12:00a.m. 9th August 2008

| By Bill Hoffman

Upper Cuts Wholesale Meats director Steve Carmichael says that chocolate bars cost around $35 a kilo while the average cost of meat is almost half. Photo: Jason Dougherty/177539

Even at $27 a kilogram for a really prime cut, meat’s cheap.

That is one message shoppers would learn from any move to unit pricing as recommended this week by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after a six-month inquiry into grocery prices.

Steve Carmichael, of Upper Cuts Wholesale Meats at Palmview, has been informing customers of the comparative per kilogram value of different products for years.

“I got sick and tired of people saying meat’s dear,’’ he said.

“Butchers price per kilo. You consume food by weight so that should be how it is priced.’’

Go into a butcher shop supplied by the Carmichaels and complain about the price of meat and you will get a lesson in what things really cost.

Take potato chips as an example. A 50 gram packet will set you back $1.90 or $38 per kilogram.

Mars Bars, which weigh in at 60 grams, sell for $2.40 each. Their cost per kilogram is $40.

Cherry Ripes are even dearer. They sell for the same price each as Mars Bars but weigh five grams less, putting their kilogram price at $44.

“If you compare those prices with a good-quality rib fillet at $22 to $24 a kilogram, it puts things in a different perspective,” Steve said.

“Butcher shops are selling a fresh, clean, green product, all of which is consumable.

“People buying on a glance in supermarkets who don’t look closely at the weight and price per kilo are going to get hammered.”

The federal government said this week that it would look at the best way to introduce unit pricing to ensure the price per kilogram, litre or unit was displayed for all goods.