Milk in a Bag: An Unusual Find from Kwik Trip

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Have you ever heard of such a thing before?

One of the regional chains of gas/convenience stores here, http://www.kwiktrip.com/m_eatsanddrinks/naturestouch.asp, has been selling milk in a bag for a long time. They never had a store close to me, so I never took it seriously. In fact, I used to giggle when I went into a store and saw "Milk in a Bag."

Then they opened a store about a mile from me, and I looked closer. It's lower in price by more than a half a buck a gallon from milk in a regular plastic jug.

Pros:

• Lower in price than regular milk in a jug
• I can go into the store, get milk and get out without having to walk all the way to the back of the supermarket just to buy milk.

Cons:

• It only comes in half gallons.
• The bags are kinda floppy, like carrying a dead body. (They kinda ooze around the counter and refrigerator, but at these prices, I can put up with that.)
• You have to put them in a special pitcher. (It's free when you buy your first bag of milk.)

They also have a program with a card that gets punched per half gallon and after X number of gallons, you get $1.00 the next 1/2 gallon bag. With that punch card, since the new store opened a few weeks ago, I figure I've saved about ten bucks on milk.

They sell Milk in a Bag in Whole, 2%, 1%, Skim and Chocolate and they sell orange juice in a bag - which I haven't tried yet.

This is just amazing to me, and I wonder if any of you, outside of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa (where Kwik Trip operates) have seen anything like this.

 

[wadesgirl]

Gee, I haven't been to a Kwik Trip in years! They used to have more around here.

 

[jross93]

the milk at all our area schools is in bags and has been for a few years now....less waste!
Jen

 

[Crystal Patton]

What a cool idea - I have never heard of this.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

the milk at all our area schools is in bags and has been for a few years now....less waste!
Jen

I knew about commercial supplies, like you're talking about, but I was referring to the consumer level.

 

[LDelgado35]

There is a local chain in the Lansing area in Michigan (Quality Dairy) that sold milk in the bags for years. I remember my mom buying it when I was growing up. I'm not sure if they still carry it or not.

 

[Chef Gilles]

We've been buying milk in a bag for ages here in Canada!

 

[mrshamel3808]

I was going to say, there's a song about Canada that talks about milk in a bag, it's by Five Iron Frenzy (a Christian punk band).

 

[chefann]

We don't have that around here, but the pitcher reminds me of the holder my grandmother had when I was growing up. It was a plastic frame with a handle on the side that was sized for a paper 1/2 gallon carton, to make it into a pitcher-like entity. (It also looks like the water pitchers they use in hospitals.)It would be lighter than the other non-waste option - glass bottles. (My nieces and nephews from WI are in town visiting, and they brought 4 bottles of milk with them. My mom has a hard time lifting them because they're so heavy.)

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I remember those carton holders, too. Now the cardboard cartons are missing and so are the "Missing" panels on the cartons are missing, too.

 

[Fluffy215]

Yep, when I lived in Ontario Canada for a year that is what they had, was milk in the bag. The town I lived in was a very green town and recycled darn near everything LOL That also may be because that is where their agricultural college is

 

[PCMomto4]

I am in Florida and have never seen milk in a bag. Now I will say that I very rarely ever go into a gas station to pick up anything, so maybe they have them.

 

[chefann]

So... does one pour the milk out of the bag into the pitcher? Or is there a spot to open the bag and then reseal it? As great as this idea is (I love that there's little packaging waste), I like my milk to be sealed in the fridge so it doesn't pick up funky flavors or odors.

 

[NooraK]

From the picture, it appears there's a dotted line with a picture of scissors, so I'd think you would cut it open.

 

[chefann]

That's what it looks like, but that stinks. I don't think it's very hygenic to leave an open container of milk in the fridge.

 

[etteluap70PC]

My MIL has this all the time... I freaked the first time I saw it. Give me my gallon jug any day. Ok I guess I am a milk snob?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

So... does one pour the milk out of the bag into the pitcher? Or is there a spot to open the bag and then reseal it? As great as this idea is (I love that there's little packaging waste), I like my milk to be sealed in the fridge so it doesn't pick up funky flavors or odors.

From the picture, it appears there's a dotted line with a picture of scissors, so I'd think you would cut it open.

If you look at the pitcher - you can see the bag is in it. The bag fits into the pitcher and you just cut the corner of the bag to open it. There is a little slot in the pitcher that you used to seal the bag.

The dotted line is to cut off the coupon on the bag. It's for Kwik Trip's http://www.milkmoola.com/ program and Doughnut$ to Dough as fund raisers for school systems.

 

[elizabethfox]

I saw milk in a bag for the first time when I went to visit my friend in Canada. She would buy a box that had two half gallon bags in it.

 

[NooraK]

There is a little slot in the pitcher that you used to seal the bag.

Or you could always use a Twixit!

 

[Admin Greg]

I remember milk in a bag from elementary school. Tastes like plastic :yuck:

 

[Chefstover2]

Or you could always use a Twixit!

Or pour it into your QS Pitcher

 

[ChefEsther]

When I saw this post, I thought - oh a pun by kitchenguy... but no, you were serious!

lol I guess this is just what I am used to. Milk is available in Ontario in bags, cartons or plastic bottles...

