So apparently someone designed a new milk jug (decent aggregator of some articles regarding this as I didn’t want to do 15 different links). It’s supposed to cut down on plastic use and be lighter and a bunch of other crap but really, what does this thing look like to most people who’ve ever worked fast food? A grease jug, just a small opaque one. Or a small metal gas can like you’d see on WWII-era Jeeps. Either way it’s ugly and doesn’t look like it took a whole lot of thought to “design” (see grease jug, shrink, make white, profit). But it’s supposed to be very good for the environment because it uses less plastic and is in fact lighter all the while delivering fresher milk to consumers. I’m all for fresh milk although, I only drink soy. I know that my girlfriend and my father will be happy about that. However, this isn’t what has customers pissed off, it’s the poor design.
Have you ever tried to empty a grease container to fill a fryer? All it does is glug-glug straight out. While not messy once you get the hang of it, the sheer force of a gallon — or 5 — shooting out of a small opening does create a certain amount of inertia, enough to jerk it from a steady hand. I can see this having a similar effect since it’s basically the same design and design flaw. Lacking a proper amount of plastic to create a raised spout means you’ve got an entire gallon of milk trying to bust out of that jug at once and you’re supposed to keep hold of it. But that lack of a spout means that these are more flat and infinitely more stackable which is a plus I supposed — this is mentioned at the NY Times but I didn’t read that article so go there for more stacking info.
Apparently this thing was designed by an engineer and not a designer. Call me shocked. The fact that this was designed at all shocks me. As previously alluded to, it’s a white near carbon-copy of grease jugs in fast food places so I don’t see much design here at all. The handle is placed near the top, creating an excellent imbalance when all that milk is gushing out and the force slaps the bottle against your wrist or rips it out of your hand. Didn’t anyone market test these things or were they just straight to production? I can just see some poor waif/schlep buying some of this at Costco and taking it home busting their wrist on it or breaking a foot bone and suing over poor design,
All in all, this is an OK first try, certainly not something I would’ve expected to be fast-tracked to stores with such a badly designed milk delivery mechanism (flat top, no spout, bad handle placement). You can tell this was more about efficiency of the product and inventory control than it was about a product delivering on multiple fronts for consumers.
2 responses so far ↓
Do some research before you write an article like this. Your explanation for why the industry redesigned the milk jug is incorrect. It’s not because the plastic is “lighter” or to “cut down” on plastic use. It’s because the new squarer design can be packed, stacked, and shipped more efficiently, which in turn saves money on shipping. It can also be stacked easier in warehouse stores (Costco, Sams) without using crates, which again saves money and space.
Try reading the entire post next time, I in fact *did* mention stacking. However, please make sure to do your own research. Part of the new design is in fact to use less plastic to make it lighter. Why? Lighter jugs weigh less…to cut down on fuel costs. This jug was specifically designed to use less plastic to cut down on both fuel costs in shipping and the use of petroleum to save money, it’s not just about stacking as you propose.
I did my research, did you?