By Tony Reid
A milk price war is starting to break out but not where it counts - at the big supermarket chains.
Instead, Nosh Food Market is taking a swipe at smaller competitors who it says are buying Nosh's cheap milk then on-selling it for a profit.
At $2 for two litres Nosh's milk special is proving a big hit with customers.
“Probably up 30 percent in terms of what we're selling, we've had to put fridges in to cope with the volume,” says Paul Cibulskis, Nosh’s Mt Eden owner.
Nosh takes a 50c hit on each two litre bottle it sells.
But not everyone who is buying the milk is drinking it.
“It's an unfortunate incident that happens on a regular basis as far as trade coming in and purchasing the milk to on-sell,” says Mr Cibulskis.
3 News found one such example a few hundred metres up the road from Nosh.
Owners at a small store confirmed sending their children to Nosh to buy milk on numerous occasions.
The owner of the dairy did not want to appear on camera but says she bought the milk from Nosh because it was cheap and she could make a profit.
She says Nosh is selling milk at such a low price, it is killing her business
“Look, it is what it is, and people just exploit it for whatever means possible. I've seen them back again yesterday. But that's just the way it is,” says Mr Cibulskis.
But Jubeda Patel who owns a superette in Auckland’s CBD says milk pricing is the cause of this war between Nosh and the dairy up the road.
And she says Nosh is being a bit precious.
“I don’t think she's doing anything wrong. She's running a business which is hard for everyone. She's paying the price that Nosh is asking. And Nosh may be closing earlier hours and she may be able to offer it at a different hour to them,” says Ms Patel.
Nosh has now told the owners of the dairy not to come back.
3 News