Im back, and I need your help!

Sounds like you got a good handle on this already! great work.. any idea's.. i got non at the moment

I don't know if this will help but here is the transcript of my recent communications with Coles about this subject:

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From me to Coles on 10/01/2011

"I have noticed your recent advertising regarding milk pricing with the the tag line "Because we all buy milk".
       I however am a VEGAN and I do not buy milk or any other dairy products. This statement is not only incorrect but offensive to myself and many other compassionate people.
       Can you please advise me when you will consider discounting NON-DAIRY alternatives such as soy milk, rice milk etc. so that WE may feel that your business is worth supporting.
       Finally, please consider giving this FEEDBACK the relevant consideration that I and my fellow vegans deserve rather than a standard, pre written response.


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From Coles to me on 18/02/2011

Dear Mr Haynes

Thank you for your emaiil regarding the recent price reduction of our Coles brand Milk.

Coles have an ongoing commitment to provide our customers with a great range of quality food that costs less. The recent price reduction of our Coles brand 2 and 3 litre milk is just one of the many ways that we are delivering on this commitment.

Coles is acutely aware of the need to offer our customers value through competitive pricing.  We work very hard to regularly monitor prices to ensure we maintain competitive pricing and value for our customers.

Pricing is influenced by a wide range of factors including the prices suppliers charge us, seasonal factors including availability of and quality of product, transport and distribution costs, and various promotional activities offered daily by competitors in the marketplace.

Once again, thank you for your email. We appreciate the feedback and will continue to monitor our Soy Milk, and all our products, to ensure that we remain price competitive.

Yours sincerely
Brendan Hardy
Coles Customer Care

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From me to Coles on 20/02/2011

Thank you for responding to my feedback however you failed to actually answer my question.  As I am sure this was simply an oversight on behalf of the writer (Brenda Hardly) I have added below a copy of my original email.

       "I have noticed your recent advertising regarding milk pricing with the the tag line "Because we all buy milk".
       I however am a VEGAN and I do not buy milk or any other dairy products. This statement is not only incorrect but offensive to myself and many other compassionate people.
       Can you please advise me when you will consider discounting NON-DAIRY alternatives such as soy milk, rice milk etc. so that WE may feel that your business is worth supporting.
       Finally, please consider giving this FEEDBACK the relevant consideration that I and my fellow vegans deserve rather than a standard, pre written response.

Your reply stated "Pricing is influenced by a wide range of factors including the prices suppliers charge us, seasonal factors including availability of and quality of product, transport and distribution costs, and various promotional activities offered daily by competitors in the marketplace.

Why does this response appear to contradict the information supplied on your website at Coles Milk Pricing Fact Sheet. (QUOTE "Coles has therefore reduced its own profit margin on milk sales so that it can provide a benefit to its customers."

So once again could you please advise me of when customers that choose cruelty free products such as non-dairy milk can look forward to the same pricing considerations as your other customers.

Regards,

Trevor Haynes


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From me to Coles on 07/03/2011

I sent the following email to on the 20th February 2011 but have not as yet received a reply.
Would you please check your systems to ensure that you have received my correspondence and wether a reply will be forthcoming in the near future.
If I have not addressed this this to the correct department within your organisation I would appreciate you advising me of the best person for me to contact directly.

Regards,

Trevor Haynes

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From Coles to me on 08/00/2011

Dear Mr Haynes

Thank you for your recent email regarding the response I sent you.

I was concerned that you are not satisfied with my response and extend my apologies.

Our Merchandise department have advised that Coles have made the decision to absorb the costs of the Prices are Down price reduction on Coles Milk and has not sought any reduced prices from the processors we buy from. However, your concerns regarding the price of  Soy/Non Dairy Milk products, which the Pricing is influenced by a wide range of factors as mentioned has been passed on to our Merchandise and Marketing Teams for their information.

Yours sincerely

Brendan Hardy
Coles Customer Care

I've missed you Hope!
How are you?
I was just thinking about you yesterday....
How are all your little babies?

Thanks Trevor, that is a great start. I'll probably have to contact Coles myself in order to use any statements from them but you've just given me some great background

Hey Leesa! I have not been fantastic health wise but am soo much better now and am at uni studying post grad Journalism (hence the article). The babes are all good, one of them had a seizure though so have been a little worried about her but hopefully its nothing to stress about.

That's so awesome that you are studying journalism!
Sorry to hear about you not being well and one of your little babies having a seizure!
Are you still on facebook? I deleted my old account but have a new 'secret' one lol

In relation to the milk price wars, you may want to refer to the Dairy Australia website, they have all their future projections etc might give you an idea whether Woolies & Coles prices affect them.

http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/

It's like anything, look at chicken prices, 50 years ago , chicken was a 'treat' for most families and was alot more expensive. Now you can get a cooked chook for $7 and a fresh one for something like $3... when prices are pushed down due to consumer demand and availability the animals suffer, this is clear with modern day chicken farming. I really have no doubt the Dairy Industry will progress in years to come to be more factory farmed like America - Cows kept in sheds constantly etc.

50 years ago 3million chickens were killed commercially yearly and now it's something like 488million every year. Prices have dropped because of reduced welfare situations for the birds.
If industries find ways to make more profit at the animals expensive they'll do it and the governments allow it because they are more concerned with keepint these industries votes than they are concerned for the welfare of creatures that don't vote.

People need to be willing to pay a couple of extra dollars to benefit the welfare of these animals.

http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Our-Dairy-Industry/Dairy-Situation-and-Outlook.aspx

Dairy Australia Feb update-

Key points:

• The international market outlook for dairy is generally stable and positive, supporting an average farmgate price for southern producers of $5.30 to $5.50 kg MS in 2010/11.

• Domestic margins are under pressure from retailer discounting and sluggish consumer spending.

• Dairy Australia’s forecast is slightly lower at 9.0 to 9.1 billion litres for 2010/11, largely reflecting extremely wet conditions in the eastern states and limited cow numbers

Thanks heaps! That will surely get me started. I am just hoping I can get someone to talk to me about the real impact on the cows. I'm sure that the farmers will say it doesn't affect the animals, but I am sure that it does, so I have to figure out who to talk to.
Hopefully I can get people to realise that their milk is not just a product in a bottle.

I am still on fb, I was wondering where you'd gone!

i suggest you check out this thread

http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=4659

Emma, (4_da_animals1) started it, she worked in a dairy farm over the summer

Add me!
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100002049291382

& yep I agree it will affect the cows, if it affects the retailers it's really just a domino effect, it will affect the farmers and to remain profitable the farmers need to cut costs or become more efficient and when you're talking about animals being the profit - their welfare will surely suffer more because of it.

Thanks, I saw that actually and was going to ask Emma if I might be able to interview her. I am just trying to figure out the story first though so that her experience can be as useful as possible