Major supermarket announces they are 'phasing out' largest bottle of milk - and families aren't happy

For most families, milk is a staple item in their fridge and something which goes in their shopping trolleys every week without fail. But, now shoppers are being forced to make a change to their shopping habits as one major supermarket has announced a big change to how they stock the essential product.

Tesco has announced it is “phasing out” six pint bottles of milk in a bid to reduce food waste, but the decision has left some shoppers with a sour taste in their mouths. One mum took to Twitter, now called X, to express her frustration at the decision and has accused the supermarket giant of discriminating against families. She wrote: “@Tesco what exactly are families to do? My household goes through approx 14pts of milk a week. It's much easier for me to store 2x6pts than 3x4pts. Surely that makes less waste too? #AnotherFormOfFamilyDiscrimination.”

Another person took a swipe at the supermarket’s famous slogan ‘every little helps’ by writing “@Tesco first the minimum delivery went to £50 from £40. Next 6 pints bottles of milk were stopped from being delivered. Your moto is still *Every Little for just us helps*.

Other shoppers have declared that they will shop at one of Tesco’s rivals because of the move and the inconvenience it will cause them. They said: “@Tesco whose brilliant idea was it to phase out 6 pint containers of milk? We don't all live in cities, and some of us have to travel a long way to a supermarket. I can't fit four 4 pint containers in my fridge. So I will just go to @Asda or @Morrisons instead. Thanks!”

The supermarket chain was first questioned about their stocks of six pint bottles of milk which had, up until now, been the largest bottle the store had sold, back in May. A Twitter user noticed at that time that they weren’t on the shelf in her local store and also unavailable for purchase via the Tesco app.

A spokesperson for Tesco confirmed their decision in a statement to the Mirror in July: “We are phasing out six pint bottles of milk to reduce wastage, but our four pint bottles provide the same great value per pint, especially as we have reduced milk prices twice in recent weeks.”

There is some good news for shoppers, however, as milk now costs less than it once did. Earlier this year, Tesco cut the price of milk for the first time since 2020. At the time, Tesco's UK chief executive Jason Terry said: "Milk is a key everyday staple for so many families. We’ve seen some cost price deflation for milk across the market in recent times, and we want to take this opportunity to pass that reduction on to customers."

In April, the six pint bottle of milk cost £2.30 which is equivalent to 38p per pint. At the time of writing, in July 2023, a four pint bottle of milk - which is now the largest size available at Tesco - costs £1.45 which is 36p per pint. So, although you may now have to buy more bottles of milk, you will pay less for it.