Oh yeah. I lost 40 customers in six months. People looked at a $4 glass bottle of milk like it was a luxury car. But here’s the thing—the ones who stayed? They started paying me in cash again. "Here's $20, Dave. Keep the change." That was the Great Recession. People realized algorithms don't check on you when you have the flu. I did.
It was the price war. Tesco started selling four pints for a quid. We were selling two pints for 90p. The letters started coming in. Little slips of paper under the bottle: “Sorry Dai, we’ve switched to the Asda.” Interview With A Milkman -1996- -2021-
That’s the thing about milk. It doesn't turn sour all at once. It does it slowly, degree by degree. The first big crack was around 2004. That’s when the discounters—Aldi, Lidl—started selling four pints for less than a quid. Cost of production. It didn't make sense. But the customer? They saw the price sticker and forgot the service. Oh yeah