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Say goodbye to excess

“The days of excess are over.”

Pw 7741 Tesco Cmyk

That quote, from a SIG Combibloc press release, captures in six brief words precisely where food and beverage packaging is today and will remain for the foreseeable future.

Sustainability, undoubtedly the biggest buzz of 2007, is driving the excess from packaging, including excessive materials, excessive energy use, and excessive waste. The challenge for brand owners and package manufacturers moving forward will be to meet the primary goals of product packaging, including product protection and shelf impact, while finding materials and technologies that can lessen packaging’s environmental impact.

On the consumer front, the obesity epidemic—66.3% of adults aged 20 and over are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services—and the aging baby boomer population compel consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to trim their products of excess calories, excess fat, and excess sugar.

Consumers are seeking easier, more healthful, and fresher food options for consumption at home and on-the-go. “Americans are trying to be healthier, at the same time as wanting convenience,” confirms a recent study from market analyst Mintel (www.mintel.com). The report, “Functional Beverages—U.S.,” adds that overall, the number of people in the U.S. trying to eat with health goals in mind increased by 30 million between 2002 and 2006.

What this means for packaging is a growing need for packaging materials and formats that ensure product freshness and protect nutrients yet still extend product shelf life and deliver consumer convenience.

Here’s a look, by no means comprehensive, at some of the trends emerging in food and beverage packaging that address either sustainability or health-conscious food options.

Sustainability tops trends

 While many CPG companies have, for years, taken an active interest in the impact of their products and packaging on the environment, with Wal-Mart Store, Inc.’s late 2006 announcement of its Packaging Scorecard, these voluntary environmental efforts became a driving business imperative in 2007. “I think the question of sustainability frankly started with brand owners,” relates Anne Johnson, director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. “Wal-Mart has brought the conversation to a much broader part of the supply chain.

“I think it’s pretty clear that awareness in general has been raised across the industry. What you see now are brand owners becoming engaged in really understanding what opportunities are out there for them, benchmarking their current performance, and looking for opportunities to do better.”

So far, this process has involved everything from light-weighting packaging to using alternative, non-petroleum-based materials to maximizing a product’s supply-chain logistics in order to reduce fuel consumption.

One innovation from 2006 that has led to other, similarly focused product introductions, was Unilever’s launch of All Small & Mighty, a 3x concentrated laundry detergent that reduced the product’s package size from 100 oz to 32 oz. In October, household cleaning products company Wonder Tablitz Corp. took this idea one step further, completely eliminating the liquid product and instead supplying an empty, 32-oz bottle, along with three concentrated tablets that dissolve in water.

The success of products such as these have led Wal-Mart to declare that by May 2008, it will sell only concentrated detergent in all of its U.S. stores. “The commitment will save more than 400 million gallons of water, more than 95 million pounds of plastic resin, and more than 125 million pounds of cardboard,” the company reports.

Johnson says that minimization efforts are a positive step. But they do not go far enough. “As long as you are using fossil fuel-based materials, and as long as you are in a transportation system driven by fossil fuel, there is only so far you can go toward sustainability, but you are not going to get there.”

That’s why some companies have turned to emerging materials technologies, such as bioplastics, to eliminate the need for petroleum-based products. While this trend began with smaller, entrepreneurial companies, it is now becoming a viable option for some of the world’s largest CPG companies. For example, Kraft Food, Inc., announced at September’s Biodegradable Plastics in Packaging Applications conference that it is looking for biomaterials that can meet its food packaging requirements. “We are seeing the demand for biobased materials growing quite strongly,” noted Jay Edwards, head of sustainable packaging for Kraft. At present, Kraft’s research shows that with most bioplastics, the major hurdles are functionality and price. To this argument, alternative materials suppliers are continuously innovating to enhance functional properties and cut costs.

Sustainable packaging opportunities also exist through the use of traditional packaging materials—glass, aluminum, paperboard, and plastic—in new and creative ways, driving new packaging solutions in 2008. “I think we are going to see a lot of really interesting introductions in the coming year,” predicts Johnson. “I believe you will see a lot of collaboration. By looking at the supply chain and working with other companies, people will begin thinking in new and creative ways.”

One word: Plastics

In forecasting the trends shaping the food container market, the largest growth is anticipated for plastics, including rigid containers, film bags, and pouches. That’s according to “Food Containers: Rigid & Flexible to 2011,” from The Freedonia Group, Inc. “Plastic food container demand is projected to climb 6.3 percent yearly to $4.5 billion in 2011, attributable to performance advantages such as high barrier properties resulting from advances in resin and processing technologies,” the report states. “Moderating further rigid plastic inroads will be competition from flexible pouches.

“Cost and performance advantages will drive opportunities for bags and pouches, for which demand is expected to rise 4.4 percent annually to almost $10 billion in 2011. Growth will be driven by robust gains for stand-up pouches based on their excellent visual appeal, product differentiation, convenience, portability, reclosability, and freshness protection.”
Not surprisingly, given consumers’ clamor for healthful foods, the report adds that the greatest developments will be in plastic packaging for salads and other ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook fresh produce.

Just look at all the fresh, ready-to-cook produce items packaged in film bags using technologies that allow them to be prepared in the microwave. In July, U.K. retailer Tesco and its potato supplier, Greenvale AP Plc, introduced Tesco New Potatoes in a patent-pending steam-venting system developed especially for microwaving fresh produce. The Amcor SelfVent VFFS (vertical form/fill/seal) system allows the bag to be placed directly into the microwave without the need to pierce or tear the pack. This reduces cooking time by 70% and retains more vitamins versus boiling the potatoes in water, Amcor says.

The pack is made from a 30-micron recyclable oriented polypropylene film, with a special disruptor system applied in-register to the pack during printing. The system is said to control the venting of the pack when pressure builds up during cooking. Product shelf life is optimized through the use of Amcor’s P-Plus MAP technology.

Plastic makes meals easier

Shelf-stable and refrigerated meal and snack options are also on the rise in plastic packaging that provides portability and ease of preparation.

According to “Lunchtime Eating,” a study published by Mintel in August, “health and nutrition will continue to grow in importance for lunch options.” Noting that 60% of consumers say they eat their lunch at their desks, Mintel adds that “convenience is also a crucial issue when choosing lunch items.”

Tying into this desire for time-saving food-preparation options, another recent study shows that the microwave market is heating up. In “Microwavable Packaging,” Allied Development Corp. reports that the North American microwavable packaging market will reach nearly 19 billion packages by 2011, growing at a rate of 11.6% per year.

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