Lion Dairy - Milk and milk Packaging

Lion

Hi All,

A little background:

I am from Lion, which has milk brands such as Dairy Farmers and Pura. We are conducting some research to gain further insight into making our products better for you and feel there is no better way to provide a service then to completely understand the needs and requirements of the consumers.

With coffee being the number 1 drink, and milk being so integral for a great latte, I hope I can get some great feedback from the people that use milk all day every day to help make a perfect coffee. 


The feedback:

I would love to know the successes and failures of milk for any of the below;

- Supply - Thinking about how, when and what milk arrives in? is it good/ bad, what doesn't work? what would make it easier, quicker or better?

- Packaging - The milk bottle itself - it is user friendly, easy to recognise the type you need (e.g. full cream, lite) what sizes do you prefer to use, is it easy to handle, what would make it better, etc?

- Milk Performance - What you want in milk for the best coffee - Protein, cream, taste?

- Uses - What else might you use it for other than coffee? 

- Space/ environment

Koffee_Kosmo

Our most purchased milk is - Paul's or Pura - full cream Our most popular size is - 2 lt & 3 lt sizes We recycle the plastic containers The 3 lt container is more ergonomic to use The 2 lt container is a little thin and hard to pour the first time In the past we have had bad experience with tainted 1 lt wax cartons yuk yuk yuk glue taste I am old enough to remember glass bottled milk delivered to ones door KK

RichardM

My issues with the milk products I use (including ones under the lion banner): - Vitasoy 1L UHT cartons are HORRIBLE to open.  Pulling up the "ring pull" style seal almost always ends up in requiring a knife, or splashing milk everywhere. Most other bottles crack a seal on the first twist of the lid. - I'm aware this one is likely dictated by the supermarkets themselves, but a lack of 2L options for UHT style milk in varieties such as Vitasoy Soy Milky is just astounding. Every week, I look in my recycling bin in dismay that I'm restricted to 1L bottles. Every time I go to the supermarket, people standing there buying UHT milk are always buying at least 5+ bottles. I can't see why 2L wouldn't be economical, especially now that supermarkets do the "$x/L" on the bottom of most shelf talkers. - We go through about 5L per week each (a couple). One of us drinks soy, one drinks Lactose free (something that I do not believe you supply any options for).

askthecoffeeguy

The best milk for coffee in a cafe environment in my experience is organic and unhomogonised - due to what I describe as a lack of chemical or hormonal taint which is entirely subjective on my part but the main determining factor here, as far as I'm concerned and leaving aside the question of milk texture for the moment, is how the milk sits in the stomach once consumed, combined with what I believe to be unparalleled taste, and the feeling post-consumption that A) your purchase / consumption experience (and by that I mean drinking a milk based coffee) has been entirely worthwhile, and it has been an experience that you're keen to repeat (repeat purchase) and one worth traveling to your chosen coffee destination for All the rated speciality coffee shops that I'm aware of use either an organic and unhomogonised milk product or an unhomogonised milk product that has been produced hormone and chemical free Of course taste and texture are primary considerations and I tried every milk product I could find and taste tested them with and without coffee to arrive at this conclusion Why oh why unhomogonised organic milk is only ever available in a 1lt bottle at the supermarket is a continual mystery to me, as if I'm any indication then surely there is demand for a 2lt version of same? And to my mind Bonsoy remains the only soy product worth adding to coffee - partly because its heads and shoulders above the rest, but mostly because no one has come up with a suitable rival There's some talk about the portion controlled bladder delivery system for cafes, which to me makes great sense as it minimizes on packaging, but as far as I know it ties you into a certain product which is not great for choice, and I'm not sure how an unhom milk would work with this delivery method There also seems to be very little true innovation in the milk industry which is why I think that smaller producers are clawing back market share (ok admittedly not much) by focusing on boutique quality driven products

askthecoffeeguy

Oh and I'm not sure if this is already happening or not but if milk supplier could take back their empty milk bottles with the milk crates that would be super awesome !

