Olivier Bourbeau, vice-president of Restaurants Canada, said restaurant owners and other customers ought to have a say in milk pricing done by the Canadian Dairy Commission and provincial marketing boards.
In an article by Cloe Desiree Juarez of eDairy Market in the United States, he said the commission needs to change to more “collaboration instead of confrontation.”
Bourbeau said Restaurants Canada has long sought a seat on the commission’s board of directors or for a say in pricing, but is frequently rebuffed.
Juarez said dairy farmers question some costs, such as for advertising and marketing.
Dairy Farmers of Ontario spent $15.6 million on advertising and $8 million for consumer marketing, and Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) spent $22.3 million on marketing,” yet research shows the price of dairy is more likely to influence consumers than generic marketing, “ Juarez wrote.
She quoted dairy farmer and cheese maker Jean Morin of Sainte-Elizabeth-de-Warwick, Que., saying the cost of quota makes it too expensive for young farmers to get into dairy.
“DFC is a private club for rich people. They just want to make more money, and they don’t want to do better,” he said.
Agropur’s profit increased six-fold to$274 million in net earnings in 2021, yet the farmers who own that co-operative say they aren’t being paid enough, Juarez wrote.
When farmers’ milk price increased recently by 2.5 per cent, Sobeys, Loblaws, Metro and Walmart increased their retail milk prices by six per cent, she wrote.
She said politicians rarely criticize the system. Maxine Bernier is an exception and said it cost him the leadership race for the federal Conservatives.
She cited an Angus Reid survey in 2017 that found 58 per cent of Canadians know “nothing at all” about how suppy management works.
