SPAGo 98
Do not ingest.
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2000
- Messages
- 4,154
is apparently illegal, too. 
Sale Of Cheap Milk Draws Suspicion
Wed Oct 9, 5:55 PM ET
A small grocery store chain in the region is under investigation for its low milk prices.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson said that the state wants to know if the company is not charging enough for a gallon of milk, violating a law that's been on the books for more than 60 years.
At Midland Farms, the $1.49 price that has milk flying off the shelves is all about timing. Right now, dairy farmers are being paid an all-time low, and the Brockton grocery store is just starting up.
By passing the store's milk savings on to customers, the smalltime grocer gets more business and a jump on the competition.
"It's giving the small guy a chance -- that's why I'm here right now," shopper Don Sullivan said.
That's why some of Midland Farms' competitors are sour. Complaints have prompted the Department of Food and Agriculture to investigate to see if the store is violating a 1934 Massachusetts milk control law, prohibiting the sale of milk below a company's cost.
There's no law restricting the alleged inflated pricing at other stores.
"They're making a larger margin than they would have previously when diary farmers where paid more," Midland Farms owner Demetrios E. Haseotes said.
On average at the Brockton Shaw's, milk retails for $2.99. Since 1991, the farmer has been paid just $1 per gallon.
At the three Massachusetts Midland Farms, owners said that they pass the savings on to customers. They say all operating costs are kept low, so the store, too, makes some profit.
The owner calls his store wholesale but high quality. He stacks food in the boxes they're shipped in instead of on shelves. Shoppers aren't given bags but are instead encouraged to take the cardboard boxes to carry groceries out.
"If somebody can get a bargain, why take it away from them?" shopper Steven Green said.
The owner of Midland Farms said that he has no problem opening up his books to prove that based in his transportation, labor and refrigeration costs. He said that he's not selling milk under cost or breaking the milk law.
There's a hearing in 30 days.
got it here
Sale Of Cheap Milk Draws Suspicion
Wed Oct 9, 5:55 PM ET
A small grocery store chain in the region is under investigation for its low milk prices.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson said that the state wants to know if the company is not charging enough for a gallon of milk, violating a law that's been on the books for more than 60 years.
At Midland Farms, the $1.49 price that has milk flying off the shelves is all about timing. Right now, dairy farmers are being paid an all-time low, and the Brockton grocery store is just starting up.
By passing the store's milk savings on to customers, the smalltime grocer gets more business and a jump on the competition.
"It's giving the small guy a chance -- that's why I'm here right now," shopper Don Sullivan said.
That's why some of Midland Farms' competitors are sour. Complaints have prompted the Department of Food and Agriculture to investigate to see if the store is violating a 1934 Massachusetts milk control law, prohibiting the sale of milk below a company's cost.
There's no law restricting the alleged inflated pricing at other stores.
"They're making a larger margin than they would have previously when diary farmers where paid more," Midland Farms owner Demetrios E. Haseotes said.
On average at the Brockton Shaw's, milk retails for $2.99. Since 1991, the farmer has been paid just $1 per gallon.
At the three Massachusetts Midland Farms, owners said that they pass the savings on to customers. They say all operating costs are kept low, so the store, too, makes some profit.
The owner calls his store wholesale but high quality. He stacks food in the boxes they're shipped in instead of on shelves. Shoppers aren't given bags but are instead encouraged to take the cardboard boxes to carry groceries out.
"If somebody can get a bargain, why take it away from them?" shopper Steven Green said.
The owner of Midland Farms said that he has no problem opening up his books to prove that based in his transportation, labor and refrigeration costs. He said that he's not selling milk under cost or breaking the milk law.
There's a hearing in 30 days.
got it here
