In the course of my recent meetings with the retailers, I put it to them that they should be in a position to convince consumers that they are giving a fair deal on falling meat prices. I would also exhort consumers to be aware of competing prices and to make the market work by making informed purchasing choices.
The most recent CSO consumer price index — October 1998 — indicates that in the twelve months since October 1997 the CPI rose by 2.9 per cent compared with 3 per cent in the 12 months to September 1998. Food prices increased by 4.5 per cent during the October 1997 to October 1998 period compared with an increase of 4.6 per cent during the 12 month period ending September 1998. The CPI also noted that food prices decreased during the month of October 1998 due to, inter alia, falling beef, mutton-lamb, pork and poultry prices.