Doorstep Milk Delivery

 

 

 

My parents used to have two milkmen delivering milk to the front door for our family of seven children. The Express Dairy and the United Dairies were as I recall the milkmen they used though I vaguely recall that for a short time, mum and dad also had a baker deliver bread.

Post WWII, concentrated orange juice and cod liver oil for children were available at a special centre near the town's public library, until post WWII rationing ceased in the UK during the 1950s after which such drinks had to be purchased in for example supermarkets.

Eventually, as most of us  moved away from home, milk deliveries to the family home ceased.

Milk deliveries throughout the country began to dwindle as more people went out to work and car ownership increased. Indeed a few years ago one of the largest milk bottle manufacturers was about to cease production and close, until a German company decided to acquire it and start delivering milk again to front doorsteps. The company formed Milk&More and commenced trading. 

For a while, we used Milk&More but soon its prices rose to a point  when in my view, it became uncompetitive, so we  ceased door step delivery and  reverted to supermarket milk, which was cheaper but sold in non-returnable plastic bottles. This continued for some years until one afternoon a young lady called to the door to enquire whether we would try a British milk company,  which also delivered bread, orange juice and other goodies reasonably inexpensively.  

She was a good sales lady and we decided to give her company The Modern Milkman, a try. Interestingly that company's website is not in my view brilliant, not least because one needs to us its app to order etc. However the young lady took me to the app on my mobile phone and eventually signed us up.

We acquired from the Modern Milkman, a strong blue box (matching our front door colour) from the company having previously had foxes and birds attacking the plastic Milk&More box. 

The items available for delivery  in addition to milk, include freshly squeezed orange juice, ground coffee and sourdough bread. So far at least the Modern Milkman's prices seem reasonable but we shall see.

To date, our experience of The Modern Milkman has been fine. They deliver from 3am and take orders and altered orders, up until 8pm the evening beforehand. Stopping deliveries for a while or permanently, is  also straightforward enough. Their products mostly seem excellent as well.

On the downside though, is the fact that one has really to download their app to be able to order easily. I suspect that for many older people that will not be particularly straightforward. Then  using the app too has a rather clunky feel. 

Overall though, The Modern Milkman seems fine so far, given the bother it saves of carrying weighty goods from the  supermarket or taking the car.