Price of milk

[ghoti_mhic_uait]

I was just looking into the cost of a milkman, because the price of milk in shops has risen dramatically recently (I suspect the milkman price has too). Turns out the weekly cost of having our milk delivered by a milkman is almost twice that of buying it at Waitrose. That's not quite true, because of petrol coses, but I actually mostly can be bothered to walk to Tesco/Budgens, and therefore only drive (or have shopping delivered) when I need a lot anyway.

Comments

[sphyg.livejournal.com]

We get our milk (plus OJ and bread) delivered by Dairy Crest - it's more convenient than carrying shopping home and our plastic recycling is noticably reduced.

[eldar.livejournal.com]

The price of milk in supermarkets is approximately the same as doorstep delivery was 10-15 years ago. This is why doorstep deliveries went into decline. Don't forget that any price rises that the supermarkets have to pass on, the milkman will have to pass on as well and they may be steeper rises than the shops.

It is also a fallacy that electric milk floats are somehow "better for the environment":
- Do you realise just how much electricity they use? In general their batteries require charging for 12+ hours each day. Most dairies won't be hooked up to a wind turbine.
- Those batteries? Full of really, really, nasty stuff. Not to mention they require weekly top-offs with distilled water, and there's energy going into making that stuff (and delivering it!) as well.

[alison-lees.livejournal.com]

Yes, milkmen are only a good idea if you have to buy milk every day and it's too difficult to get to the shops. And if the milk isn't delivered by the milkman until after you've gone to work, (John leaves the house at 7 am) and is delivered by the milkman in plastic cartons instead of glass bottles, then there's no point at all.

[badriya.livejournal.com]

What a shame. When I had two small children and a merchant navy husband the milkman was a lifeline. (No! Not for that you murky-minded readers) He delivered milk, butter, eggs, chicken, yoghurt, potatoes, bread and OJ. If one of the kids was ill and I couldn't get out it was handy. And as cheap as the shops.

There was no Ocado delivery then. Ocado and Waitrose are free and one hour slots if the total cost is over £75, or it used to be. Also watch environment and tell you when the van is in your area.

Actually mum was ony 10 mins away by car too and would come over if needed :).

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I'm fortunate enough to have a choice of supermarkets on reasonable routes to cycle home from work, so I do food shopping (including, indeed, milk) then.

[hatter.livejournal.com]

From an ethical side I wonder if the delivery dairies give more money to the farmers than the supermarkets. But personally I use a milkman because it's convenient for me - I don't go to the supermarket several times a week, I'll buy from local shops as and when I need things unexpectedly, but I don't pick stuff up there as a habit because I'm aware it's more expensive. Part of the high pricing of delivered milk is no doubt due to the lower density of households who use them these days, but there's not much that can be done on the small scale to fix that. Maybe some government subsidies. But perhaps if people didn't need to buy something so frequently from the supermarkets, they'd do fewer, bigger shops.


the hatter