Kemps gives consumers a hand-le

The new container was launched with a special promotion, "Official Milk of Santa," in the Twin Cities and central Minnesota markets that receive milk from the Minneapolis dairy, says Rachel Kyllo, vice president of marketing for Kemps.

What makes this especially newsworthy is that Kyllo says this may be the first gallon milk jug with off-center pouring. "Virtually all milk filling equipment is designed for center-pour bottles," Kyllo says. "So this jug required significant retrofitting of our existing equipment." The bottle was designed to fit the dairy’s secondary packaging of metal returnable crates.

As part of a two-year development, the dairy worked with Innovation & Development on bottle design. Kemps blow-molds the jugs in-house. Although the new jug had been in the market only a short time, Kyllo says the response has been fabulous from retailers and consumers. When asked if other Marigold dairies will adopt the new jug, Kyllo responded: "We’re waiting to see what happens. We just love the idea of innovating in the milk category."