The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), on Sunday, demanded that the state-owned cooperative Milk Vita reduce milk prices to give consumers some relief amid the pandemic.
Earlier on March 13, Milk Vita raised the maximum retail price of a litre pasteurised milk to Tk 75 from Tk 70.
On the same day, it also raised the price of half-litre milk to Tk 40 from Tk 35 and quarter-litre milk to Tk 25 from Tk 20.
Most of the other companies, however, raised the retail prices of their half-litre packs by Tk 3.0 to Tk 5.0.
CAB Vice President SM Nazer Hossain, its Chittagong Divisional General Secretary Kazi Iqbal Bahar Chhaberi, among others, raised the demand through a press statement.
The CAB leaders demanded an immediate reduction in the prices of packaged liquid milk before Ramadan.
They said Milk Vita had not done justice to the limited-income people as they have to pay a higher price for smaller packs.
The organisation also stated Milk Vita has increased the price of their milk eight times since 2009.
The surge in Milk Vita milk prices will encourage the private sector producers to raise their milk prices amid the pandemic when doctors are suggesting increasing milk consumption for better immunity.
However, powdered milk prices also increased by Tk 20-30 per kg over the last three weeks, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
According to Milk Vita, it supplies 140,000-170,000 litres of pasteurised milk every day, which comprises over 40 per cent of the market share.
Currently, the domestic production of milk is 9.9 million tonnes against a demand of 15 million tonnes.
The country imports 140,000-150,000 tonnes of powdered milk to meet the shortfall.
