Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 32


     
     1        a down-graded meat.
     2
     3   Q.   I appreciate that, but I thought you made a large part of
     4        your money by selling things other than shoulder to
     5        supermarkets at a higher price?
     6        A.  Yes, compared to the supermarket prices, it is
     7        discounted roughly 25 to 30 per cent on average to what the
     8        supermarket price is.
     9
    10   Q.   I am afraid I have just run up against a wall because
    11        I appreciate that in relation to shoulder of pork, but
    12        there must be some other part of the pig, and I am not an
    13        adequate butcher to know which costs more than a shoulder
    14        of pork?
    15        A.  Yes, OK, well, take the loin that goes into chops.
    16
    17   Q.   Yes, compare it with that.  What is the basic proportion
    18        and then you have a discount anyway?
    19        A.  That would be roughly a 40 per cent discount, so a loin
    20        of pork that goes into chops.
    21
    22   MS. STEEL:   What would be the difference in price between a
    23        shoulder of pork from an indoor reared pig and a shoulder
    24        of pork from a Freedom Food pig?
    25        A.  The cost of production would be about 15 to 20 per cent
    26        more.
    27
    28   Q.   So that is how much a customer would pay more?
    29        A.  That is what we try to make them pay.
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If I seemed impatient, it was frustration
    32        with my own inability rather than yours as a witness,
    33        Mr. Bowes.
    34        A.  That is quite all right, sir.
    35
    36   MR. MORRIS:  It is still relevant to know 15 per cent of what
    37        because it is relevant to know what percentage of the final
    38        product price sold by McDonald's that would be.  So, how
    39        much do McDonald's pay?  It does not have to be to the
    40        nearest penny.
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I am going to rule against you on that
    43        because I think this has got very far away from what is in
    44        the leaflet.  If you demonstrate at the end of the day that
    45         -- I will use the adjective -- an inhumane practice
    46        prevails, it may well be that you do not have to worry
    47        about the commercial balance at all.  But what you are
    48        setting out to prove is the inhumane practices in the first
    49        place.  You may well do quite well on the argument that if
    50        it is humane, it is just too bad if it is unprofitable. 
    51 
    52   MS. STEEL:   In the pamphlet it says that many weaners are 
    53        bought in for the finishing herd?
    54        A.  Yes.
    55
    56   Q.   So are they bought at the age of three weeks?
    57        A.  Yes -- no, no, for the finishing herd?  No, they are
    58        bought in at 30 kilograms.
    59
    60   Q.   30 kilograms.

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