In New Jersey, the milkman delivers again
ASBURY PARK, N.J. — Got milk?
And better yet, can you get it delivered right to your doorstep?
Jeff Milling, founder of Udderly Delicious, says that you can — and his company is determined to revive the virtually dead service of having fresh milk delivered to your home, one customer at a time.
"It's funny. In the beginning, people said, 'Jeff, you're crazy. There's a reason why you don't see milk delivery around anymore,' " Milling said.
But now, Milling — who began Udderly Delicious in 1995 — is delivering milk to some 300 customers in Monmouth and Middlesex counties daily, and he hopes to expand.
His customers are big fans of the old-fashioned service the company provides.
"My kids love it, they think it's the coolest thing," said Jennifer O'Brien of Hazlet. "On Tuesday morning, my kids run out to the cooler to get it."
In 1963, almost 30% of U.S. consumers got milk delivered to their homes. By 1975, that number had dropped to almost 7%. In 2005, only 0.4% of people had milk delivered to their homes according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
According to "The Bovine" blog, milk home delivery died off in the 1960s because of the emergence and convenience of large local grocery stores.
Also, the blog states that "improvements in home refrigeration and homogenization," made it practical to keep store-bought milk for a longer time.
But none of that deterred Milling, an Old Bridge resident. After 20 years in the advertising business, he was working "crazy, crazy hours."
"I got to a point where I just needed a change," he said.
For Milling, change came in a bottle. He found a company called Byrne Dairy in Syracuse, N.Y., that bottled milk in glass, and then advertised to gauge interest.
The response, he said, was "very good."
And so, in 1995, Udderly Delicious milk delivery service was born. Now, Udderly Delicious boasts approximately 300 customers, between 20 and 30 of whom are original from Milling's very first route through Staten Island, which he still drives.
A normal day for Milling starts out at 4 p.m., when he does his billing and checks messages to determine order changes. Then, he forces himself to fall asleep at 7 p.m. He's up at 1 a.m. when he starts delivering. He hits his last stop around 7:30 a.m.
"At that point I'm on autopilot," Milling said. "It's just me and the milk (outside)."
Milling, the self-proclaimed "one-man-show," does all the work.
He delivers milk four days out of the week — two days in Staten Island, and two in New Jersey — and drives the route rain or shine.
And now that he's home during the day, he gets to spend time with his kids.
Laurie Wheeler, of Middletown, just started getting Udderly Delicious deliveries about a month ago. She heard about the service via Facebook.
"I was very interested in the convenience of it, because I'm a mother of 2- and 3-year-old girls, and they drink a lot of milk," said Wheeler, who gets two half gallons of milk delivered on a weekly basis.
"The prices are more reasonable than you think because it's a delivery service," she said.
Milk from Udderly Delicious costs $3.99 per half gallon in a glass bottle, compared with an average of $3.66 per gallon in the Northeast region in April according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jennifer O'Brien, of Hazlet, said the convenience of the delivery is what makes the service worthwhile. Oh, and she loves the taste of the milk, too.
"Milk tastes better coming from a glass bottle as opposed to plastic," O'Brien said. "I liken it to beer in a bottle (versus) a can."