Fast forward to 2021, and the conversation shifted entirely. The milkman did not just survive; the profession experienced a modern "renaissance" driven by two major global factors: environmentalism and the COVID-19 pandemic. 1. The Environmental Shift (1990s vs. 2010s)
In March and April 2020? Over four hundred. It was bedlam. People who had ignored me for twenty years were suddenly flagging me down in the street. “Alan! Can you deliver eggs? Can you deliver orange juice? Butter? Bacon?” By June, my float looked like a small grocery shop. I wasn't just the milkman anymore. I was the lifeline. Interview With A Milkman -1996- -2021-
People think we lost because of the supermarkets. We didn't. We lost because the world got faster. A milkman is slow. We do one thing, every day, at the same time. That’s insanity in a world of Netflix and one-hour delivery. But here’s the secret irony: when the world got too fast, when the pandemic hit, everyone wanted the slow guy again. They just didn't want to pay for him. Fast forward to 2021, and the conversation shifted entirely
The world changed in March 2020. As supermarkets emptied of pasta, flour, and toilet roll, a strange thing happened. The phone rang. It rang off the hook. The Environmental Shift (1990s vs
Did that feel good?