Milk: it does a body good, but what does it do to your finances? Conventional wisdom has it that prices always rise, and milk is one of the most consistently expensive items in its aisle – everyone needs it for something, from breakfast to baking, so of course the price of milk is going to go up over time, right?
Well, kind of. In the first round of our Store Brand vs. National Brand Analyses, we examined promotional and regular pricing trends for Organic and Conventional milk, and while a few of these analyses turned up what we might expect – regular price trends for conventional milk are both positive, with nationally branded items showing a significantly steeper increase over the past year than store brands — we found several surprising results as well.
Let’s start with the major one: compared to store brands, the average price of nationally branded organic milk is plummeting, dropping by nearly a quarter per gallon over the past year. Store brand pricing has held steady at around $6.00 per gallon; but where nationally branded items once averaged close to $6.15, that average has fallen to $5.87 in the span of 14 months, now beating store brands. Promotional prices on organic milks are also dropping steadily, though store brands are outpacing national brands there.
The choice seems clear in one regard: if you’re an organic milk drinker, don’t just default to the store brand. It’s a good bet a gallon of Horizon might be easier on your wallet.
