Cheese sandwiches and pizzas may no longer be a cheap snack. A combination of freakish weather and runaway global demand for milk is sending the price of cheese soaring.

In the past three months the wholesale price of cheddar in Britain has increased by £350 a tonne, breaking the £2,000 mark. Similar rises over the next quarter look likely and cheesemakers are braced for hefty price hikes.

It is bad news for pizza chains and Britain's fromage lovers who have enjoyed four years of the price remaining stable. But no more.

'There has been a surge in prices for butter and milk powder,' said Nigel White, secretary of the British Cheese Board, the body that represents more than 40 of Britain's cheesemakers. 'It's going to have to ripple through to the cheese market. 'A lot of cheese prices are based on contracts that are currently in place but are soon going to come to an end. The pressure is building.'

Historically, wholesale milk prices have remained low in the UK. Currently a litre of milk sells for around 18 pence. 'But as contracts are renewed there's talk it will go to 25 pence by Christmas,' said Gwyn Jones, chairman of the National Farmers' Union Dairy Board.

Source:Guardian Unlimited