Why is Canadian milk so expensive?

[aliikram]

Come on. Milk is not expensive. 4L of milk for around $4.50 most places, and unless you're drinking several glasses a day, that lasts you a couple of weeks. I'd say it is a bargain.
If you're comparing to the USA though, isn't nearly everything more costly here than south of the border?

[ShadowVlican]

Canadian milk is more expensive because apparently it's among the best in the world, or so I've heard. Canadian milk and butter are much better tasting and better to cook with/bake with than USA.

i don't find Canadian milk expensive, nor do i find it better tasting than other country's milk...

[willdacanucker]

Come on. Milk is not expensive. 4L of milk for around $4.50 most places, and unless you're drinking several glasses a day, that lasts you a couple of weeks. I'd say it is a bargain.
If you're comparing to the USA though, isn't nearly everything more costly here than south of the border?

Lulz. No family I assume. I have 2 small kids and we go through 12 litres a week some weeks. I really do not want to know what the teen years will bring.

[death_hawk]

Come on. Milk is not expensive. 4L of milk for around $4.50 most places, and unless you're drinking several glasses a day, that lasts you a couple of weeks. I'd say it is a bargain.
If you're comparing to the USA though, isn't nearly everything more costly here than south of the border?

It's not just milk, it's ALL dairy products.
I can buy a 2L of 40% in the US for about the same price as a 1L 30-35%

This means that Ice Cream is affected and we end up getting crap like Frozen Dessert.

I want some damn Ice Cream!

[time space]

You can usually find milk for around $4.29 or $4.49 for 4L.

That sounds about right to me for the common non-sale regular price in Canada.

Does anyone know the corresponding actual common non-sale regular price for a gallon (3.79 litres) of milk in the US?

in the US (Chicago land area): Normal price is < $3 per gallon.

$3 US per US gallon (3.79ℓ) equals ~$3.25 CDN - imho, that buck and a quarter difference is nowhere near enough to entice me to even think about moving to the States.

i don't find Canadian milk expensive, nor do i find it better tasting than other country's milk...

Clearly you haven't been to New Zealand.

[gilboman]

It's not just milk, it's ALL dairy products.
I can buy a 2L of 40% in the US for about the same price as a 1L 30-35%

This means that Ice Cream is affected and we end up getting crap like Frozen Dessert.

I want some damn Ice Cream!

you are really naive if you think frozen dessert will be gone if milk prices were cheaper. there's no way cream/milk can be cheaper than canola oil lol

Ice cream is pretty cheap here...it's like 3.99 for 1.78L of real ice cream..got some breyers yesterday for that price at loblaws.

[Forhad]

Milk consumption in Canada has reportedly declined by 18 per cent over the last 20 years - this according to Garth Whyte, president of the restaurant association. He says that consumers have been replacing milk with other beverages.

[monomono]

ever heard of pasteurization?

Milk in Europe is pasteurized too, and it only lasts about 1 week.
Part of the reason is they don't homogenize it, which means it tastes better, but the cream goes rancid faster.

As for Canadian butter... it's inedible compared to European butter.

[death_hawk]

you are really naive if you think frozen dessert will be gone if milk prices were cheaper. there's no way cream/milk can be cheaper than canola oil lol

Ice cream is pretty cheap here...it's like 3.99 for 1.78L of real ice cream..got some breyers yesterday for that price at loblaws.

Why? The US doesn't have Frozen Dessert.
I can buy the cheapest Ice Cream there and it's still better than even Premium Ice Creams here.
Haggen Brand (aka house brand) is one of the best Ice Creams I've had from a store.


I would love to see what this $4/1.78L of Ice Cream looks like.
Last time I looked the only thing that's even remotely that cheap is Frozen Dessert.
And that's creeping up here in Alberta to around $5-6 per.
Real Ice Cream is like $8.


EDIT: Ok, you may be right. Why would they switch now?
But this would also open the door to more independent creameries not having to put out a $15 box of Ice Cream.

[gnuman]

Milk consumption in Canada has reportedly declined by 18 per cent over the last 20 years - this according to Garth Whyte, president of the restaurant association. He says that consumers have been replacing milk with other beverages.

I think instances of milk allergies have gone up considerbly in the past 20 years to explain the 18% decline in milk consumption. They don't make kids like they used to. They are all screwed up where a peanut butter sandwich might make a third of the school sick (exaggerating I know) and milk might affect 20% of the school aged children.

[Jon Lai]

Lulz. No family I assume. I have 2 small kids and we go through 12 litres a week some weeks. I really do not want to know what the teen years will bring.

If anything milk consumption drops in the teen years...

12 litres a week sounds a bit ridiculous though; that's 6 liters a kid a day, or almost a litre a day. I think most people here might not even drink that much water a day.

[Richard1986]

Canadian Milk is expensive because the Canadian Mounties personally milk the cows teet themselves, I'd imagine.

[Keelie]

Milk is expensive... and it kept going bad before I could use it, lots of times 1/2 a container was going down the drain. Started drinking Almond milk... love it so much I've never looked back! Yes it does cost a bit more, but none of it is going down the drain due to the longer shelf and fridge life.

Love the vanilla almond, usually have a small glass after dinner and its as satisfying as dessert... with less calories then the 1% milk I was bying, and way more nutrients.

[nalababe]

If anything milk consumption drops in the teen years...

12 litres a week sounds a bit ridiculous though; that's 6 liters a kid a day, or almost a litre a day. I think most people here might not even drink that much water a day.

Really, no reason to drink that much milk. For a family of four we through 1-2 litres of milk and 1-2 lites of soy or rice milk ever week to 10 days.

Kids get more than enough nutrition in a healthy diet that the milk is not adding any other benefit.

....both of our kids are in the 90th percentile in height and 70th in weight a d both have voracious appetite.

I actually think it better to train the to drink water...

[laihama]

Health Canada's recommended daily allowance of calcium for teenagers is 1300 mg. One glass of milk contains about 300 mg of calcium. So basically, 1 litre of milk per teenage kid per day is perfectly within the government's recommendation.