My smooth way of navigating around the fruit & vegetable display at my local green grocer with optimum efficiency was rudely interrupted last week by the appearance of a “Milk Refillery” blocking my way.
Its appearance generated several random thoughts, including:
- What in earth is this doing here?
- How long will it last?
- What are the health & safety implications?
- What about this particular set up within a food safety context?
- What $/sqm sales will that generate, and at what margin?
It was not difficult to get from the margin question to memories being unlocked in the space between my ears, concerning the 1993 introduction of the milk category into supermarkets, and my defensive actions on a store by by store basis, keeping my, at the prospect of virgin sales and margins, salivating grocery colleagues from invading the produce department merchandise space.
Memories from a distant past. And for anyone interested to learn more about the fact that milk actually comes from cows and not the supermarket, check the story out here.