§ 42. Mr. WATERSONasked the Food Controller whether he will state the amount of money paid per lb. for cheese to the farmer for home-produced cheese; and how much is the Government losing per lb. on home-produced cheese?
Mr. ROBERTSThe price paid by my Department to the farmer for home-produced hard cheese is at present 2s. per lb. for first grade; correspondingly lower prices are paid for inferior grades. After allowance is made for the costs of distribution, the loss on this home cheese taken by itself is at the rate of about 10½d. per lb. All the Ministry's purchases of cheese, both home and imported, are, however, pooled financially and sold at a fiat maximum, retail price, the losses on home cheese being met out of the margin of profit on the much larger bulk of imported cheese.