Thursday 27 August 2015

A Pricey Milky Problem


Enough families travelling on vacation with a child would have faced the problem of arranging for the child's daily morning and evening fix of milk. While it may be difficult to procure on the road, it is not per se a problem of availability but the cost at which it is made available.
 
Many a parent would have balked at the price quoted for a glass of milk in a hotel. Taxes extra. Depending on the location and the class of hotel, you would end up paying anywhere between Rs. 90 to Rs. 400 for about 200 ml to 300 ml. Some places the milk will be served with a couple of cookies. Thus if one were to order twice a day for one days, on the higher side you would be paying Rs. 800 excluding taxes. On a room rent of Rs. 10, 000 per day you would end up paying 8 % of that just on milk!!!.. And if you were to compare with the in-room mini bar rates, you may find beer to be cheaper than milk.
That’s like almost a one month supply for an entire family.
Thanks to modern packaging technology and also having grown wiser over the years, I choose to pick up tetra packs of milk whenever I am travelling with family on a holiday. They usually cost between Rs. 40 to Rs. 60 per liter depending on whether you are buying toned, standardized, cow or pro-biotic milk. Since most hotel rooms have a mini refrigerator, you can store the unutilized milk for later use or use it for your tea/coffee and avoid powdered milk sachets. For reduced wastage, buy 1/2 liter packs. Some brands have even come out with 200 ml packs. The overall cost may be more than a 1 liter pack, but still beats paying an exorbitant amount. Cheers..
>