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Redesigned Milk Jug Pours Out Savings
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NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- A reimagined milk jug design that is about a decade old is growing in use at major chain stores.
Ohio-based Superior Dairy, whose owners also founded Creative Design to license the new design, developed and started using milk jugs with a flat top, moving the spout to one corner.
Originally it had only limited distribution, but Sam's Club started buying milk in the new jug and now sells it in 189 stores, the New York Times reports.
The new design has resulted in a number of environmental savings in water, fuel, plastic and energy.
The jugs do not need to be packed and shipped in crates like the more-well-know milk jug. They are stacked between cardboard and shrinkwrapped. That eliminates the need for crates and water used to wash the crates for reuse, and also leaves more space in trucks. More jugs can be shipped and stored, and Sam's Club says it can now hold 224 gallons in the same space that used to hold 80 gallons.
Superior Dairy estimates using the new design has cut labor costs in half and has reduced water use by 60-70 percent. They've also cut down on gas, now making only two trips a week instead of five to drop milk off at Sam's Club locations.
Sam's Club and Costco both use milk in the square jugs, and Sam's Club plans to expand its use of the jugs, and they might show up in Wal-Mart, its parent company.