§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what information she collects on changes in farmgate and supermarket prices; and if she will make a statement; [43834]
(2) if she will list the monthly changes over the last 24 months of (a) the farmgate price and (b) the supermarket price of a 35 lb lamb. [43835]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 15 March 2002]: Information on farmgate prices is collected from a variety of sources including my Department's own surveys of milk and egg processors, DEFRA Agricultural Market Reports, the Home Grown Cereals Authority, the British Potato Council and the Meat and Livestock Commission.
Price indices based on these data are published monthly as "Agricultural Price Indices, United Kingdom".
Retail prices are estimated from data on expenditure and volume of purchases as collected in the Expenditure and Food Survey (formerly the National Food Survey). These data are not published monthly as the sample size is insufficient. Approximate prices for selected commodities can be estimated from expenditure and consumption data that are published in the quarterly Statistics News Release. Annual average prices are given in the annual report on the survey (NFS 2000 is the latest).
Monthly movements in retail prices for food, as with other items, are best monitored by reference to the Retail Price Index published by the Office for National Statistics.
Information for the API for sheep and the RPI for home-killed lamb for the period January 2000 to December 2001 is given in the following table in terms of three-month moving averages. Agricultural producer prices were 7 per cent. lower at the end of the period than at the beginning while retail prices were 2.8 per cent. higher.
Retail prices lag several months behind producer price movements and show less volatility.
All foods as purchased by consumers will differ to some extent from the ex-farm commodity. Meat as retailed will have been de-boned, cut, trimmed of most fat and packaged. These additional processes affect the validity of a direct comparison between the consumer and farmgate prices.
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Producer and retail price indices: sheep and home-killed lamb 1 Date Agricultural producer prices 2 Retail prices 3 2000 January 100.0 100.0 February 108.3 103.9 March 115.0 107.0 April 115.1 109.4 May 110.8 110.6 June 102.0 109.3 July 94.2 105.9
Producer and retail price indices: sheep and home-killed lamb 1 Date Agricultural producer prices2 Retail prices3 August 89.4 102.9 September 88.0 100.9 October 88.6 100.6 November 91.8 100.2 December 103.2 101.4 2001 January 115.9 104.3 February 115.7 109.4 March 112.7 112.7 April 105.7 114.8 May 107.9 114.6 June 98.6 113.1 July 90.0 108.9 August 82.1 105.4 September 79.0 103.4 October 83.6 102.9 November 93.0 102.8 December — — 1 3-month moving averages (December 1999-February 2000=100) 2 DEFRA: Agricultural Price Indices, United Kingdom (www.defra.gov.uk) 3 ONS: Consumer Price Indices (www.statistics.gov.uk)