Benna, the brand of milk products much beloved in Malta, has temporarily re-introduced the old version of its packaging in what is understood to be a result of issues in procurement and an attempt to take into account consumers’ rising environmental awareness.

Malta Dairy Products Ltd, which produces the Benna line of products, came in for harsh criticism when it launched new packaging including a plastic screw-on tap in 2017, with many decrying the addition of plastic to a container that was previously entirely made up of carton.

On Sunday, the company announced that the old packaging, widely seen as being more environmentally friendly, will be back – for a time – for its whole milk.

“This is the Benna Whole Milk packaging you will find in shops over the coming weeks,” it said.

“Rest assured that the milk has not changed, we are only temporarily replacing the carton.”

It also asked its customers to let it know what they think of the makeover.

Contacted for comment, Malta Dairy Products (MDP) Ltd COO Alex Briffa said the move is an attempt to test the waters and see how the market responds to the change, taking into account consumers’ rising environmental awareness.

Asked if its success could mean that more products in the Benna line could see a return to entirely carton packaging, Mr Briffa said it is still too early to say, and declined to comment further.

Pressed on the mixed messages sent by the company in describing it as an environmental matter on the one hand while stressing that it “hopes to revert to the original carton as soon as possible", the MDP COO admits that “supply chain issues do happen from time to time [but] we are also actively working on improving sustainability which includes exploring different packaging solutions”.

“We want to focus our messaging on the positive environmental aspect while acknowledging the temporary nature of the packaging change.”

The company made headlines over the weekend when it was revealed that many of its products will be increasing in price as from Thursday 1st June. Whole milk, semi skimmed milk and skimmed milk will all now cost €1.

Malta's dairy sector was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing supply chain issues, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, all of which contributed to decreasing demand for local produce, especially by the tourism sector, while significantly driving up prices of animal feed. 

In a statement made to Times of Malta, MDP said: “We are being faced with constant increases in production and operation costs and in order to keep sustaining the local dairy sector and producing fresh milk products, MDP can no longer absorb the costs internally, as it has been doing.”

In what is as yet presumed to be a separate issue, last week saw multiple reports of whole milk being missing from store shelves, with many lamenting its absence on social media.

The rising cost of feed has impacted the company significantly, forcing it to undergo successive rounds of price hikes, coverage of which has been criticised for “unfairly" singling out the popular brand.