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:
Aha!! I spot something behind the milk cartons!!! :-)
Someone needs to invent an attachable pour spout for that terrible design!
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.
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