Today I took my son (age 3) to the local zoo, another family came with us. I had packed snacks and lunch for son and myself, which I usually do when we go out for the morning (both because it's frugal and because who wants to be caught without food on them when their three-year-old decides it is time for lunch RIGHT NOW?). Other family decided they would like to get their lunch from the zoo cafe. Okay, no problem, we grab a table outside and they go and get their lunch. They come back to the table and the other family's kid has a burger, fries, and a carton of chocolate milk.
My son is extremely interested in the chocolate milk and tells me "I want chocolate milk please". I decided that since he was asking politely and eating an otherwise healthy lunch, chocolate milk would be a fun treat for our day out at the zoo. I went inside the cafe to purchase said chocolate milk. I anticipated that it would be somewhat spendy, but at the same time, it's a carton of chocolate milk, how bad can it be, right?
I go to the refrigerator case in the cafe and lo and behold, an 8 oz cartoon of chocolate milk (150 calories) is FOUR DOLLARS. FOUR. DOLLARS. HOW??? A fancy steamed milk with honey at the coffee place near us is less than that!
I bought it anyway, because I felt not to would be crossing the line from frugal to cheap. But of course when we got home I had to do some research on these chocolate milk boxes and find out how much of a markup the zoo was doing. Well, turns out you can buy a
12-pack of the same milk for about $12. So the zoo is doing (at least) a 400% markup (perhaps more if they are getting a further wholesale discount).
I always knew food at zoos, amusement parks, etc. was expensive but this level of markup just blows my mind.
Next time we go to the zoo, I will be inviting friends who pack their own lunches also!