Kwik Trip temporarily reduces milk choices
Shortage of small bottles limits ability to package variety of flavors, sizes
A nagging shortage of small plastic bottles, not milk, has resulted in Kwik Trip curtailing production of some flavored milk and cappuccino creamer for its 780 stores.
The La Crosse-based company, which ships roughly 105,000 gallons of milk a day, says the shortages affect flavors such as low-fat chocolate and strawberry, but only in 8 ounce and 16ounce containers. Production of the small sizes of cappuccino creamer has also been reduced.
The issue has stemmed from a plastic bottle supplier that’s struggled to get the materials it needs, so Kwik Trip decided to temporarily curtail production of certain flavors of milk, in the small containers, that are in less demand.
“The good news is we should be back, full bore, on all flavors and sizes” by Oct. 21, said Kwik Trip spokesman David Niemi.
The company, which has its own dairy processing plants, is one of the largest milk producers in the Upper Midwest, sourcing its milk from dairy farms within about a 75-mile radius of La Crosse.
Full-size grocery stores have also experienced product shortages because of strong consumer demand and, in some cases, not enough packaging. Schools have experienced food shortages as well.
With supply chains disrupted by COVID, manufacturers have fallen behind in many areas of the economy including plastics and packaging.
It’s not the first time the dairy industry has been hit by a lack of containers. In 1946, for instance, California state officials warned of a “serious milk shortage” unless all available glass milk bottles were rounded up and returned to stores for refilling.
The California shortage was worsened by the temporary closure of bottling plants that produced a million quart-size paper containers of milk a day.