Sainsbury milk-in-a-bag reports success

Posted by Nicole Eckersley on 22nd April 2010

JUGIT and Sainsbury Milk BagSainsbury’s has reported unexpected success with its new milk bag product, with 110,000 sales per week.

The milk bags, which use 75% less packaging than a standard plastic bottle, now account for 10% of semi-skimmed milk sales, twice as many as original predictions.  The bags were first introduced in 2008, and were rolled out across the UK in February this year.

The bags are used in conjuction with a reusable JUGIT™ milk jug.  Bags are placed inside the jug, which pierces the bag and forms a no-leak seal.  The bags are made from a recyclable low-density polyethylene.

The milk bags are also cheaper than their bottled counterparts, costing 6p less (A 10c) for two pints (1.1 litres) of milk.

In order to build on the success of the milk bag, the supermarket is planning to give away 400,000 jugs next month in an effort to raise awareness of the product and to encourage more customers to give it a try.

“Milk sold in bags is already a regular choice for 60 per cent of consumers in Canada, Poland, South Africa and China and we believe it could become just as popular in the UK. As soon as people try it, they realise how easy it is to use,” said Sainsbury’s senior dairy buyer, Emma Metcalf-King.

“Before launch, we gave free jugs to our store colleagues to make sure they understood how to use them. As a result, our colleagues have proven to be the best ambassadors for the product, as they are able to explain it to customers using their own personal experience.”

“This, coupled with the fact that our customers want to do the right thing for the environment, have driven sales way ahead of our expectations.”

The bags are part of Sainsbury’s plan to reduce packaging by a third by 2015.  Switching to bags could save Sainsbury’s up to 1,400,000 kg of packaging every year.

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