Sainsbury's Reduces Milk Packaging by 75 Percent

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August 18, 2010

Sainsbury’s will be the first U.K. retailer to launch a full line of store brand milk products in polyethylene bags, reducing traditional packaging by 75 percent, according to an Environmental Leader report.

Whole milk is now available in the new milk bags with skim and 1% milk expected to roll out next summer.

The retailer’s overall goal is to reduce packaging by one-third overall by 2015, which is cheaper to produce and will cost customers less as well.

Customers that switching to the new bags packaging could save up to 637,000 pounds off packaging every year, according to Sainsbury’s.

The retailer is marketing the product in partnership with Dairy Crest and reports that sales so far are up. The milk bags are designed to fit into a re-useable jug, which Sainsbury’s gave away for free in April. It is currently selling approximately 4,000 jugs per week, according to the report.

In 2007, rival supermarket chain Waitrose unsuccessfully marketed similar packaging and pulled it from store shelves in April, according to a Guardian report.

Sixty percent of Sainsbury’s consumers in Canada, Poland, South Africa and China reportedly buy milk in bags packaging.

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