Again, another blog post about milk (see the last one here: The second best thing after sliced bread. We talk milk bottle openers).
On a recent trip to Canada, we noticed that in supermarkets, larger volumes of milk are supplied in bags instead of bottles. We found this very interesting so decided to delve a little deeper and found this also to be the case in China, India and Poland.
We also noticed milk bags were being sold on our UK supermarket shelves with Sainsbury’s selling ‘milk in a bag’ in all its supermarkets in an attempt to cut down on plastic packaging. “Using 75 per cent less packaging, the bags cost slightly less than the bottles. A two pint milk bag – the only size available – costs 80 pence, compared with 86 pence for the same size bottle.”- The Telegraph. Milk bags have been around in the UK for the past five years. But how popular have they been?
Image from Guardian
There are disadvantages to using the milk bag in comparison to the plastic bottles. Consumers have found them difficult to use, reporting leaks and spills. Milk bags sometimes puncture or burst. When pouring, the top of the bag can also topple over, causing the milk to spill. In 2007 Waitrose withdrew their ‘milk bag’ product from its supermarket shelves citing ‘poor sales’ as the reason.
Sainsbury’s however claim modifications to an earlier prototype jug and bag launched in 2008 have been made to make the product easier to use, and in February last year the new format was rolled out across all stores. “As well as using less packaging, the product is also cheaper. Compared with an equivalent two pint plastic bottle, milk in a bag saves Sainsbury’s customers at least 6 pence.” – Guardian.
Image from Daily Mail
Is this eco-friendly ‘milk bag’ something you would switch to? Or if you have purchased the product already, how have you found using the ‘milk bag’? We would be very interested to hear some of your feedback.