Grocery store owner Sarah Swinton bolted upright in bed at midnight and said, “Oh, crap.”
She thought about the follow-up phone call from a food supplier earlier that day, checking to confirm that her order was accurate. By the time she realized her error, 1,320 gallons of milk were on a barge heading to Olerud’s Market Center.
Swinton previously ordered dairy products directly from Dairygold and the established item format had always been per unit. When a new supplier took over, its format switched from units to cases.
The result was 10,000 containers of milk in last week’s delivery, eight full pallets, or four times the store’s regular weekly shipment, with a freight bill more than the cost of the milk.
Her new supplier offered no help other than a suggestion to reach out to local hospitals and schools. With no hospital in town and school closed for Spring Break, Swinton started contacting businesses and nonprofits, pitching deals on milk.
She posted an ad on social media, “Got milk? Well, Olerud’s does. We have prices on gallons and half gallons that have not been seen in Haines in a LONG time. My loss is your gain.”
Residents offered suggestions to help cope with the milkpocalypse, including making homemade fresh ricotta cheese, yogurt, pudding and smoothies. After calculating that eight 8-ounce cartons were equivalent to one-half gallon at a cost of only $3.20 or $6.40 per gallon, Swinton had an epiphany: “That’s a great deal!” She promptly posted signs around the dairy coolers in Olerud’s showing the savings and encouraging shoppers to purchase cartons to easily freeze or transfer into their empty plastic jugs.
At press time this week, nearly all of the gallons and half-gallons had been sold at a deep discount, but Swinton still had two pallets, or at about 2,500, half-pints she’s trying to sell individually or by the case.
“At least some folks are going to be fat and happy,” she said.
Swinton said she appreciates the residents who came in to the store and bought the extra milk.