Day 123 - 09 May 95 - Page 36
1 Q. How long is it since you have bought a loaf of bread?
2 A. Oh, I have bought a loaf of bread, oh, a few weeks
3 ago. I still do my own shopping, at least, I attempt to
4 help my wife out from time to time and do the shopping.
5
6 Q. On the last occasion you said it would be 40 cents?
7 A. Yes, that is about right. Sometimes there are
8 bargains. You can get three loaves of bread for a
9 dollar ---
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Three for a dollar or something?
12 A. Yes, three for a dollar.
13
14 MS. STEEL: Do you know the Jewel chain stores?
15 A. Yes.
16
17 Q. They are quite a well-known supermarket in America?
18 A. Yes, particularly in the Chicago area.
19
20 Q. Yes. A more realistic price for bread would be well over a
21 dollar, would it not?
22 A. No, from time to time there are sales on bread. The
23 regular price for bread might be as much as twice the cost
24 during a sale period. There are times during the week
25 where you can buy certain groceries, certain goods, at a
26 greatly reduced price. If you are a regular consumer,
27 particularly at the Jewel chain, you can have a preferred
28 card. A preferred card gives you an additional discount
29 over and above the discounted price to the general public.
30
31 Q. Right, but to the general public $1.79 would not be an
32 unusual price to pay for a loaf of brown bread?
33 A. That is very unusual.
34
35 Q. You think that is unusual?
36 A. That is a gourmet -- that must be a gourmet loaf of
37 bread. That is not a regular loaf of bread at $1.79. I
38 would not pay a $1 79 cents for loaf of bread. Maybe if it
39 is multi-grain, specially baked with special ingredients
40 I might pay $1.79, but that would be a rare situation.
41 I would not characterise the typical loaf of bread that the
42 average person would buy in a supermarket, I would not say
43 that it would cost $1 79 cents. That is an unbelievable
44 price to me.
45
46 MS. STEEL: I do not really know what to do, but when I was
47 reading Mr. Beavers' evidence at the weekend -- as you
48 know, we have just been to America -- it occurred to me
49 that 40 cents was an incredibly low price. It was
50 something like about 25 pence, I think. I looked through
51 the things I brought back with me. There was actually a
52 receipt with a price for a loaf of bread on it. It is
53 $1.79 and that is from Jewel stores.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you know anything more about it?
56
57 MS. STEEL: I know it was brown sliced loaf.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have not heard the phrase "gourmet" loaf of
60 bread before, but I can see that there are fancy loaves
