Redesigning The Milk Jug
Posted by Bobby Solomon • July 1, 2008 • Design + Food & Drinks + Redesign

The New York Times has an interesting article on a newly redesigned milk jug that’s starting to be carried by some Walmarts and Costcos here in the U.S. The jug was created because of the inefficiency of the traditional milk jugs shape. Because of the way traditional jugs are shaped, they have to be transported in crates 4 at a time, while the redesigned jugs can be stacked on top of each other and put on pallets. By packaging and shipping them in this new way, it’s possibly to ship 50% more milk at a time. This means savings in a number of different areas including at the register, where the newly designed jugs have dropped in price from $2.58 to $2.18.

But what’s interesting is that the people who’ve used the jugs aren’t totally thrilled by it. In a demonstration given by a Costco employee, she suggests setting the jug on the table and then pouring. To me this just sounds like a poor design decision. Why the hell does the opening need to be THAT big? It’s looks like it’s almost 2″ across. I just think it’s funny that no one took ergonomics into account, they just wanted to ship out more milk faster and cheaper.

I also completely hate the shape, it looks like it was put together by an engineer, not a designer. More than anything though it looks like a detergent bottle, and the fact that I related the jug of milk to detergent is pretty gross. Someone should really design a milk container that’s not only practical in many ways, but looks sexy as well. Why shouldn’t milk be sexy?

Bobby

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  1. because it comes from a cow’s behind.

    Comment by paul — July 1, 2008 #

  2. consumers of milk should just stick with the glass container that it’s come in since WW2. drinking cow’s milk is freaky, but we do it anyway. at least skip the plastic. plastic = bad. i just wrote your food blog friend, frank about this.

    Comment by eric — July 1, 2008 #

  3. No offence, but the XXL-sized containers are an American phenomenon and a little strange to me.
    It’s a little hard to understand how one should dwell with a container of 4.5 gallons, just to pour some drops of it in a cup of coffee…

    But even in Europe time has passed since the 80′ies, when I last saw milk wrapped in an attractive way.

    Comment by Kaleef — July 1, 2008 #

  4. Here in Italy, we’re all about buying milk directly from farmers. It costs less (or the same as the industrial one), you bring your own jug/bottle, and tastes way better. The only drawback is that it doesn’t last so many days as the pasteurized one.

    Comment by g.re — July 1, 2008 #

  5. As a vegan, I support making milk cumbersome and unsexy.

    Comment by mrfb — July 2, 2008 #

  6. As an omnivore, like humans have been since they first started kicking around, I think that’s stupid.

    Comment by Bobby — July 2, 2008 #

  7. i’m completely intolerant of lactose.
    i support mrfb.

    Comment by maxjue — July 2, 2008 #

  8. Obviously, your body is weak.

    Comment by Bobby — July 2, 2008 #

  9. I actually picked one of these up at costco the other day, they are as ugly as they are useless…..i spilled everywhere…..soo stupid

    Comment by tim — July 2, 2008 #

  10. Milk should be sexy, they should have let the method design team take a whack at it and come up with something just as efficient but less clunky. My roommate bought this jug of milk one time and it took me a week to drink from it thinking it was some jug of industrial glue, or something of the sort.

    It is true, they do spill. The opening is not very awesome.

    Comment by Zach — July 2, 2008 #

  11. Standard british milk containers are rounded yet fit very well together for transport (I used to work in a supermarket).

    Although the biggest we have is a 6-pinter…

    Comment by Rob McDougall — July 3, 2008 #

  12. It was designed by the farmer. the dairy owns the websiteless Creative Edge Design Group Ltd.

    Comment by juggs — July 3, 2008 #

  13. It’s funny how personal this topic is to everyone.

    The new containers aren’t the sexiest, but they could look cool with the right graphic treatment. The old ones can spill too, but we’ve learned how to use them. The pros of the new jug seem to outweigh the cons, so until someone designs a better one, I’m for it.

    Comment by Jeff — July 3, 2008 #

  14. In many countries, industrial design is an engineering degree :P

    Where I live milk jugs are unheard of. Milk either comes in cartons, or more often than not, IN BAGS.

    Comment by Jason — July 3, 2008 #

  15. I think the question you should be asking yourself is this: Why should milk be sexy? No one is going to buy more or less of it if it’s in a different container, so why not just make sure it’s cheap to transport?

    Comment by Joost — July 6, 2008 #

  16. Joost: I think that’s a horrible way to think about things. Why the hell shouldn’t everything be well designed and work as well as possible?

    There’s absolutely no reason why cheap and well-designed can’t be one and the same. It takes creativity, ingenuity and a desire to make things better, not a lackadaisical attitude like that.

    Comment by Bobby — July 6, 2008 #