Milkmen - They can be cheaper

Chipps

We have 3 pints on Monday, Wednesday & Friday (the only days milkman delivers) and half a dozen free range eggs on Wednesday. Yes the milk is a bit dearer, but it and the eggs are local, and we feel we are supporting a service for the community. There are bungalows for the elderly not far from us, and the milkman is almost essential for some of the people there. Also, its nice to know that the milk will be sitting on the doorstep! I think ours arrives about 5am. We pay by direct debit, so I haven't actually met him!

Magpye

I'm trying to convince the OH to get milk delivered from the local dairy as we buy the big cartons and there's always some waste because someone refuses to drink the last few inches in the bottom of the carton.

I deal with dairy farmers on an almost daily basis and they really are struggling right now. I'd rather pay a bit extra and know that my local dairy farm is still going to be there in a few years than support the big milk cooperatives who are in the pockets of the supermarkets (I'm looking at you F**** M***!)

jcr16

our milk comes about half 4 in morning most days. and i don't know why but i find the sound of the battery powered milk float really reasuring. is that totally mad of me ????

maybe it cause it takes me back to when i was little i don't know.

pigpen

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by pigpen
I buy milk at £2 for 6 litres (2x 3L bottles).. which is around 25p a pint!! Milkman charges 55p a pint!!!!!!!!! which I think is disgustingly overpriced!!

It's not, I'm afraid. It's just about profitable at this price.

Supermarket milk is cheap, because the supermarkets use them as a "loss leader" i.e. come in for cheap milk, but buy other stuff.

Dairy farmers selling to a co-operative/milk producer get about 19p per litre. The additional cost to process, bottle and then deliver to your doorstep is another 20-25p which doesn't seem unreasonable when you include the cost of paying the milkman and running the vehicle.

BTW I only pay 46p a pint for my milk.

I fully understand those who buy only on price, but in a few years time there's a danger that all our dairy farmers will be pushed out of business and we'll only have imported milk .... produced to heavens' knows what standards (or lack of!).

It is overpriced.. if the big supermarkets can do it.. as can the larger organisations such as dairy crest then somebody is making a massive profit somewhere along the line.. and they aren't having it out of my purse. We use at least 6-8 ltr's of milk a day.. 2 adults, 8 children so just cereal and porridge in a morning uses 1 3ltr.

the loss leader thing doesn't work with me because I shop online and have it delivered... or I nip to the local corner shop where it is actually cheaper than the big supermarkets!!

There is no way I can afford to pay £6.60 for something I can get from the bottom of the street for £2.

Besides I need most of my milk in the morning and the delivery guy doesn't come until 11-11:30am.. or later.. and the crack heads in the house up the road nick it.. I've actually seen them do this when the pub over the road has had a delivery!!

smileitconfusespeople_2

dannahaz wrote: »

My milkman guarantees delivery by 6.30am. We have two pints a day (Mon-Sat), and it's brilliant knowing that I won't run out of milk. If I've got to much, I just leave a note cancelling one pint or both, If I need more, I leave a note.

He delivers loads of other stuff too (eggs, potatoes, squash, juice, lemonade, actimel, yoghurt, cheese, cream, veg boxes, the list goes on and on and on), but the only other thing we get from him is a 24 pack of Felix pouches on a Monday morning. Another godsend...we only used to go to a supermarket (or get a delivery) when we were running out of cat food.

He's more expensive than a supermarket, but in the scheme of things it's not a lot of money. I would rather pay a fair price for my milk anyway.

How can it be right that milk (from cows, which need feeding and managing and milking) is sold for less than water??

:T My hubbys one and leaves for work 10.00pm every night, I do agree that the milk is expensive but its also the life line that goes out there to all the frail and needy his part of the gentle whurring you hear in the morning ,in 27 years hes come across every possible senario, from helping pregnant women, to calling out the doctor, to ringing the police ,reporting deaths, ringing the rspca , hes been mugged loads of times the last time it really shook him up, but he still says the buzz it gives him is like nothing else between those magical hours of 3-5 when you get second wind , The milkmen are out there come wind, rain, sunshine ..
He works for a larger company that wear the green uniform and they are just about to start to take on line bookings and are looking into trying to be a little more competitive..:D

mandyc

We have always had a milkman. It used to be from the local farm but has long since been taken over by Express Dairies.

Now only DH and I at home we have a pint a day but still throw loads away as we both work full time and I hate milk!!!

I regard it as my charity - to help older people who perhaps cannot get to the supermarket and carry milk but I doubt doorstep deliveries will last much longer.

frosty

The supermarkets know when we go to buy a bottle of milk most of us come out with a trolley full of shopping,so its worth the low profit.Its not fair on the farmers who need a decent profit to survive.

lady_fuschia

I think this may be one of those things I just can't afford to do at the moment.
I agree with the principle of it, and I'd like to support the milkmen, as I'd like to always buy fair trade coffee, organic veg etc (and I do occasionally, as a gesture) but at the moment I just can't afford to double my outgoings on basics.
If I was better off I'd do it - but unfortunately it's just not a reality right now.

Almo

pigpen wrote: »

It is overpriced.. if the big supermarkets can do it.. as can the larger organisations such as dairy crest then somebody is making a massive profit somewhere along the line.. and they aren't having it out of my purse. We use at least 6-8 ltr's of milk a day.. 2 adults, 8 children so just cereal and porridge in a morning uses 1 3ltr.

the loss leader thing doesn't work with me because I shop online and have it delivered... or I nip to the local corner shop where it is actually cheaper than the big supermarkets!!

There is no way I can afford to pay £6.60 for something I can get from the bottom of the street for £2.

Besides I need most of my milk in the morning and the delivery guy doesn't come until 11-11:30am.. or later.. and the crack heads in the house up the road nick it.. I've actually seen them do this when the pub over the road has had a delivery!!

Hi Pigpen,

Your reasons for not buying milkman milk are totally understandable - if you need it 4 hours before he delivers it, it clearly isn't going to work! And if you're on a budget it's understandable that you can't pay milkman prices.

I did just want to mention that just because the supermarkets are providing milk at $x (no pound symbol on my keyboard) and the milkman provides it at $y, it doesn't mean the milkman is making a huge profit - it means the supermarkets are using their enormous buying power to force the farmers to sell at a price that equals a loss to them, and it also means that the supermarkets are happy to underprice their milk and lose money on it because they can recoup that money elsewhere once people are through their doors for the cheap milk. I understand your point that this doesn't work for you because you shop online, but I did just want to underline the fact the the milkman is not making a massive profit, the maths isn't that simple unfortunately

CLARABEL

hi all


I'm seriously considering getting the milk delivered as I really think that even though it's lots more expensive, it's money saving...

If i didn't have t pop to the local somerfield for milk every 2-3 days, then i dn't think i would be making the impulse buys of reduced items I seem to at the mo, and a spree for 4pints ofmilk often turns into 10quid spend...

what do people think? who hest milk delivered and loves it /has tried it and hates it?

I'd love to hear your opinions!

clara:T