🏪 Shop

The shop is where the shopper meets the milk. Dairy products sit in chilled display cases. This keeps the cold chain going: unbroken cold from the farm to the shopper. Ice cream and frozen foods are kept in chest freezers.

In the past, shoppers did not pick up goods themselves: a shop assistant took the products from behind the counter. Self-service was invented by an American, Clarence Saunders. His first Piggly Wiggly store opened in 1916. Later, shops like this grew into supermarkets. Before them, milk and other foods that spoil quickly were often brought to the door by the milkman.

Sales staff and merchandisers look after the milk in the shop. They stock the shelves, put products with earlier use-by dates at the front and remove expired ones. In many supermarkets milk and bread are placed at the far end of the store. On the way to them, shoppers walk past other shelves and may buy something else. Shoppers should check the date on the pack and put milk in the basket at the end of their shopping so it warms up less.