Why is Milk So Pricey In Thailand?

[SteveJames]

95-105 Baht for 2 Litres of Milk on Grab and in TOPS...  thats around £2.20 ... My mate just showed me £1.49 at Tescos in the UK.  I always noticed Milk was not cheap here, I call it "White Gold" in this house...But Why?   Do Dairy Cows go on Strike here?

[nauseus]

32 minutes ago, SteveJames said:

95-105 Baht for 2 Litres of Milk on Grab and in TOPS...  thats around £2.20 ... My mate just showed me £1.49 at Tescos in the UK.  I always noticed Milk was not cheap here, I call it "White Gold" in this house...But Why?   Do Dairy Cows go on Strike here?

 

They do sometimes, when it's too hot.

[Hummin]

34 minutes ago, SteveJames said:

95-105 Baht for 2 Litres of Milk on Grab and in TOPS...  thats around £2.20 ... My mate just showed me £1.49 at Tescos in the UK.  I always noticed Milk was not cheap here, I call it "White Gold" in this house...But Why?   Do Dairy Cows go on Strike here?

Tops is not the cheapest chain, and you say nothing about what kind of milk. 

 

In eu, and I guess UK also subsidies milk to keep an healthy production for food safety and security as well for a proper healthy options for families with kids.  

[Lorry]

Why is rice so pricey in the UK?

[Chetzee]

30 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Tops is not the cheapest chain, and you say nothing about what kind of milk. 

 

In eu, and I guess UK also subsidies milk to keep an healthy production for food safety and security as well for a proper healthy options for families with kids.  

I dot think the UK SUBSIDICES   milk .... but I'm  absolutely sure that the supermarkets drive a very very hard bargain with the farmers who earn a few pence per Lt . Milk often a loss leader for the supermarkets .....

 

 

 

[swissie]

Still many Asians suffer from "lactose intolerance". But on the decline.

Wealthy Agro-Thais keep cows as a status simbol. European-Cows do not do well in a overly hot/humid climate. The cows in Thailand are part of African Zebu imports that can stand the climate much better than "Euro-Cows". But compared to Euro-Cows they give wery little milk. Barely enough for their calves.
No wonder that "milk" is mostly an Import Product in Thailand. Arriving as "milk powder" from happy European cows, that produce 10X more milk than Thai-Cows.

[bkk6060]

Donkey milk is actually referred to as White Gold.  It runs about $160 for 2 litres.  So many other things are much cheaper then home countries seems kind of odd to complain about something that is 1 dollar more.  But, I guess if one is poor or on a very tight budget it could be a problem.

[OneMoreFarang]

Less demand in Thailand and higher production costs because of the hot climate => more expensive. 

[scubascuba3]

Have you seen the cows here, anorexic, and the lack of grass doesn't help. i see them eating anywhere there's a scrap of grass by side of roads

[pomchop]

Go wander around the rural areas of thailand and you will likely see very few cows.  Most milk comes from cows....fewer cows, less milk.....also poor quality and more expensive beef which thais are smart enough to more or less avoid.  Pork and Chicken and Seafood bettter for you and save you a bundle.

 

I don''t drink milk or eat beef in Thailand.  Never have, probably never will.

[still kicking]

Farmers have to get up early to milk all the almonds 

[balo]

Milk is not a part of the Thai diet. Very few locals drink it. So the production costs are higher in Thailand.  Just appreciate you can actually buy it in the stores.  Back in the 1970's that would have been impossible. 

My favorite is the Meiji brand. 
 

 

Edited June 15 by balo

[steven100]

21 minutes ago, balo said:

Milk is not a part of the Thai diet. Very few locals drink it. So the production costs are higher in Thailand.  Just appreciate you can actually buy it in the stores.  Back in the 1970's that would have been impossible. 

My favorite is the Meiji brand. 
 

 

 

Milk for coffee ....

 

Meiji brand milk tastes powdery ...   and Dutch mill tastes watered down ...  

I buy NongPho here ... it tastes like cows milk ....   or Chok Chai is the next best brand. 

 

[MangoKorat]

 

 

Maybe Thai farmers are getting a realistic price for their milk?  Many UK dairy farmers are quitting the business as they struggle to even break even.  Only the most modern dairy farms where the cows never go outside are making money. That's factory farming and should be banned.

 

I don't know about Thailand in general but food is actually too cheap in the UK. Why are we prepared to pay £5+ for beer but gripe at the price of milk?  Some supermarkets try to excuse the poor price they pay farmers for milk by claiming that customers demand it. Milk is a 'staple' in the UK and classed as 'price sensitive' - I suspect that UK supermarkets are simply using it to compete with one another.  I've never seen hoardes of customers with placards outside a supermarket demanding lower priced milk.

 

Even at the low price it is, the supermarkets make money on it whilst those who produce it are lucky to break even.

 

Interesting article on the subject here:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33960879

 

Its quite nostalgic to see a truck come each morning and pick up a couple of the old style milk churns from the farm opposite me - I haven't seen an 'in use' milk churn in the UK for 50 years.

Edited June 15 by MangoKorat

[Lorry]

5 hours ago, balo said:

.  Just appreciate you can actually buy it in the stores.  Back in the 1970's that would have been impossible. 

