Milk in bottles for years yet

Press, 2 August 1979, Page 2

Milk in bottles for years yet

PA Wellington Bottles for home milk delivery will remain for many years and not be replaced by cartoned milk, town milk producers were told yesterday. The Under-Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Talbot) told producers in Wellington that in all the proposals for cartoned milk there had never been any suggestion that the traditional milk bottle used for home delivery would be phased out. t “The milk bottle will be with us for many years hence. Any investigation of the home-delivery service is being looked at only with a view to improving milk sales and service,” Mr Tai* bot said. - „ Cartons had value for flavoured milk, long-life milk, and other milk products and by-products such as yoghurt. “Bright, attractive cartons which can be readily marketed and promoted could win a big market for ■fun milk’ and specialised products giving added opportunities and encouragement to "drink health’,” Mr Talbot said.

“Fun milk” and the wide range of specialist productscould not be promoted and marketed successfully in an unattractive milk bottle. “If you ignore this fact you will be throwing iwdyjt large potential market and proving that New Zealand

producers are ignoring sound and proven marketing advice,” he said. There could be scope for exports of cartoned milk products, Mr Talbot said. With innovation and flair New Zealand might be able to build up a large market for flavoured long-life milk in South-East Asia and the Pacific. However, the president of the Town Milk Producers’ Federation (Mr D. L. Lane) was not in favour of cartons. Mr Lane said there was no place in the milk market for cartons, without creatine consequences which would seriously jeopardise the public interest. He listed the dangers posed to the industry as cartoned, pasteurised flavoured milk was introduced: Supermarkets would be increasingly involved in milk sales; home deliveries would face elimination, allowing supermarkets to raise their prices; cartons were more costly in money and environment terms. Mr Lane emphasised what he said was a need for a new central milk authority, dominated by the town milk industry. The industry should control its own destiny through ah industry dominated, con-sumer-oriented central milk authority, he said. The present structure of the industry inhibited a co-ordi-nated marketing effort.