Date: 3rd February 2016
2016 sees Pritchitts gearing up to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Millac Maid Mini Pots, with new research showing it has become as iconic as the Coca-Cola bottle and the Marmite Jar with a staggering 88% of consumers recognising it by its shape alone*.
Launched in 1986, the peel-and-pour, premium single portion long life whitener for tea and coffee has become the market leading mini pot brand. Propelling it to be held in such high regard is the fact that Millac Maid has been proven through research to taste just like fresh milk in tea^ and coffee, but in a format that is both more practical and hygienic. What’s more, its ambient shelf life helps makes it easy to store and minimise wastage, as well as delivering easy portion control for hotels, conference centres, on-board travel and quick service restaurants.
As well as showcasing how familiar consumers are with the humble mini pot, the research also reveals just how engrained the single serve whitener is in consumers’ psyche with 78% having used one, and 9 in 10 expecting to see a mini pot in a hotel room.
With the Millac Maid Mini Pot proving easy to open and use, it’s not surprising that over three quarters (77%) of consumers like it for its convenience, while the fact it is sealed with no need for refrigeration ticks the boxes for nearly 6 in 10 people who prefer to be served a mini pot rather than an open milk jug for hygiene reasons.
Commenting on the milestone, Simon Muschamp, Head of Marketing at Pritchitts, said: “When we first launched the Millac Maid Mini Pot 30 years ago it was to meet the need for a whitener for tea and coffee that would provide the same great taste of fresh milk in a convenient no mess, no waste format. We’re delighted that 30 years on the Millac Maid Mini Pot is still answering those same demands and providing practical benefits to both consumers and operators.
“The research clearly shows that consumers and caterers have not only come to know and trust the mini pot, but can also see the clear benefits it offers over a jug of fresh milk.”
The Millac Maid Mini Pot is in exceptional company with 1986 also being the year that the first non-stop flight around the world without refuelling took place, the same year that France and the UK announced plans to unite the two nations by means of constructing the Channel Tunnel, and when the American film classic “Top Gun” hit the big screen.
Simon adds: “We’re proud that over three decades we’ve been helping operators deliver a great tasting cuppa to consumers, now in 2016 delivering premium quality and celebrating our farming heritage is at the heart of Millac Maid and we’re looking forward to the next 30 years!”
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Millac Maid Mini Pots, Pritchitts has created an infographic based on the findings of its research and has designed a limited edition tea towel featuring additional cow-related trivia. There is also a video caterers can watch on the Pritchitts website http://www.pritchitts.com/videos/millac-maid-30th-anniversary.
Millac Maid Mini Pots come in both full-fat and half-fat versions and are sold in cases of 120x12ml or 240x12ml pots. The full-fat option is also available in cases of 480x10ml pots.
Pritchitts is the foodservice division of Lakeland Dairies which is one of Ireland’s largest farmer-owned dairy co-operatives. Their cows graze on lush, green pastures producing high quality milk, which is collected from over 2,100 family farms on a daily basis. Using unrivalled expertise and state of the art machinery, they process over 800 million litres of milk into their range of value added dairy products.
To download the 30th Anniversary Millac Maid infographic, click here
*Consumer Insight, Toluna 2015, 300 sample size.
^ Leatherhead Food Research survey of 309 consumers, January 2013