You can buy a bag of milk here for $4-5 (this varies greatly from one side of the country to the other, just ask our friends from the Maritimes), there are 4L so 3 bags & you use the plastic jugs. We go through enough milk here, I've never considered twixit clip-ping the bag shut - it is used long before it could go bad in the fridge! The cartons or bags are available at grocery stores, usually you can only get the jugs in my area from convenience stores...

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

My Canadian transplant friends had quite a time getting used to it. The native Canucks say it's more environmentally friendly.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Or pour it into your QS Pitcher

I've thought about that a time or twice, but as Chefann pointed out, it doesn't really seal.

When I saw this post, I thought - oh a pun by kitchenguy... but no, you were serious!

Of course, I'm serious. And don't call me Shirley.

My Canadian transplant friends had quite a time getting used to it. The native Canucks say it's more environmentally friendly.

I give a rip about "environmentally friendly." (I hate Compact Flourescent light bulbs and moonshine in my gas tank.) What I do care about is 60¢ a gallon in savings.

 

[colegrovet]

I remember milk in a bag from elementary school. Tastes like plastic :yuck:

That's what I remember too....

Growing up I used to just go out to the tank..
one of the bennies of growing up on a farm.. yes, it was un processed! and the cream in it, would float to the top when left sitting.

 

[Saturday Gourmet]

Here, we have milk in little juice box type containers that do not have to be refrigerated. I think they are put out by Borden. My DD loves them and they sure are handy when you are camping, etc.

I'll be near a Kwiktrip tonight so I'm going to have to look for the bagged milk. That's **WAIT FOR IT** an utterly cool idea.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Here, we have milk in little juice box type containers that do not have to be refrigerated. I think they are put out by Borden. My DD loves them and they sure are handy when you are camping, etc.

I'll be near a Kwiktrip tonight so I'm going to have to look for the bagged milk. That's **WAIT FOR IT** an utterly cool idea.

Well here's another udderly good idea. Those bags are a little difficult to carry. If we could get Playtex to put two large cups together with a carrying strap, we could carry a gallon of milk in a...oh, let's not go there.

 

[lcucinella]

I give a rip about "environmentally friendly." (I hate Compact Flourescent light bulbs and moonshine in my gas tank.) What I do care about is 60¢ a gallon in savings.

Amen Kitchen Guy!

 

[Saturday Gourmet]

Well here's another udderly good idea. Those bags are a little difficult to carry. If we could get Playtex to put two large cups together with a carrying strap, we could carry a gallon of milk in a...oh, let's not go there.

Ya might know I finally come up with a KG worthy pun and I spelled the darn thing wrong! I tell ya this swine flu has definitely taken some brain cells for a spin!

I don't know KG, Playtex may TEAT-er toward this idea!

 

[Crystal Patton]

Well here's another udderly good idea. Those bags are a little difficult to carry. If we could get Playtex to put two large cups together with a carrying strap, we could carry a gallon of milk in a...oh, let's not go there.

You're a bad, bad man!

I love it!

 

[chefann]

Well here's another udderly good idea. Those bags are a little difficult to carry. If we could get Playtex to put two large cups together with a carrying strap, we could carry a gallon of milk in a...oh, let's not go there.

Considering that what goes in such holders has a specific biologic function and are commonly referred to as "fun bags," then the "milk bag" is almost a synonym.

Um... did I just type that out loud?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Ya might know I finally come up with a KG worthy pun and I spelled the darn thing wrong! I tell ya this swine flu has definitely taken some brain cells for a spin!

I don't know KG, Playtex may TEAT-er toward this idea!

Go fix it and I'll delete the quote. Besides, I don't believe that teatering was the breast pun you could squirt out.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You're a bad, bad man!

I love it!

And you're talking about ME?
\/ \/ \/ \/

Considering that what goes in such holders has a specific biologic function and are commonly referred to as "fun bags," then the "milk bag" is almost a synonym.

Um... did I just type that out loud?

 

[Saturday Gourmet]

Ya'll are just too much fun! Boy, did I need these laughs today.

Thanks!

 

[Crystal Patton]

I always love it when people laugh at me - wait ... that didn't come out right. LOL

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You can arways count on us for your dairy raugh.(We've already used the cream of these puns, so how longer will we be able to milk this thread? )

 

[Crystal Patton]

KG - I am so mooved by your command of the english language.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

TY - the way this thread has gone, I think it behooves us to keep it going while others cower at the challenge.

 

[Crystal Patton]

I''m utterly flattered that you think I would be up for the whole (as apossed to 2%) challenge.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Have you ever taken a milk bath?I heard that a woman went to Kwik Trip and loaded up on bags and bags of milk. The manager of the dairy department asked why she was buying so much milk?She said, "I understand that milk baths keeps skin supple and keeps you looking young."The manager said, "Since you're bathing in it, do you want the milk pasteurized?""No," she replied, "Up to my neck should be fine."

 

[Crystal Patton]

We are all up to our necks in something on this thread, that's for sure. LOL

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

And it's bovine in nature butt has nothing to do with milk.

 

[Crystal Patton]

At least none of it has gotten on our noses yet.