UK supermarkets have entered into a milk price war in order to compete as discounters Aldi and Lidl cut their milk prices.

Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have cut the price of one pint of milk to 45p (0.63c) and two pints to 75p (1.04c) to be in line with Aldi and Lidl.

This is a decrease of 4p and 14p respectively in the milk price in the UK.

With two pints the equivalent of just over a litre, the equivalent price of a litre of milk in these supermarkets is 0.79c/L, however this is still more expensive than milk in Ireland.

Currently, in Ireland, the price of 1L of Aldi own brand milk, Clonbawn, is 0.75c/L (£0.53p) with 2L costing 1.49c/L and 3L selling for 2.19c/L.

Tesco also sells 1L of its own brand milk in Ireland for 0.75c/L and for 2L the cost is 1.49c.

Avonmore Supermilk – the country’s top selling grocery product – sells for 1.24c for 1L or 1.44c for 2L.

New Zealand

The impact of the UK milk price war is having an impact on consumers in New Zealand, according to Kiwi prime minister John Key.

He said that high milk prices in New Zealand are the result of the UK situation.

Key’s comments were in response to accusations from former Labour leader David Shearer that New Zealanders were being ripped off, with milk prices higher there than in Australia and the UK, despite the amount of milk produced in New Zealand.

Shearer said that the international price has dropped by half…you would expect our [the New Zealand] milk price to go down, but it’s actually gone up.

“The Government needed to front up and explain why New Zealand milk prices were still high when in Australia and the UK they had dropped by 16%.

“Somebody’s creaming it.”

Shearer said there was something “seriously out of whack” when milk, one of New Zealand’s biggest exports, could be bought cheaper in London than at a local dairy and “perverse” that Coca-Cola costs less.