I don't appreciate it as it is a very conspicuous sign of the westernization of Thai diet (and lifestyle).

The results of which i  saw again at my local BigC yesterday: women who even in America would count as obese. 20 years ago,  I saw that kind of people less than once a month.  Yesterday,  I saw about 20 of them.

[stoner]

8 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Donkey milk is actually referred to as White Gold.  It runs about $160 for 2 litres.  So many other things are much cheaper then home countries seems kind of odd to complain about something that is 1 dollar more.  But, I guess if one is poor or on a very tight budget it could be a problem.

 

you would have to be an ass to pay that much for milk. 

[Bangkok Barry]

 

A place near me sometimes has around 40-50 goats, My wife said it was for their milk, and when I saw it for sale in the supermarket I saw the attraction. It was very expensive. What puzzles me is that sometimes the goats are there and sometimes they aren't.

[stoner]

7 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Have you seen the cows here, anorexic, and the lack of grass doesn't help. i see them eating anywhere there's a scrap of grass by side of roads

there was others on the list too not only this as a daily.

 

A typical dairy cow’s diet may include:

• 30-35 pounds (14-16 kg) of baled hay (26-30 pounds DM)

[norfolkandchance]

38 minutes ago, stoner said:

 

you would have to be an ass to pay that much for milk. 

Or a Foal.

[Angus55]

8 hours ago, pomchop said:

Go wander around the rural areas of thailand and you will likely see very few cows.  Most milk comes from cows....fewer cows, less milk.....also poor quality and more expensive beef which thais are smart enough to more or less avoid.  Pork and Chicken and Seafood bettter for you and save you a bundle.

 

I don''t drink milk or eat beef in Thailand.  Never have, probably never will.

No big macs for you then.

[digbeth]

11 hours ago, Hummin said:

Tops is not the cheapest chain, and you say nothing about what kind of milk. 

 

In eu, and I guess UK also subsidies milk to keep an healthy production for food safety and security as well for a proper healthy options for families with kids.  

plain milk are price controlled everywhere in Thailand, so unless you got the organic, extra fat special cow milk, they cost the same acoss the country

[BritManToo]

I've changed to using Dairy Rich milk powder from NZ.

Works out at around 50bht/2ltr and I can't really tell the difference.

Added bonus, I don't have to keep going to the shops for milk.

220bht for 1KG at YoK, I pour 620gm of water in a jug, and make up to 700gm with milk powder.

[BusNo8]

9 hours ago, pomchop said:

Go wander around the rural areas of thailand and you will likely see very few cows.  Most milk comes from cows....fewer cows, less milk.....also poor quality and more expensive beef which thais are smart enough to more or less avoid.  Pork and Chicken and Seafood bettter for you and save you a bundle.

 

I don''t drink milk or eat beef in Thailand.  Never have, probably never will.

 

Lol. Practically all milk in Thailand derived from powder.

 

Valid question. Why is powdered milk so expensive.

[BusNo8]

19 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've changed to using Dairy Rich milk powder from NZ.

Works out at around 50bht/2ltr and I can't really tell the difference.

Added bonus, I don't have to keep going to the shops for milk.

220bht for 1KG at YoK, I pour 620gm of water in a jug, and make up to 700gm with milk powder.

 

Have a source online? Wife bought some powered milk. Decidedly average and more expensive.

 

YOK?

Edited June 16 by BusNo8

[MalcolmB]

10 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Have you seen the cows here, anorexic, and the lack of grass doesn't help. i see them eating anywhere there's a scrap of grass by side of roads

The girls also have smaller milkers.

Diet and climate.

[Stanton681]

45 minutes ago, BusNo8 said:

 

Have a source online? Wife bought some powered milk. Decidedly average and more expensive.

 

YOK?

If you’re not able to get to YOK in Chiang Mai, there are plenty of sellers of Dairy Rich Milk Powder on Lazada.

[novacova]

Never drink the stuff, it gives off bad body odor, especially in the heat.

[NanLaew]

15 hours ago, SteveJames said:

95-105 Baht for 2 Litres of Milk on Grab and in TOPS...  thats around £2.20 ... My mate just showed me £1.49 at Tescos in the UK.  I always noticed Milk was not cheap here, I call it "White Gold" in this house...But Why?   Do Dairy Cows go on Strike here?

 

Maybe, just maybe, it's time to pull the pin and go home to Tesco's cheap milk?

[sandyf]

10 hours ago, balo said:

Milk is not a part of the Thai diet. Very few locals drink it.

Take it you mean fresh milk. I live out in the sticks and the selection of flavoured milk on the shelves is unbelievable.

You are probably right on production costs, milk production and packaging would be more challenging than somewhere like the UK.

In a previous life I used to manufacture milk bottles and it was a cut throat and high risk business. Remember one of our competitors was faced with a recall on potentially contaminated bottles of orange juice. 

[billd766]

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

A place near me sometimes has around 40-50 goats, My wife said it was for their milk, and when I saw it for sale in the supermarket I saw the attraction. It was very expensive. What puzzles me is that sometimes the goats are there and sometimes they aren't.

AFAIR

 

Cows eat the grass and leave the roots to grow again.

 

Goats and sheep eat all of the grass and the roots which makes it harder for the grass to regrow. They get moved to a different area to allow regrowth of the grass.