So, I've been having some digestion issues for a while now and I'm trying lactose-free milk. But every time I go to Carrefour I get a shock when I see the price: Parmalat lactose-free is like €1.50 a liter while the regular one is €0.99. Is this a general thing or does it depend on the supermarket?
Yes, unfortunately that's pretty much the case everywhere. The process of removing lactose isn't straightforward: basically they break down the milk sugars with enzymes (lactase) and that means higher production costs. Companies aren't doing it to make more money, it simply costs them more to do it. It also depends on the brand obviously - Parmalat is kind of pricey on its own, but even private labels like Carrefour's own usually don't cost much less.
If you want to save money, try looking for less well-known brands or the lactose-free milk from the supermarket itself (the white one with the store's logo). You'll almost always find a 20-30 cent difference. Or honestly, if you only have mild digestive issues, try probiotics instead - maybe your problem isn't even pure lactose but rather digestion in general. I myself when I started cooking more mindfully and stopped stuffing myself with packaged sweets in the evening before dinner, noticed that regular milk no longer gave me any problems.
In any case it's true that lactose-free costs more. Fair point, basically.
Sadly lactose-free milk really does cost more, it's not just your Carrefour! The process of removing lactose involves higher production costs, so most brands sell it at a higher price - I've seen similar differences pretty much everywhere. If you want to save a bit, try looking at discount brands or supermarket own-brand products, often the price difference is less dramatic compared to well-known brands and the quality is decent anyway!
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