At about the same time as I received a press release telling me of this success story, I received another press story telling me that another UK supermarket – Waitrose – was dumping its milk pouch because lack of sales had led to huge amounts of wasted milk. Why such differing fortunes? Could it be the marketing?
As a regular customer of Waitrose, I had seen the milk pouches in the milk fixture, piled up in a shelf-ready cardboard box with little or no explanation as to how to use the pouch, its advantages and so on. Not a very compelling purchase.
The Sainsbury’s pouch fits into a special jug that has been modified following feedback from customers. I read one report that said the company had sent free jugs to their stores so that members of staff could make sure they knew how to use them. The result was that those same members of staff proved to be the best ambassadors for the system because they were able to explain to customers how it worked from their own practical experience.
In a move planned to build on the success of the milk bag, the company is reported to be planning to give away 400,000 jugs to raise awareness of the product and to encourage more customers to give it a try.
We’re told that consumers are becoming more environmentally savvy, and it’s claimed the JugIt milk bag system uses 75% less packaging and is cheaper to produce. It should be a winner all-round.
Is this an example of a supermarket chain missing a trick when it came to marketing dairy?
Geoff Platt is editor of Dairy Innovation magazine. Subscribe here.
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