Schultz Organic Dairy increases business on back of sustainable consumer trend

The clink of the glass milk bottle in the morning is no longer consigned to history — a south-west Victorian business is bringing back a retro retail concept.

Sarah Main runs Winchelsea Wholefoods and stocks Schulz Organic Dairy products, including milk in glass bottles which is part of a container deposit scheme. Photo: DANNIKA BONSER

CLINKING milk bottles on the doorstep at daybreak may be little more than a memory for some but the reusable dairy vessel is steadily making a comeback.

Last month, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry report into waste recommended the State Government require supermarkets to reduce single-use plastics.

While plastic and plastic-coated cardboard containers overwhelmingly dominate the refrigerator shelves of Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, independent operators have tapped into the growing consumer appetite for reusable glass bottles for dairy.

Schulz Organic Dairy has more than 40 stockists dotted throughout Victoria. The Timboon-based dairy has its own container scheme whereby repeat customers can return empty bottles for cleaning and reuse.

“2019 was a good year for us. The number of customers wanting more sustainable packaging for all food, not just dairy, is growing and will continue to grow into the 2020s,” owner-operator Simon Schulz said.

“A number of countries in Europe as well as the United States are ahead of Australia (with sustainable packaging). There’s one processor that has the output equivalent to Sungold Milk, not Saputo more broadly, but Sungold the brand. That’s 30 to 40 million litres per year.

“We’re not at that level but it shows that there’s significant consumer interest in sustainable packaging methods, not just overseas but here in Australia as well.”

Winchelsea Wholefoods proprietor Sarah Main has stocked Schulz milk bottles for the past six months and has seen demand outstrip supply.

“We have a number of customers that pre-order. Schulz products are very popular, they often sell out,” she said.

“People want to support local, smaller-scale operators and Schulz has developed a great name not just for its container scheme but for high-quality product.”

The state government inquiry into packaging emanated from Victoria’s 2018-19 recycling impasse, which resulted in tonnes of household recyclable waste being redirected into landfill. The inquiry called for the major supermarkets to enable customers to take reusable containers into stores for delicatessen produce as well as the introduction of reusable bottles for milk and other produce.

Mr Schulz welcomed the inquiry findings but warned against “greenwashing” — a term used for retailers giving a false impression of their conservation credentials.

“In the past, we’ve seen greenwashing going on (from larger operators) with containers that are labelled as biodegradable going into landfill. Glass bottle milk is still small scale in Australia but there’s enormous potential for growth.”