ELI5: The US-Canadian price disparity

[BurnoutBinLaden]

I have heard every reason under the sun: higher taxes, higher minimum wage, stricter labor laws, tarriffs...but I really want to know. Why is milk $4.50? Why do US retailers charge 30-40% more in Canada?

I was hoping someone more knowledgeable on the matter could shed some insight.

[willystyle]

You've answered your own question. It's a combination of those plus more.

To add to your OP:

Stricter food regulation
Less competitive market
Location of production facilities (most are located in the East coast. Shorter delivery distances = cheaper shipping)

[Spoon]

10x our population.

Why do you think China's such a big deal? They actually have the numbers to consume and the money to do it.

[willystyle]

Milk is actually $6 for 4L now at most supermarkets. On the other hand, it's $3 in the US for 4L at Walmart, even cheaper if you shop at Costco US.

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

if you wanna hedge your milk production with milk futures, you use USD.

USD is the world standard for most agricultural/food/whatever products.

[minoru_tanaka]

The Canadian Dairy Commission forces prices up so all our farms can stay family owned

[Tapioca]

Milk that lasts for a month is just wrong which is why I will gladly pay $1 more for Canadian milk. 4L jugs are at Shoppers for 4.59 pretty much every day. I go through maybe 4L every couple of weeks, so to me, it's not worth going down to Costco USA to save a buck and put something of questionnable content in my system.
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[willystyle]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Milk that lasts for a month is just wrong which is why I will gladly pay $1 more for Canadian milk. 4L jugs are at Shoppers for 4.59 pretty much every day. I go through maybe 4L every couple of weeks, so to me, it's not worth going down to Costco USA to save a buck and put something of questionnable content in my system.
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Actually they last like 2 months, even when it's anti-biotic, hormone-free milk from Costco in the US. It's quite scary actually. Milk in Canada is pasteurized, but in the US, it is all ULTRA-PASTEURIZED. I'm sure that makes a difference to their shelf-life.

[Qmx323]

ugh, the kind of shit they put in their bodies

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

isn't pasteurization just using heat to kill the bacteria?

[Noizz]

Originally Posted by willystyle

Actually they last like 2 months, even when it's anti-biotic, hormone-free milk from Costco in the US. It's quite scary actually. Milk in Canada is pasteurized, but in the US, it is all ULTRA-PASTEURIZED. I'm sure that makes a difference to their shelf-life.

I'm so sick of hearing this bullshit about the processing of foods and how it dramatically decreases the quality of our food. Pasteurization is needed if you don't want to exposed to bacteria that thrive in our foods. Ever heard of botulism? It is a neuro-toxin found in food that will paralyze this shit out of you. Do you want to take that chance?

Originally Posted by Ulic Qel-Droma

isn't pasteurization just using heat to kill the bacteria?

Ulic is right, nothing is added to your food or milk, and yes the heat will reduce nutrition, however it is insignificant when you compare the benefits of killing off any bacteria.

Reduction in nutrition is roughly 5-10%. A small sacrifice to prevent bacteria from germinating. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art...282302/?page=1

In regards to "ULTRA-PASTEURIZATION", you have it all wrong. Otherwise known as UHTP or ultra-high-temperature processing, it is actually better than pasteurization because it extends shelf-life, while maintaining the same level of nutrition and quality.

UHTP heats your food or milk to 135 degrees for 1-2 seconds. Regular pasteurization heats it to 72 degrees for 15 seconds.

Which one do you think is better? It is the same principal as flash freezing. If you can apply heat for a shorter period of time, you will retain more freshness, nutrition, and quality versus heat being applied for a longer period.

In today's world, where we ship foods from all over the world, almost every food out there is processed to some degree to extend the shelf life so it has adequate time to reach our stores before spoiling.

Processing is not a bad thing. People need to stop going overboard with this crap. All this organic bullshit is just another way to increase margins on the foods that we eat. What do you think happens to "organic milk"? It comes off the cow into a jar and into your store?

Organic milk is processed with UHTP. Why does organic milk last so much longer than regular milk?: Scientific American

You don't even need to refrigerate foods processed by UHTP. So think about your "organic milk" being shipped and stored at room temperature for a week before it hits the shelves. All these shoppers at Whole Foods are eating this shit up thinking that it is worlds better than regular milk, when its the same god damn shit.

[Marshall Placid]

Specifically, I see that you are asking about "US Retaliers" charging more in Canada, and not Canadian owned businesses charging more in Canada.

1-Distribution costs since Canada has one of the lowest density for population in the world. For example, even though there are large cities in Canada, there are not as many large cities NEAR these large cities such as in the US.

2-Currency fluctuations hedge. The CDN dollar used to be $1.50+ to $1.00 USD.

3-And one of the posters mentioned about tariffs. I think there are duties on milk produced in the USA being imported into Canada.

4-Smaller market

5-Milk, in my opinion, is price inelastic. So, Canadians will continue to buy milk even though the price increases, so retailers will and can charge more. There is no real substitute to milk.

[SkinnyPupp]

UHT milk is disgusting. Would rather pay more and deal with shorter shelf lives, IMO

[willystyle]

Originally Posted by Noizz

I'm so sick of hearing this bullshit about the processing of foods and how it dramatically decreases the quality of our food. Pasteurization is needed if you don't want to exposed to bacteria that thrive in our foods. Ever heard of botulism? It is a neuro-toxin found in food that will paralyze this shit out of you. Do you want to take that chance?

Calm your tits. I never said ULTRA-PASTEURIZATION decreases the quality of the food. Just scary to think that the milk lasts 4x longer with ULTRA-PASTEURIZATION than the Canadian counterpart.

[LiquidTurbo]

I stopped drinking milk years ago. Don't really think it's necessary at all.. and don't say the C-word..

[minoru_tanaka]

Originally Posted by Marshall Placid

Specifically, I see that you are asking about "US Retaliers" charging more in Canada, and not Canadian owned businesses charging more in Canada.

1-Distribution costs since Canada has one of the lowest density for population in the world. For example, even though there are large cities in Canada, there are not as many large cities NEAR these large cities such as in the US.

2-Currency fluctuations hedge. The CDN dollar used to be $1.50+ to $1.00 USD.

3-And one of the posters mentioned about tariffs. I think there are duties on milk produced in the USA being imported into Canada.

4-Smaller market

5-Milk, in my opinion, is price inelastic. So, Canadians will continue to buy milk even though the price increases, so retailers will and can charge more. There is no real substitute to milk.

Except for #5 the rest are insignificant. The Canadian Dairy Commission controls the price of milk in Canada
Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association | Canadian dairy prices go up yet again

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Dairy_CommissionAccording to the Act, CDC is mandated to "provide efficient producers of milk and cream with the opportunity to obtain a fair return for their labour and investment, and to provide consumers of dairy products with a continuous and adequate supply of dairy products of high quality.

Support Prices
They set minimum prices. They control supply, and from what some dairy farmers have told me, you produce an excess from the the CDC grants you, you dump it.

It keeps prices up so that smaller farms can survive