Tetra Pak versus milk cartons When the milk wars raged in Switzerland
While parliament was debating the "liberalization of pasteurized milk", the next innovation was already on the horizon in 1964. Several "milk wars" raged in Switzerland in the 20th century.
17.05.2026, 21:30
17.05.2026, 21:33
SDA
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Numerous "milk wars" raged in Switzerland in the 20th century.
- In the dairy industry, for example, there were always fierce disputes over who was allowed to sell which milk when and where.
- In the past, open milk was transported from the milkman to the front door in a "milk vat".
- Nowadays, milk packaged in Tetra Paks is ubiquitous.
"The tetrahedron was the simplest way to form a package from a tube," said Josef Meyer from Tetra Pak Switzerland on Swiss television in 2009. The shape also gave the packaging its name - "Tetra Pak". The company was founded in 1950 by a Swede. For the first time, milk could be packaged by the meter. Simple, hygienic and space-saving.
The idea behind the filling process came from sausage production: a machine formed a tube from the carton and filled it with milk. The tube was then sealed and cut off. The right angle between the base and the top then gave the carton its characteristic pyramid shape.
Mid-May - free pasta milk!
Milk is to Switzerland what oil and high petrol prices are elsewhere - namely political dynamite. Time and again, there were heated arguments in Switzerland about "who was allowed to sell which milk where and when - and who had to deliver milk where and to whom and when". This was also the case in the early 1960s, as described by the authors of the Archives of Agricultural History in their basic work on the Swiss dairy industry, "Milk for everyone".
In the past, open milk was transported to the front door by the milkman in a "milk vat". However, the milkman could not guarantee that the milk was refrigerated or germ-free. Pasteurization extended the shelf life of the milk. Only those with the appropriate license were allowed to sell.
However, it would take a few more years, countless campaigns and two referendums before the authorities approved the sale of pasteurized milk "without ifs and buts", even for large distributors such as Migros. While the "liberalization of pasta milk" was still being debated in Switzerland, the next innovation was already in the starting blocks in 1964.
Drinking milk from the Tetra-Brik
While pasteurized milk still required refrigeration, aseptically bottled, ultra-high temperature UHT milk could be kept at room temperature for weeks. Before the packaged milk was allowed to leave the Verbandsmolkerei Zurich dairy in July 1964, it had to undergo bacteriological testing in the laboratory.
According to "Südwestrundfunk", five full days passed before the results of the test were known. According to the German broadcaster in 1964, "the housewife" could now store the triangular milk cartons anywhere: "Whether in the kitchen cupboard, on the shelf or in the heated office - this milk does not turn sour".
The triangular shape did not last long, but the collaboration between the Swedish company and the Swiss retail trade did. It was not until the Tetraeder, and later the Tetra-Brik, that milk sales in supermarkets sealed Tetra Pak's success in Switzerland.
