analysis retail & wholesale prices
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 13 January 2018 | The Grocer | 17PRICE CHANGE CHANGE
PRICES £/tonne m-o-m % y-o-y %
Dairy
Egg yolk powder (EU) , – . .
Shell eggs processing (EU) , . .
Egg white liquid (EU) –. .
Milk (UK) . .
Butter (UK) , – . .
Cheddar (UK) , –. .
Shell eggs (UK) , . – .
WMP (EU) , –. –.
Whey powder (EU) –. –.
SMP (EU) , – . –.
Source: Mintec
Info: All prices are indicative only and are representative within the country quotedThe record butter prices of
2017 have started to reverse
following an increase in milk
fat supplies. Prices are also
down as UK buyers are holding
o from locking into 2018
contracts over expectations
decreasing prices may fall even
further.
High cheesemaking
pro tability has increased EU
supply. This has weighed down
on prices, as stocks currently
outweigh consumer demand.
European milk powder prices
have fallen, with SMP reaching
its lowest level in two years. In
October, EU SMP production
rose 15% year on year due
to high butter processing
pro tability – increasing SMP
as a byproduct.
Egg yolk powders have been
the most a ected by August’s
pronil scandal with supplies
tightening across the EU.
However, prices are now easing
as processing slowed.
Prices for processing shell
eggs in the EU remain at record
levels, following the pronil
outbreak in August 2017.wholesale prices: Prices drop as butter and cheese supply increases
Wheat cost hikes force up
Kingsmill prices at mults
S
upermarkets are hik-
ing prices on Kingsmill
bread a er manufac-
turer Allied Bakeries warned it
could no longer absorb the ris-
ing cost of wheat.
Tesco has been upping prices
across its range of Kingsmill
SKUs since November, when
Allied Bakeries told investors it
was holding negotiations with
retailers to try and recover prof-
its hit by surging raw material
costs. An 800g loaf of Kingsmill
Wholemeal, 50/50 or So White
is now £1 in Tesco, up from 80p
at the start of last year, while
400g loaves are 15p more expen-
sive at 75p. Kingsmill’s Crusts
Away 400g loaves are £1.30, up
from £1.20 [Brandview 52 w/e 10
January 2018].
Sainsbury’s has increased its
price for 400g Kingsmill Crusts
Away loaves by 5p to £1.
this week, having previously
increased prices from £1.20 to
£1.25 in January 2017.
Average prices for stablemate
Sunblest are also up slightly
(2%) compared with last year,
with Tesco this week increasing
George Weston, CEO of par-
ent Associated British Foods,
said the situation was “unsus-
tainable” and the business was
thererfore holding “negotia-
tions and discussions” on price
recovery with retailers.
Prices for UK wheat – which
is traded internationally – have
been surging since the June
2016 Brexit vote. Feed wheat
futures, used as a benchmark
for UK prices, were up 38% year
on year at £146.75/t by February
2017, putting them ahead of
Paris milling wheat futures.
By the end of December 2017,
UK feed wheat futures had
fallen to £141.10/t [AHDB], but
that remains well above pre-
referendum vote levels.
At the end of last year, Alex
Waugh, director of the National
Association of British and Irish
Flour Millers, told The Grocer
milling wheat prices had surged
by about 20% – mostly as a
result of the decline in the value
of the pound.
The UK also su ered a “vari-
able” wheat harvest last year,
which reduced the proportion of
grain meeting the main bread-
making speci cation, he added.the price of six Sunblest Potato
Farls by 10p to £1.10.
However, prices for Allinson’s
bread have remained largely
consistent since the brand was
relaunched by Allied in January
2017, with an rsp of £1.35 for the
650g premium loaves.
Price hikes on Allied brands
come amid wider increases on
supermarket bread over the
past 12 months. A 400g loaf of
Hovis Medium Wholemeal is up
by 13.6% to an average of 78p,
for example, while a 400g loafof Warburtons Medium White
Bread is up by 2.0% to 82p.
Own label bread is also get-
ting pricer, with an 800g loaf of
medium white sliced now 55p
on average, up by 12.2% year
on year.
Allied Bakeries reported a
loss in November, warning
commodity in ation – par-
ticularly for wheat – and lower
retail prices had caused “sig-
ni cant margin decline” for the
business.
Speaking in November,Kingsmill 800g loaves are now £1 at Tesco, up from 80p in January 2017Carina Perkins
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