One might think that Horizon milk is so expensive by virtue of its quality. After all, organic always costs more, doesn’t it? If it’s important to you to pay for organic and brand names, then you might swing for the high price tag without a second thought. Personally, I’m not into organic milk (indeed, I’m very rapidly getting away from drinking milk at all), so I would never have given the Horizon shelf a second thought had it not been for a little experience recently.
As I was cruising the dairy aisle early on a Monday morning, I spotted several gallons of Horizon milk that expired that day, and asked for the dairy manager so I could request a discount.
I always ask for a discount if I spot expiring milk, and I almost always get it. Even if it’s already been marked down (usually stores mark down about two or three days out from the expiration date), I will ask the dairy manager if he will mark it down further, since it has to be thrown out otherwise. (Once I snapped up twenty pints of heavy whipping cream for fifteen cents each. We reveled in ice cream for weeks.)
However, when I proffered my request, the dairy manager explained that he couldn’t mark down the Horizon milk at all, because the manufacturer gave him 100% credit on unsold product.
This isn’t an unusual arrangement for specialty manufacturers, although usually the credit is in the 25%-50% range. Manufacturers offer these credits to encourage stores to stock more of their product, thereby assuring the store manager that the product is backed in case sales don’t match expectations. Because of this, I usually have better success getting store brands marked down, as they’re just glad to sell it for something. If the store is going to get a 50% credit from the manufacturer for all unsold product, however, then he’s not going to sell it for any less than that.
So now I know that Horizon guarantees its product 100% to this retailer. That’s lovely for the store manager, who doesn’t have to assume any risk in stocking a surplus of milk, but it suggests that Horizon is building this money-back guarantee into the price of its milk. Why would Horizon offer such a generous buy-back percentage and why would it be so eager to get stores to stock more than the store manager would otherwise feel confident of selling? More shelf space, more product visibility, greater edge over the competition.
In other words, if I buy Horizon products, I’m buying a product with an added mark-up that subsidises a marketing ploy.
This isn’t like, say, Eddie Bauer, which offers a lifetime warranty on all their clothing. That’s my kind of money-back guarantee, because it goes directly to me, the consumer, and it simply guarantees the quality of their product. Horizon isn’t guaranteeing the quality of their milk. Any self-respecting manufacturer would give you your money back if the product turned up rotten. What Horizon is guaranteeing is the popularity of their product, according to their calculations and expectations. And I’m just not willing to subsidise that.
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3 comments:
I won't buy any milk unless it's organic... it doesn't have to say "Grass fed cows" on the carton, but it must say that no hormones were used in the cows feed, etc. I've found that the milk just tastes better and I know it's got to be better... I don't need the hormones passed on from whatever the cow ate. Thankfully our local store carries several brands of organic milk, including generic brands that are cheaper.
Hey Sarah,
I agree with you about the nefarious effects of bovine growth hormone, which is why I'm moving away from drinking milk at all. My problem is that I'm not convinced that most 'organic' milk appropriately solves this dilemma.
Not to pick on Horizon, but from what I've read, a lot of their shtick is slick advertising and complying with the letter of the law just to qualify as organic, while still churning out just as much milk as possible. Sending a cow off to the slaughterhouse just because it has a cold and to use a simple antibiotic on it would compromise their 'organic' status isn't exactly friendly farming, in my opinion. I'd rather buy fresh, raw milk from a local farmer, who may use a pesticide or antibiotic now and then, but who raises normal, healthy cows with actual access to pasture (a verbal sleight of hand that in the 'organic' world means a stall with a view), but alas, that's illegal in GA.
Sounds like you've done well to find some better and more genuine sources. In my experience, generic brands are almost always better because they waste far less time/money on advertising. =)
we just have our milk delivered from a local dairy farm... we toured the farm and were assured that absolutely no hormones are used, and the milk is also non-homogenized. its more expensive, but i'm willing to sacrifice in this area because of the obvious health benefits.
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