§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the reasons for the discrepancy between the recent movement of prices of milk(a) at the farm gate and (b) at supermarkets. [38470]
§ Mr. RookerRetail prices are affected by several factors apart from agricultural raw material costs, such as processing, marketing and distribution costs, and the marketing strategies of individual competing retailers. The recent, apparent increase in the difference between the farm-gate and retail milk prices follows a period during which that difference fell.