phx - price of milk

[winedubar]

so this weekend i swung by safeway on 7th ave and osborn to grab some milk for morning lattes, and i almost had a panic attack. 5 bucks a gallon and its not even organic? thankfully the organic brand was 'on sale' and i paid 3.50 for a half a gallon. ouch!!

then, on azcentral.com, indicating we have the highest milk prices in the nation :

http://www.azcentral.com/business/art...

as much as possible, i try to do the localvore thing. what are my options on locally produced milk? if i'm going to pay a small fortune for milk, i'd rather be buying from a local person. do i have any choices? right now it doesn't seem like it.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I generally get my milk either at Super Target (if I have a long haul) or Smart & Final for the Alta Dena milk. The last time I got Alta Dena at S&F it was something like 2.50 a gallon.

The big secret for a place to go buy milk... the Milk & More Store at the United Dairymen of Arizona plant on Hardy and Broadway. It's a convenience store made for the workers there, but is open to the public. Their prices are the lowest in town (you can get 2 gallons of 2 percent for 4 dollars), and it doesn't get much fresher than picking it up directly at the plant.

[HomeCookKirsten]

This whole thread is fascinating...I have no kids, no live-in man, I don't eat cereal regularly (can't stand the scraped soft palate and vitamin aftertaste), I don't bake much and my coffee is only good with half & half or cream (small cartons), so the milk thing passes me by...

Help a former milk drinker from childhood reform...what do you guys actually DO with the milk you buy that you would need gallons???

[don giovanni]

That's cute.

Let's see...most frequent uses:
drinking plain
cappuccinos
cereal (I hear you about the aftertaste. It can be cured with juice or coffee.)

Also:
custard, creme brulee, etc.
some sauces
omelettes
some soups
tea, sometimes
pancakes
anything that requires milk ;)

Oh, and whatever it was I was making two days ago (I didn't have milk and had to change plans...can't remember what that was, now).

[mamamia]

I can't stand the stuff myself. I buy it for my daughter who insists on a glass of Ovaltine two times a day. I gnerally buy Horizon at Safeway or I'll spring for the 2-for-1 sale on their gallons and freeze them.

Since I've started to incorporate more of a whole foods diet, I've used almond and coconut milk several times. I'm happy with them.

[misohungrychewlow]

GREAT tip, Jester! Not for me personally, but for the others ... I've known about UDA for years, a former client way back when ... And to address the earlier posts and Kirsten below, my milk-drinking days are behind me. I buy a quart of 1% every 10 days or so for coffee and occasional other uses at Trader Joes, BST free but non-organic -- it keeps very well (I have a very cold fridge!) and I usually pour much of it out, still unspoiled, when I score a fresh carton. Used to be very cheap but still, I believe, 99 cents, or about $4 a gallon. Good deal.

[ciaogal]

I agree about Trader Joe's...
I too am not a milk drinker (lactose intolerant)....My SO.....eats a few bowls of cereal a day...so I buy it buy the gallon...
I would glady substitue soy or almond milk for the big gallon jug....it wastes too much space!

[twodogs]

I don't know about the Safeway store where you get your milk,but ours is always buy one get one free,so if you just picked up one gallon it would be $5.pick up two and it's $2.50 per.
Food City usually has the best prices on milk,also Ranch Market.

[don giovanni]

That may very well be the case at my Safeway. The problem is I have no business bringing home two gallons of milk at once. Indefinitely, one will end up in the trash.

[don giovanni]

I had a similar experience at Safeway last week. I was seeking milk and heavy cream. Both were outrageously priced, so I put my other groceries back and went to Fry's.

Basha's does the thing where you buy four gallons and get the 5th free or buy 5 and get the 6th free or something like that. But I stopped buying milk there, because the quality is the worst. Always within a couple days of the sell-by date, which doesn't work out well for a single guy. And it just tastes weird.

Glad to hear about Shamrock organic. I think their products are consistently fresh tasting.

[mamamia]

On the topic of organic milk, I heard last week that Shamrock was going to start producing organic milk for our area. Their herd is SE of Phoenix.

So the price should be going down for the organic stuff - and it will be locally produced, therefore fresher.

Doesn't Trader Joe's carry Horizon?

[hohokam]

I don't think I've seen Horizon at TJ's; however, TJ's does sell organic milk under their own label. We almost always buy our milk at TJ's. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a receipt reader or price tag checker, so I can't tell you what they're charging for it these days. Also, I imagine the milk is trucked in from CA, so it probably isn't for those trying to buy locally produced stuff.

[ziggylu]

I buy milk at Sprouts or Trader Joe's. We don't go through much(we usually end up tossing the quart having gone bad ebfore we got through it) so I don't pay much attention to price but do know it's cheaper at both these locations unless it's on ad at one of the big markets.

Both carry organic. I think Sprouts has Horizon. They also have their private label which isn't organic but is rBst free(same at TJ"s as well that the non-organic is rBst free). Don't know if the Sprouts brand is from a local dairy but they do emphasis using local growers, etc so maybe?

[azhotdish]

Shamrock is in fact producing organic milk - they have it available at Sprouts for $2.79/half gallon (it's on sale right now). They also carry Horizon and Organic Valley, both of which are $3.99/half gallon.

[ciaogal]

Just got my Sprouts flyer.....Horizon Organic is on 'Special' this week for $4.99/ gallon.....(week of 6/27/07)

[azhotdish]

I just found the article about Shamrock, if anyone is interested.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/art...

[winedubar]

i am :) thanks for the link!!

[winedubar]

awesome!! thanks everyone, i totally forgot about shamrock, and their organic offering is just icing on the cake. i'll sub that into my rotation. safeway milk prices be damned ;)

[azhotdish]

I didn't notice the price so much as I noticed that Fry's recently began carrying Horizon Organic, something I noticed only within the last two weeks.

[winedubar]

any chance you remember how much? thats what i got for 3.50...

[azhotdish]

no idea - it's one of those things i don't price because if it's not Horizon...i won't buy it. i'm not saying it's *the best* milk, but in my opinion, it is the tastiest and lasts longer than most others.

[Firenza00]

Fry's last night it was 1.99 with the reward card thingy.

[winedubar]

UGH i have grocery envy

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I don't, except for people living in Gilbert near my favorite grocery, Super Target. That place is just incredible, with terrific house brand food and reasonable prices on just about everything.

Those reward cards work by jacking up the prices on everything in the store and then offering prices barely below the suggested retail on half of it. For example, pints of Ben & Jerry's are usually over 4 dollars unless they go on sale at Safeway, Fry's, and Albertson's, while they're regularly 2.99 a pint at Super Target. If I have to shop at one of the Big Three, when the checker asks if I found everything OK I make a habit of letting them know I was hoping to find everyday low prices without having to use a card but didn't see them anywhere.