Milkmen - They can be cheaper

Katyag

rh1 wrote:

- it comes straight from the farm at 40p a pint and doesn't go through a factory process of homogenisation

Im not sure if this is actually true in all cases. My DH works for Robert Wiseman Dairies and he packs up milk loads for vans for supermarkets and for milkmen alike. So what these milkmen are delivering is exactly what you get in the shops.

I wanted a milkman but they have just stopped delivering round here as it wasnt profitable.

Paul_VW

used a milk man for over 2 years, really value the service have 4 pints a week

also often get the various other special offers from him (calanders, books, saucepans, hot cross buns etc)

milk is 49p a pint, and we have 1 pint of organic milk a week as a treat which is 64p.

oh, and we get £1 a week savings stamp, so at the end of the year we have £52 to spend on a food hamper, which cuts down he amount you have to sepnd on the christmas shop :T

we pay by direct debit, so we have never even see our milkman :laugh:

kit

Katyag wrote:

Im not sure if this is actually true in all cases. My DH works for Robert Wiseman Dairies and he packs up milk loads for vans for supermarkets and for milkmen alike. So what these milkmen are delivering is exactly what you get in the shops.

I agree.... milk in bottles (from milkman) is not straight from the farm... having grown up on a farm I can safely say the difference in shop/milkman bought milk and fresh milk is huge! Milk is required to go through a factory 'process' before being sold due to regulations.

Chipps

We have just recently started to get some milk from the milkman. The milk is on the doorstep in the morning - Monday morning, our DS wasn't well so didn't sleep well & said he heard the milkman come at 3am.
We have 3 pints of semi skimmed a week, free range eggs on Wednesdays (from local egg farm) and an organic box fortnightly. The rest of our milk is UHT skimmed - so still don't have to go to the shops daily to buy it.

We get a bill monthly, & leave a cheque although we could choose direct debit, or even weekly collection. We decided against the latter option cos once my DH was made redundant & for a week he worked as a milkman - he didn't mind getting up & delivering milk, but hated having to go out in the evening & knocking on every door - lots of flats as well - for the money, especially after a very early start. Not surprisingly he only stayed one week, fortunately he got another job quite quickly.

The main reason we decided to support the local milkman (it's the Co-op) was that - apart from the convenience for us - the more people use the service the more likely it is to be available for those who rely on it ie elderly folk. As someone else said, it is often the milkman who is able to spot if there is a problem.

Someone mentioned the problem of having milk on the doorstep in the sun or warm nights. My sister's milkman comes quite late in the day, but her DH insists on having milk delivered. So they have an insulated box, shaped for 2 milk bottles, which keeps the milk fresh while they are at work.

meeps

I was having milk delivered last year as I had a baby and didn't get out quite so much, and our local shop, a netto burned down- however, once the netto was back and a trip to the shop became a fun outing for a toddler we cancelled- netto were also doing a deal of 2 big milks for 1.85 which is a LOT cheaper than dairy crest round here. Since we cancelled we have had dairy crest come to the door at least half a dozen times trying to get us back. The delivery times were also rather erratic and we also got woken by the van if it was early, so all in all I wouldn't go back. If I lived in my ideal world and was comfortably off I would have a lot of regular stuff delivered, organic milk and veg and the like..

nicola.1

i buy 18 pints of full cream for kids and 12 pints for me and other half every week sometimes more. thats 30 pints a week at 48p from milkman £14.40 or 30 pints a week from tesco at £7.50
no competition tesco wins hands down plus i get points too!!

marsha8

I'm going off at a slight tangent here but as the subject concerns milk here I go.I was watching a television programme a few months ago and discovered that some cows NEVER EVER see a field.How awful is that?I knew about battery hens but not about "battery cows". I now never buy milk unless it is organic in the hope that my milk comes from cows that have enjoyed green grass & fresh air.It costs more - 82p for a 2 pint bottle but I need to do this to show that I care.Whether I can believe that it is organic milk is another matter but here's hoping!

Guinea_2

I actually have a four pint of milk from the milk man every Thursday. My partner and I recently moved in together after living with parents. My parents have been buying milk from their milkman for twenty years or so so I thought that I would support our local milkman. Only problem being is that the four pint started off being £1.64 and then without any notice the price changed to £1.72. At the moment, a four pint of milk at Tesco or Asda is only £1! What should I do as I still want to support the milkman?

TiaBaby

Hi All. My OH comes from a long line of Milkies so there is little choice in our house. Until very recently I'd pay £50 odd pounds per month for 3 pints per day, but as I have just been made redundant, money saving is becoming obsessive and I now buy 1 pint per day (for his and the wee one's breakfast) and I buy 'plastic' milk for myself from Tescos. It will be interesting to see how the monthly invoice reflects the change

Chipps

What should I do as I still want to support the milkman?

I guess it just depends why you want to keep the milk delivery. We chose to pay more for some of our milk for the reasons I gave above.
It is a price we choose to pay. When things have been tougher money-wise we made the choice to just get skimmed UHT milk.
Maybe you could re-think the way you buy from the milkman, eg 1 pint 3 times a week instead of 4 once weekly? I don't know, just a suggestion.