milk Archives - SavingAdvice.com Blog

Declining demand has pushed down prices of dairy products coming from cow’s milk, which in turn has put may farmers out of business.

Although 90 percent of American adults drink milk, outside of the U.S. only about 25 percent drink cows’ milk, for a variety of reasons in different parts of the world.

All of this has reduced demand for milk products coming from U.S. cows: Sales have declined by 13 percent over the past decade.

And during this same time period, the average price of milk in the U.S. has plummeted to its current 10-year-low of $3.23 per gallon.

And demand for dairy products is expected to continue to decline until 2020.

Already, more than half of the dairy farms in the United States have closed as demand for their products has dried up.

Dean Foods and Dairy Farms

In 2017, Dean Foods, a leading dairy and produce provider in the U.S., canceled more than 100 contracts with small dairy farmers across eight states.

Among them were Carilynn and Curtis Coombs. Like she told CNBC, “It was all about continuing the family business, doing continuous improvements to our facilities, growing our herd to include better genetics, better cows.”

She and her husband’s dream of continuing their family business were broken when they received a letter from Dean Foods, ending their contract. Unfortunately.Dean Foods had been the only buyer of the Coombs’ milk supply.

The Letter

The letter read, “While we greatly appreciate all your hard work and the milk you have provided to Dean Foods throughout the years, I regret to notify you we must cease purchasing milk from your dairy farm. Our agreement will end in 90 days.”

The company cited competition as one of the reasons it had to terminate their business.

“First and foremost, a retailer’s new class one fluid processing plant is coming online in the region, significantly decreasing our production as milk volume is moved from our facility to this new plant,” the letter from Dean Foods read.

The Walmart Effect

Although Dean Foods didn’t mention any names in its letter, CNBC speculated that the competitive pressure might be coming from Walmart.

The retail behemoth is opening a processing plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana — within the same general region as the 100-plus other farmers who had their contracts with Dean Foods terminated.

Walmart’s processing plant will bottle a store brand called Great Value — with milk sourced from independent farmers and three co-ops within 210 miles of the facility.

Complex Pressures

Apparently Dean Foods processes milk for Walmart stores in other parts of the country, in spite of losing some business within the Midwest.

And the competitive pressures appear likely to continue, if not intensify, as other large grocery chains like Kroger make moves like what Walmart is doing.

Following Dean Foods’ termination of business with the Coombs, they had to resort to selling 64 of their cows, and now have only 36 of them left.

Dean Foods’ cancellations of contracts included another 19 farms in the same state as the Coombs, Kentucky.

Six of them were forced to sell their farms altogether, while another 14 continue to look for buyers — whether for the milk, the cows or the businesses themselves.

Sadly, this trend hitting the milk industry isn’t likely to slow down.

Readers, how much milk and dairy products do you consume — and how has this changed over time for you?

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If you’re someone who constantly uses coupons, you’ve probably seen them for almost any food item you can find in a grocery store. However, there are plenty of items that rarely have coupons. They also happen to be the items that you are usually buying and paying full price for, like fresh produce or fish or meat by the pound. While coupons for these items are pretty rare, they do exist. In fact, there are different apps that may even help you find coupons for these items. Here are a couple of different food coupons that you might have been unaware of:

Milk Coupons

Milk is one of those items that is rarely on sale and that you can rarely find coupons for. Milk substitute products such as soy milk or almond milk often have coupons, but the same can’t be said of regular milk. However, every once in awhile a grocery store will have a coupon for milk. These are generally store coupons instead of manufacturer’s coupons, so you should keep your eye on store coupons instead of looking for coupons in Sunday paper.

Egg Coupons

Eggs might often be on sale at your grocery store or convenience store, but there is rarely a coupon for them. This is generally because there aren’t well known brands for eggs. Many of the eggs come from local or national farms, so it’s almost impossible to create a manufacturer’s coupon for such an item. But coupons for eggs have been known to exist and as with milk, they often come in the form of store coupons.

Meat Coupons

You can often find coupons for prepackaged meats such as chicken drumsticks or pork chops, but it’s rare to find coupons for meat from the butcher. However, searching online for meat coupons can sometimes land you coupons for a few dollars off meat by the pound. Additionally, you might also have better luck finding coupons for butcher stores or stores specializing in meats instead of meat coupons for your local grocery store.

Deli Meat Coupons

Deli meat is another item that is often on sale at the grocery store, but something that rarely has printed coupons. Generally this is because many grocery stores stock different brands of deli meat. However, while you might be hard pressed to find coupons in your local papers or flyers, you can try searching online for coupons for your preferred brand of deli meat.

Deli Cheeses Coupons

As with deli meat, sometimes it’s hard to find coupons for cheeses that you pick up in the deli. These are generally common cheeses, not the expensive imported cheeses that you’ll often find coupons for. However, coupons are available for deli cheeses, so you just need to keep an eye on your local flyers or internet sites.

Fish Coupons

It’s rare to find coupons for fish that’s not frozen or prepackaged. Most grocery stores will have the rare special or discount on fish, but it’s very unusual to find a coupon for fish. Fish, along with items like fresh produce, usually come from local farm or distributors that don’t actually have coupons. However, even though there won’t be any manufacturer’s coupons, you might be able to find store coupons for fish or even coupons for larger fish markets.

Vegetable Coupons

Like many of the other items on this list, fresh vegetables usually do go on sale, but very rarely have coupons. However, sometimes you can find coupons on the internet, in grocery store flyers, or on the shelves and bins containing fresh vegetables. And while it should be noted that these coupons are few and far between, they do exist. You just have to be patient while you wait for them or search online for them.

Fresh Fruit

Coupons for fresh fruit are equally hard to find. Fresh produce doesn’t often have coupons because, as with many other types of food, it’s a seasonal item and grocery stores can’t always guarantee they’ll have the item in stock. But big discount stores, such as Costco or Sam’s Club, often have coupons for fresh fruit in their weekly or monthly coupon flyers.

Bakery Coupons

Coupons for bakery items depend on the grocery store you shop at. Some grocery stores will have a constant flow of coupons for their bakery items while others will have coupons only around large holidays. So if you happen to be a huge fan of your local grocery store’s pies, cakes, or pastries, keep your eye out for coupons. You wouldn’t want to pass by an opportunity to get some money off these items, after all.

Prepared Food Coupons

A lot of grocery stores have prepared foods sections for people who aren’t stopping in for groceries, but are stopping in to pick up a quick, prepared meal. Coupons are popular for this section of the grocery store, but keep your eye on promotions and store flyers. Every once in awhile grocery stores will post 10% off coupons or $2 off coupons for their prepared foods sections.

Photo: Flickr: Carol Pyles

Milk Prices Hit 10-Year Low While Small Dairy Farmers Face Obsolescence