Fairlife Milk Is So Deceitful That I Can’t Stand It
April 22, 2015 95 Comments
A new player in the milk game has arrived announcing that it is “better milk”.
When you market something as “better”, some of us begin to wonder what is wrong with the original. I have found that “better” can actually mean that a product is improved.
What about cow’s milk? Can you improve it?
Heck, yeah! You can give the cows a beautiful pasture, lots of green grass, and names like “Bessie” and “Bertie”. Treat them with dignity - milk them yourself- and you will have the best tasting milk, wholesome, freshest milk on the planet.
Of course, most of us don’t have a pasture or time to milk a cow so we go to the store and buy it in cartons.
Fairlife milk wants us to “believe in better milk” (in cartons). It is priced about $3.98 to $4.20 for a half gallon and is specially cold-filtered so that it has 50% more protein, 50% less sugar and 30% more calcium than conventional milk.
Fairlife is also partnered with the Coca-Cola company but they distance themselves a bit from the arrangement.
From USA Today:
In a phone interview, Steve Jones, CEO of Fairlife, strongly insisted that while Coca-Cola is distributing the milk, it is playing no role in the milk's actual production and has nothing to do with what takes place on the dairy farms. "People keep referring to this as 'Coke Milk' and it's not," he says.
Okay! Not Coke Milk, got it.
Well, I was excited to see that the milk was from grass fed cows. Here is the label:
Do you see how it says “From grass to glass traceability back to our own farms?"
I buy local milk from grass fed cows (High Lawn Farm milk from the Berkshires) because I like the taste, cows are built to eat grass (they are ruminants), and it has 20% more calcium and 17% more protein than corn and grain fed cow milk.
The problem here is that Fairlife milk isn’t from grass fed cows. How do I know that? I called their 1-800 number and asked.
The cows are fed corn, soy, alfalfa, and a mixture of grains. I asked, “any grass?” The representative said, “No grass”.
Then, I said, “Why did you say “from grass to glass” on your package if you aren’t feeding the cows grass?” He said that they use it as a phrase to explain the traceability of the milk to the individual farms.
Ummmm.
OH! I get it. The farms have grass - but they don't feed it to their cows.
Isn’t the consumer going to infer that you are feeding the cows grass if you use that word on your package?
I REALLY hate this kind of deception. Their website is filled with photos of lovely pastures of grass and their logo is a cow eating something green on the ground (like grass).
You want to market “better” milk? Fine. But don’t use the word “grass” unless you use it to feed your cows.
The milk tastes less sweet and lacks the flavor of conventional milk. I think it is perfectly fine for people who need to go lactose-free.
I wouldn’t buy it because I think the marketing is deceitful and I want to support products that tell the truth.
Have you seen Fairlife milk? What do you think of it?
Other posts you might like:
Is the Term “Diet” in Diet Soda a Lie?
When Pepsi and Coca-Cola named their drinks “Diet Pepsi” and “Diet Coke”, they thought that the zero calorie versions of their popular drinks would help people lose weight.
What Would You Advise the President of Cereal?
Some influential people get to visit the White House to meet the president as part of their job. I get to visit Minneapolis....
First 20 Comments: ( See all 95 )
Janet Peterson
Debbie
Patricia
Beverly henderson
j
Sundries
The Delightful
Angela
Kari F
Sandra slater
Ed M
Denise
mary
Annie
Snack Girl
Rachel
LouAnne
Madeline
Tywana
Beal
See all 95 Comments