# Almost-square packaging **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 6, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591 "2026-11-06T22:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/1 "2026-11-06T22:32:04Z")
I’ve noticed that half-gallon containers of milk and juice, as well as 1-lb packages of butter, aren’t quite square. They’re slightly narrower between two opposing sides and slightly wider between the other two. This must be by design but I’m not sure why they do this. At home, occasionally something won’t quite fit the wider way but turning it 90° will just work; but is this something the manufacturers can really count on? Is it possibly a metric vs. inches thing that lets the packages be an even integer of some larger container? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2026, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/2 "2026-11-06T23:50:13Z")
Maybe it’s so cold air can flow more efficiently between them in storage? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/3 "2026-11-07T00:01:22Z")
I figure it’s for the facing of packaging on a grocer shelf. The shelves have finite number of inches. They want more full PKG. showing to the public. What bugs me are the oval tubs. They fit nowhere nicely. And really have no after use. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/4 "2026-11-07T00:05:20Z")
I’m guessing shrinkflation. Our napkins are no longer square. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/5 "2026-11-07T00:08:40Z")
That can’t be it because the weight (for butter) or the volume (for liquids) hasn’t changed. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/6 "2026-11-07T02:15:42Z")
The rectangular shape fits our hands better. If you just made the package square but smaller, you’d have to make it taller to hold the same amount, and that would just cause a different type of inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-square-packaging/1034591/7 "2026-11-07T02:47:40Z")
I don’t think that’s it either because unlike say a juice or broth carton, milk cartons and butter pounds aren’t rectangular enough to make a real difference how you grip them; but the difference isn’t zero.