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Sunday, February 17, 2013

MILK CARTONS



We were at Costco the other day. We only shop there occasionally, but we had several reasons to go, so we did. And I remembered that we needed milk, so I decided to pick up one of their two-gallon packs. I was unprepared for the flat-topped cartons wrapped in plastic. I had never seen these before. I expected to find two gallons in a box.

“What do you think?” I asked Mike, really doubtful that milk could actually be poured from these containers. Had I been by myself, this “Mrs. Consumer” would have walked away. However, we agreed to give it a try.

I opened the first carton last night and declared my dislike for this new style. The engineer in Mike came out, and he began to expound on how this style was more efficient and undoubtedly the coming thing, making it easier to stack and transport and thereby bringing the price of the product down. And – he added – it won’t be popular with the consumer, but that won’t matter because this is driven by economics. The consumer will have to adjust.

I decided to research the matter online and discovered that discussion began in 2008. Driven by WalMart and Costco, we’ve been slowly switching to these flat-topped cartons. “Does anyone else hate these cartons?” asked a consumer, whereupon the learned reply was given that these cartons are here to stay and will eventually be “the” format. In fact, the substance and tone of the explanation was exactly what Mike had expressed, right down to “the consumer will have to adjust.”

Apparently some effort has been made to educate the consumer on how to pour from the jugs. One person noted that she had come to like them because they fit on the door of her fridge. Others commented that they pour the contents into other pitchers.

This morning Mike used the milk, failed to replace the cap securely, and then spilled it on the floor the next time he took the carton from the fridge. Nellie was called into service for the initial clean-up, and then I swiffered.

Yes, I’ll put that milk into a different container. Perhaps we’ll experience a return of the milk pitcher. KW

3 comments:

  1. Aha!! I spot something behind the milk cartons!!! :-)

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  2. Someone needs to invent an attachable pour spout for that terrible design!

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  3. Yes Chris, I put one in the cart. Used it for the first time today.

    And Hallie -- that's what your dad said. The flat-topped carton needs a pour spout.

    ReplyDelete