RichardM

I have to agree with askthecoffee guy about Bonsoy, but for home use, it's super expensive, and there is nothing in between. Soy Milky is an ok alternative for everyday cheapness, but something in between would be good (and "quality" is hard to define - as noone really knows the ins and outs of why it tastes better - it just does!)

askthecoffeeguy

I admit my use of the term 'quality' may have been a bit flippant and subjective but I do believe that the nieche market is very poorly serviced as a whole if like me you choose to only consume products that are produced chemical free - but admittedly I hardly ever shop in a supermarket so maybe I am not the target audience

Jonty

Arh living in GODs country and dairy Capital of Australia - SW Victoria  and having a wife who worked at Warrnambool Cheese and Butter - I stick with WCB Sungold Jersey Milk for my coffee :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: Use - would say as a family of 4 with 2 under the age of 5, 14ltrs per week.  I dont buy 3ltr containers - too easy to spill and hard to pour! What I like about WCB is the sensational shelf life.  None of this stuff is transported half way around the country and a short shelf life (less than 7 day crap).  It is in the factory and on the shelf in 48hrs for us to digest. 

Lion

Hi All, This is great feedback and all of it will be taken on board.

on 1351072014:

The 3 lt container is more ergonomic to use The 2 lt container is a little thin and hard to pour the first time

Very interesting - 3lt larget and heavier yet more ergonomic to handle and easier to pour.... thanks KK

on 1351072861:

My issues with the milk products I use (including ones under the lion banner): - Vitasoy 1L UHT cartons are HORRIBLE to open.  Pulling up the "ring pull" style seal almost always ends up in requiring a knife, or splashing milk everywhere. Most other bottles crack a seal on the first twist of the lid. - I'm aware this one is likely dictated by the supermarkets themselves, but a lack of 2L options for UHT style milk in varieties such as Vitasoy Soy Milky is just astounding. Every week, I look in my recycling bin in dismay that I'm restricted to 1L bottles. Every time I go to the supermarket, people standing there buying UHT milk are always buying at least 5+ bottles. I can't see why 2L wouldn't be economical, especially now that supermarkets do the "$x/L" on the bottom of most shelf talkers. - We go through about 5L per week each (a couple). One of us drinks soy, one drinks Lactose free (something that I do not believe you supply any options for).

Great feedback! Thanks for all the info  askthe coffeeguy - very much appreciated and you make some great points! Keep it coming. Cheers!

Bottom Line

on 1351072014:

The 3 lt container is more ergonomic to use The 2 lt container is a little thin and hard to pour the first time

I prefer the 3L over the two. Easier to handle, pour and store/stack. Wife prefers the 2L. Easier for her to pour.

on 1351072861:

My issues with the milk products I use (including ones under the lion banner): - Vitasoy 1L UHT cartons are HORRIBLE to open.  Pulling up the "ring pull" style seal almost always ends up in requiring a knife, or splashing milk everywhere. Most other bottles crack a seal on the first twist of the lid. - I'm aware this one is likely dictated by the supermarkets themselves, but a lack of 2L options for UHT style milk in varieties such as Vitasoy Soy Milky is just astounding. Every week, I look in my recycling bin in dismay that I'm restricted to 1L bottles. Every time I go to the supermarket, people standing there buying UHT milk are always buying at least 5+ bottles. I can't see why 2L wouldn't be economical, especially now that supermarkets do the "$x/L" on the bottom of most shelf talkers.

[size=14pt]YES[/size] While I don't do markets/events that often but when you have a long queue and you are struggling with the pull tab..... ARRGGGHH. On the Vitasoy the loop is TOO small. The only finger I can in it is my little pinky. And then when the pull loop peels away from the sealing foil..... Sometimes I just grab another and hope that one opens ok. Seems all the more stupid when there are other screw tops that break the seal as you twist open. One move that does not fail. Also are one of those who buys 6+ litres of Vitasoy when I do. A 2 litre would be great.