Free Your Milk: Restaurant Industry Leaders Appeal to Dairy Commission for Action on Inflated Prices

Outdated supply management policies restrict growth of Canadian dairy market

OTTAWA, Nov. 22, 2011 /CNW/ - The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) will appear before the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) today calling for relief from artificially inflated dairy prices.  More reasonable prices will allow restaurants to put more milk, cheese and other dairy products on their menus and help to reverse a trend of declining consumer demand for dairy products.

The CRFA will present to the CDC's three-person board of directors, which holds closed meetings to set the price of industrial milk, used to make cheese and other dairy products.

"Canadian restaurants buy over $2.7 billion worth of dairy products each year and we are concerned by the artificially high, government-fixed prices as set by the CDC," says CRFA President and CEO Garth Whyte. "Over the past decade, the price of industrial milk has been rising faster than inflation and faster than the cost of dairy production. Canadian consumers deserve a break."

Data from the CDC and Statistics Canada indicate that the price of industrial milk has increased almost 10 times faster than the cost of production since 1994.  Even during years where cost of production fell, the CDC did not pass on savings to Canadian dairy consumers.

"We need reasonable pricing if we are going to grow the dairy industry in Canada," says Whyte. "Our members tell us that dairy products are being priced right off the menu."

The CDC's closed-door pricing sessions follow the launch of CRFA's Free Your Milk campaign (www.freeyourmilk.ca), designed to draw attention to the 40-year-old supply management policies responsible for inflating the cost of dairy in Canada to double the international market average. The Free Your Milk campaign grew from consumer research commissioned by CRFA that found 70% of Canadians feel that keeping the cost of milk and dairy products down is very or somewhat important.

"We are encouraged that the government is finally starting to consider the real costs and the opportunity costs of our current dairy system when it comes to international trade and access to growing world markets," says Whyte. "While we look forward to a fair and transparent system in the future, today we are focused on a fair price for Canadian consumers and restaurant operators."

About the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association

The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) is one of Canada's largest business associations, representing more than 30,000 members across the country in every sector of the vibrant foodservice industry, including restaurants, bars, cafeterias, coffee shops and contract and social caterers. Canada's $63-billion foodservice industry employs more than one million people in communities across the country. Through advocacy, research, member savings and industry events, we help our members grow and prosper.