Overheads main opposition to milk in cartons

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 6

Overheads main opposition to milk in cartons

PA Wellington Packaging of white milk in cartons would cost New Zealand nearly 30 times as much as using bottles, said the marketing manager for Glass Manufactuers’ company (Mr R. O’Shanassy) at the week-end. It would cost $8 million in overseas funds for equipment, and a further $l5 million every year for imported board and royalities he said. It would make obsolete glass-handling equipment worth $lO million.

| Speaking to the Dominion Federation of Milk Vendors conference at Wellington, Mr O’Shanassy said that glass milk bottles required only $70,000 a year in overseas funds.

If cartons replaced bottles it would mean that 17,000 tonnes of refuse had to be disposed of, at an estimated cost of $200,000, he said. Most of these arguments also applied to flavoured milk in cartons. Where cartons had been introduced overseas, the vending system had become increasingly less economic. In some countries deliveries had been reduced to three to five days a week. “Glass is reusable, cheaper, makes better use of energy, and is more desirable environmentally.” he said. “The German Government has recognised the problem of cartons and is going back to bottle.”

The National Union of Milk Vendors was not opposed to milk cartons, said its secretary (Mr G. Murdoch). He was commenting on statements made by Mr I. McLaren, president of the Federation of Milk Vendors, the largest milkmen’s union.

Mr McLaren said his federation opposed the sale of milk in cartons because ■of the added cost and inconvenience to the consumer, but it favoured selling the proposed flavoured milk by that method. He criticised the union for militancy and for not backing the scheme. Mr Murdoch said the union was not militant, but would have to adopt such an attitude unless its fears were recognised. The union was not opposed to flavoured milk being sold in cartons, but unless it insisted that white milk be kept in bottles and in the vendors’ hands, then they would be “selling their livelihood down the drain.” He said the federation was “selling out to other sectors of the milk industry.” If the milk treatment stations installed expensive car-ton-filling equipment, then they would want to use it for more than just flavoured milk, he said. Unless the union insisted that it had distribution of white-milk cartons, its members would be out of a job. Mr Murdoch said that 20 per cent of the vendors in [Wellington were now memibers of the union, and not [l5 per cent as asserted by IMr McLaren.