Kwik Trip is ending sales of bagged milk starting in May, the chain announced this week.
The decision to stop selling bagged milk, a cheaper alternative to milk sold in jugs and that the store has carried for 40 years, followed a drop in demand.
“After thorough consideration and analysis, we have decided to discontinue bagged milk to focus on items that resonate more strongly with our guests,” Kwik Trip CEO Scott Zietlow said in an announcement Wednesday.
Some customers expressed disappointment.
“It’s been such a tradition. It’s a quirk unique to Wisconsin and the Midwest,” said customer Nate Schweitzer, 39. “Our friends from out of town still talk about it. It was just one of those fun things.”
After they bring it home, customers store the bagged milk in a pitcher, free with the first purchase. The pitcher holds the bag, from which one corner has been cut to pour the milk. After use, the open corner of the bag is tucked into a slit in the front of the pitcher, sealing it.
People are also reading…
Reactions have been mixed, Kwik Trip spokesperson Ben Leibl acknowledged. But in the end, he said, sales couldn’t justify the cost of continuing to provide the product.
Leibl said he hoped customers will switch to buying their milk in jugs instead, but some have objected to the difference in price. While half a gallon of bagged milk at a Kwik Trip in Madison Thursday cost $1.49, half a gallon of the same milk in a jug cost $2.39.
While the cost was not Schweitzer’s main complaint, he said discontinuation of the product was a loss for customers who have relied on it over the years.
“You can get regular milk anywhere,” Schweitzer said. “The bags are what kind of drew me.”
Now, he said, he’ll be “indifferent” about where he buys milk.
Leibl was sympathetic but was hopeful customers would continue purchasing milk from the store.
“This was a very difficult decision for us to make. It was not one we took lightly,” Leibl said. “We understand that customers come into our store looking for bagged milk, and we are disappointed that we have to take that away.”