UK-based milk retail giant Hanover Dairies has seen a 5% increase across the board in glass milk bottles sales over the past month as nationwide consumer reaction to the use of single-use plastic containers continues to cause growing environmental and human food-chain alarm.
The Newcastle-based company’s sales of glass bottled milk have increased since Christmas following well documented reports in the UK press and media about concerns over single-use plastic entering the human food-chain. In comparison, glass milk bottles are more environmentally friendly and can be reused up to 20 times. Compared with some plastic containers, which are usually thrown-away, glass bottles are generally recyclable according to Hanover Dairies MD Tony Baldwin.
He said: “We’ve had a surge in glass milk bottle sales over the past month with an average increase of over 5%. However, in certain areas the increases have been as much as 8% or higher. Consumer awareness continues to grow week-by-week and customers are phoning and contacting the website requesting milk deliveries in glass bottles.”
Hanover Dairies, founded in 1976 by owner Trevor Hanover, is one of the UK’s largest doorstep milk distributors. The company has 20 distribution centres throughout the north-east, north-west and Scotland. Hanover Dairies is committed to maintaining door-step deliveries and operates as far afield as Lancashire with depots at Blackpool; Manchester, Preston and as far north as Glasgow and Alloa.
Hanover Dairies supplies milk to 200 door-step delivery rounds; local businesses, shops as well as, delivering milk to over 1,000 schools for child consumption states Mr Baldwin. “With the scale of our operation, covering northern England and into Scotland, and with 120,000 door-step customers alone, we are ideally placed to gauge and assess consumer reaction.
“Our customers are ditching the use of single-use plastic milk containers and switching to glass. Hanover Dairies and our independent door-step delivery rounds-holders are picking-up hundreds of new customers every week. Greater consumer awareness has led to a resurgence in the sale of milk in the traditional glass bottle as well as, increasing door-step deliveries. “
The media-led campaign against the use of single-use plastic has led to greater awareness of pollution of the environment including rivers and seas and thereby plastics entering the human-food-chain. UK Prime Minister Theresa May recently pledged to scrap “all avoidable plastic waste” by 2042. The announcement will result in supermarkets being forced to remove plastic containers and plastic wrapping from food products.
