week, that’s only total of an extra pound. It is negliglible. It is probably the cheapest cholov yisroel in the world!!
kol hakavod to this new dairy. Its about time the mafia of kedassia and the mh were educated. And to stop taking advantage of the Kehillah.
#24 , you are asking the impossible. The non Kosher is processed in bulk by the millions. Therefore the overheads are relatively minimum. Whereas Kosher, is only a tiny production, which makes massive overheads, plus need to pay shochtim,mashgichim(who also need to support familes). 15-20% is only a dream..
up to KIDS milk in Gateshead under the hechsher of the GKA.
delicious milk!
apparently kosher milk costs more because it has to come from Jewish cows!
#31 , please first read before responding. I was responding to #24 who was talking about price of meat. Have another look and you will see..