Supporting Farms and Dairies – Milk Man

Recently, a local dairy knocked on our door to see if we’d be interested in regular doorstep milk deliveries.

I’m of an age where I remember well growing up with the local Unigate dairy delivering to our door daily. It was the absolute norm before everything changed and supermarkets took over, using cheap milk as a loss leader to attract customers. The trouble is, that supermarket squeeze means dairy farmers are frequently paid less than the actual cost of production.

If farmers continue to go bust and thousands already have, what happens if big industry or the supermarkets take over farming entirely? I bet they won’t be so keen to treat milk as a loss leader then; prices will undoubtedly increase.

The reality is that buying directly from a dairy costs a bit more, but in my opinion, it is entirely worth it to support British farmers and independent dairies. Beyond backing the industry, you get fresh, local milk delivered straight to your door, alongside other essentials like orange juice, bread, eggs, and yoghurts.

We don’t get much milk but get a couple of pints delivered now on Tuesdays and Fridays. we also get some banana flavoured milk and orange juice.

I’ll let you know how we get on, but I’m hopeful it all works out. At the time of writing we have had deliveries over a month. It certainly feels like a much better choice than giving more money to the supermarkets.