Eight Buche Foods and Buche’s Gus Stop locations are now offering 50 percent off the price of qualifying skim and 1 percent milk for SNAP shoppers through the “Add Milk” federal milk incentive program.
The stores are the only ones in South Dakota participating in the program.
At participating locations, shoppers choose qualifying milk and use their SNAP/EBT card at checkout, where the price of eligible milk is reduced by half automatically during the regular checkout process. The savings leave more of a household’s SNAP benefits available for meat, produce, pantry staples and other eligible groceries, the grocer notes.
“Every grocery dollar matters, especially right now,” said R.F. Buche, CEO and president of G.F. Buche Co. “Milk is a staple in many homes, and cutting the cost in half can make a real difference over the course of a month. Add Milk helps families keep more of their SNAP benefits for the rest of their grocery list without giving up something they buy every week.”
The participating stores are the Buche Foods locations in Gregory, Mission, Wagner, Oacoma, Pine Ridge and Mobridge, and the Buche’s Gus Stop locations in Lower Brule and Wanblee. Qualifying products include unflavored, unsweetened skim and 1 percent fluid cow’s milk meeting federal, state and local standards for vitamins A and D.
Encouraging milk consumption
Add Milk is the customer-facing name for the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives initiative, established through the 2018 Farm Bill to test practical ways of increasing milk purchases among SNAP households. The Hunger Solutions Institute at Auburn University launched the program in 2022 with support from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, and it is now available at more than 600 retail locations in more than 10 states.
The renewed participation extends a long-running food-access record for the Wagner, South Dakota-based grocer, whose stores all sit on or near tribal reservations. Buche was among the first 100 U.S. stores selected for Add Milk, extending the incentive beyond SNAP participants at its own cost, and this month became the first South Dakota retailer to offer Double Up Food Bucks produce matching. The company was also the first independent grocer in the state to accept SNAP payments online.
Founded in 1905 by Gus Francis Buche, G.F. Buche Co. is a fourth-generation, family-owned business serving 13 South Dakota communities with 26 locations under the Buche Foods, Buche’s Gus Stop, Buche Ace Hardware & Lumber and Al’s Oasis banners.