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I just saw this at my supermarket today. The top brand milk, lowfat, sell-by date-stamped in two days time, clearance sale priced at 25 cents per half-gallon, and the dairy manager was standing by it explaining... "there's nothing wrong, we're just over-stocked, and it is guaranteed to be good for 9 days after the sell-by date the same as all our fresh milk," and yet he was having trouble finding takers.
People would stop, look, glance at the sell-by date, shake their head, and walk on. One young mother with two kids in the cart said "Heck yeah, they'll be gone in two days," and grabbed two.
Even with dairy manager explaining that if they were not happy with the milk 8 days AFTER the sell-by date they could brink it back for a refund, most people would look at the regular priced milk in their cart and keep walking.
It was such a fascinating display of human nature, and I think of many people's extreme caution around perishibles, that I wished I had more time to simply loiter and watch people encounter this phenomenal deal and then struggle to decide what to do.
I asked the manager what would happen on Wednesday, if he had not sold out the lot, and he said "We'll just dump it, even though it has a guaranteed 9 more days of freshness. I'd rather give people a little break on it now."
But most people seemed suspicious, and he didn't have a lot of takers.
What would your reaction be?
I would have loaded the entire shopping cart up---taking all of it off his hands.
I wonder if the milk would actually sell better at a higher price?
That's a very smart question, and one I wondered about myself. Was the price just "too good to be true" for so many of the people I saw passing up on the deal in the store?
When I talked to the manager he said he had so much of the stuff that he was facing having to dumping a lot in a couple of days... my impression is he may have received an accidental double shipment... and he said he would gladly give it away for free rather than dumping, but he wasn't allowed to do that. So he did what he could and made it a quarter.
And I got an intriguing peek at consumer behavior.
That's a very smart question, and one I wondered about myself. Was the price just "too good to be true" for so many of the people I saw passing up on the deal in the store?
When I talked to the manager he said he had so much of the stuff that he was facing having to dumping a lot in a couple of days... my impression is he may have received an accidental double shipment... and he said he would gladly give it away for free rather than dumping, but he wasn't allowed to do that. So he did what he could and made it a quarter.
And I got an intriguing peek at consumer behavior.
To those who freeze milk: how do you package it for the freezer and in what quantities? Pints?
You can freeze it in freezer bags (pints, quarts, whatever, depends on how much you're planning on using at one time); sometimes the bags don't hold up that well and you will find out as the milk thaws out that you have a hole or two (which is why I always thaw it by putting the bag into a bowl).
I'd have passed on it. We (I) buy a half gallon of milk about once a month and usually throw out the last pint. I also have no sense of smell, so once milk has passed the sell-by date I ask my wife to smell it for me. She doesn't like milk at all and doesn't like the smell even when it's fresh. So no. I'd rather pay the $2 and have it last until my next regular visit to the market.
I've frozen milk before when I'm leaving town for a week or so. I just leave it in the plastic container. Of course you wouldn't want to freeze it if the container is full! POP goes the top (or bottom)!
I'd have passed on it. We (I) buy a half gallon of milk about once a month and usually throw out the last pint. I also have no sense of smell, so once milk has passed the sell-by date I ask my wife to smell it for me
.
But wait, why would you do that if the milk is normally good for at least a week AFTER the sell-by date? Or to put it another way, if you normally buy milk a week before the sell-by date, and it's good for a week after the sell-by date, that means fresh milk is going to be good for about 2 weeks in the home, which is what I've always understood the rule of thumb to be.
And yes, you might stretch that a little if you bought the milk a few days fresher, and best case scenario - 3 weeks would really be pushing it. But a month? No way. So buying it once a month means that... yes... you'll always wind up with sour milk in the 4th week.
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She doesn't like milk at all and doesn't like the smell even when it's fresh. So no. I'd rather pay the $2 and have it last until my next regular visit to the market.
Well, if you only go to market once a month, I guess that's the best you can do. But if you shop more often, then I'd say you'd be better off buying a quart every two weeks instead. No sour milk, nothing to throw out but an empty container.
Well, if you only go to market once a month, I guess that's the best you can do. But if you shop more often, then I'd say you'd be better off buying a quart every two weeks instead. No sour milk, nothing to throw out but an empty container.
The problem with that is that a half gallon usually costs close to what a gallon does. I hate that.
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