Milk bag

Milk bags were used in Australia (Greater Shepparton, Victoria), in the late 1990s, distributed by Shepparton-based dairy company Ducats. They were also used in Gympie, Queensland, in the 1970s and early 1980s, and also in Caboolture, Queensland around the same time. These were one pint in size.

Colloquially known as sachets, La Serenisima first adopted the milk bag in 1968 as a replacement for then more common glass bottle. Initially a cost-cutting measure, the 1l. sachet steadily grew in popularity as it proved more convenient and cheaper than carton or plastic jugs. Nowadays all dairy companies offer recyclable multi-use plastic sachets.

A milk bag in Ontario, Canada

In Canada, before the late 1960s, milk was packaged in heavy, reusable Imperial unit glass milk bottles and later cardboard cartons and plastic jugs. In 1967, DuPont, using European equipment, introduced plastic bags to store and sell milk. With Canada's conversion to the metric system in the 1970s, bottles, jugs, and cartons had to be thrown out, re-designed, and manufactured in metric units, while milk bag packaging machines could easily be resized.[2][3][4]

The milk bags found favour with the domestic dairy industry, being lighter and less fragile than glass bottles. However, the consumer public preferred plastic jugs for years, but largely accepted the new containers in parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes in the 1970s.[5] Regulation in Ontario that required retailers to collect a deposit on milk jugs, but not bags, also motivated the practice.[6]

Milk bags are sold in parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, but not widely sold in western Canada, in Newfoundland and Labrador, or the territories.[5] Three bags are sold together in a larger bag containing a total of 4 L (7 imp pt) of milk. The bags are not sold individually, and are either not labeled at all or labeled with only the expiry date, the lot number, and sometimes the type of milk contained in the bag. The three-bag 4 L (7 imp pt) package is the largest normally sold at retail, with the lowest unit price. Some convenience store chains offer 4 L (7 imp pt) plastic jugs instead of milk bags, even in eastern Canada. Two accessories are commonly associated with Canadian milk bags — pitchers and bag openers. The key-shaped bag opener with a clip and a magnet was invented in Toronto in 1979.[7] These bag openers are a common type of refrigerator magnet, although the bags can be opened with scissors or knives. Large milk bags inside corrugated boxes (bag-in-box) are often used in milk dispensers at schools and institutions.

In urban parts of India, milk is most commonly sold in 0.5-litre and 1-litre bags.

Israeli milk bag

In Israel, milk in a bag is the most common type of packaging for milk. They became the standard form of milk packaging in the 1960s, with the discontinuation of glass bottles. In Israel, the milk bag is a regulated product, which means that its price is controlled by the state. Therefore, there are price differences between the milk bags and the other alternatives available for marketing milk — plastic bottles or milk cartons. Due to the price differences, a relationship was observed between the socioeconomic status of the consumer and the type of milk container that they customarily purchased. The higher the socio-economic status of the purchaser, the more likely they are to buy milk in cartons rather than in bags, despite the higher price of cartons. Based on these differences, Blue Square Network created a way to measure the socioeconomic status of an area based on the sales ratio of milk cartons versus bagged milk. The higher the ratio of the former to the latter, the higher the status of the region in Israel.[8] For religious Jews, opening a bag of milk can be considered problematic on Shabbat, because the action requires cutting. Eli Yishai, Israel's former minister of internal affairs, used empty milk bags in the Knesset as props to complain about price-hikes in the cost of milk.[9]

In Korea, milk was occasionally sold in plastic bags until 1988. Since 1974, Seoul Milk has been marketing coffee milk in small, single-serving 200 mL (7.0 imp fl oz; 6.8 US fl oz) bags.[10]

In Mexico, assistance programs and prior welfare and government social programs distribute milk in bags (1 L (1.8 imp pt) per bag) at very low prices.[11]

In South Africa, milk is commonly sold in 1L bags, called ‘sachets’, by companies including Darling Romery, Pick n Pay, Shoprite Checkers, and Denmar Dairies, as an alternative to plastic containers and cartons, which are however more common. The sachets are usually fit inside a separately bought plastic milk jug for easy pouring.

Milk bag packaging machine

Plastic pitcher for a milk bag in Israel

Milk bags are also commonly used in Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.[12]

In the United Kingdom, Sainsbury's began a pilot experiment on distributing milk in bags in 2008 in conjunction with Dairy Crest.[13] It was originally targeted at 35 stores at the same price as a regular 2-imperial-pint (1.1 L) plastic bottle of milk.[14] The product was expanded nationwide in 2010, at which point the bags retailed at a discounted price compared to traditional containers.[15][16] In the UK, the bags are usually used in conjunction with a specialized plastic jug.[17] The bag fits snugly inside the jug; one corner of the bag is secured under a bar at the front of the jug, and as the lid is closed, the bag is pierced and a spout slides into the hole, maintaining freshness and allowing the milk to be easily poured. Doorstep deliveries in the United Kingdom are normally associated with traditional glass milk bottles, but the Dairy Crest/Milk & More service also delivers milk bags and sells JugIt brand plastic jugs specially designed to hold the milk bags.[18][19] After lengthy negotiations, Milk & More was bought by dairy giant Müller from Dairy Crest in December 2015 and sales of the JugIt plastic bags ceased.[20][21]

Some dairies in the United States used the bags in the 1980s, but today milk bags are extremely rare, confined mainly to regional convenience store chains with in-house dairies, such as Kwik Trip in the Upper Midwest and other boutique dairies.

DuPont introduced milk bags to American schools in 1989, and by 1993 3 million pouches a day were being served in 24 states.[22] However, the popularity of them waned. There appears to only be one, verified school district in Omaha, NE using bagged milk as recently as 2015.[23]

Milk bags continue to be used in the food service industry, where the milk bag is usually put in a container for use with a milk dispenser.

Food service milk bag with container to be put in the dispenser.

In Vietnam, milk is widely sold in smaller 200 mL (7.0 imp fl oz) Tetra Pak bags. All major dairy companies of Vietnam offer a wide range of products, including UHT plain milk, chocolate milk and soy milk, in bags.

Milk pitcher with lid