McCormick: Not just doing well, but doing good

We assess several external and internal factors when creating our goals, including but not limited to alignment with the UN SDGs; what our internal processes are and how we can improve them; and what our external suppliers’ processes are that affect our business—such as vendors, farmers, the supply chain—and how we can work with them to improve the processes.

Our packaging goal for 2025 is to achieve a 25% reduction in the carbon footprint throughout the life cycle. In the past year, we have made updates to existing packaging to reduce our environmental impact based on the 2019 goals. One is the redesign of the iconic can for Old Bay seasoning and Black Pepper from tin to a fully recyclable PET container, which equated to a 16% reduction in associated carbon emissions. It’s also easier to use and keeps spices fresher for longer. Another is a 10% reduction in material for all European glass jars, resulting in reduced weight and associated carbon emissions from production and transport.

How do you measure the carbon footprint of your packaging?

In 2015, we talked about reducing the weight of our packaging; today we have adopted a holistic approach to reducing the carbon footprint across the entire value chain. That means looking at this globally. To measure the carbon footprint of our packaging, we use an industry standard, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s COMPASS Comparative Packaging Assessment Life Cycle Analysis design tool, which is informed by science.

When looking at the design of packaging for a new product, or a redesign of existing packaging, how do you use the 4R framework?

We take an integrated approach to reducing our environmental impact, and we meet these commitments through our 4R framework—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew. We apply this unified lens to everything. Because of its comprehensive nature, 4R helps us ensure that no material issues are left unattended. With a new package design, we will look at all four simultaneously. Design is an embedded aspect. If it’s an existing package, we can look at optimization while reducing the carbon footprint.

4R also helps us prioritize the issues most important to our business. For example, the generally “dry” nature of our products has led us to focus on water first—how to reduce its use and reuse or recycle any wastewater that results from our processes. As we move into more wet categories over the next year, including mustard and other condiments, we are keeping a keen eye on the potential need to renew and replenish the watersheds in which we operate.

How do you select existing packaging, as in the example of Old Bay and McCormick Black Pepper, that are good candidates for redesign?

Sustainable packaging design criteria are a part of our overall package design process. Our packaging designers and engineers are always on the lookout for ways to capture more environmental benefits. We prioritize packaging initiatives based upon those where we feel that we can make the greatest impact. Both the iconic Old Bay and the McCormick Black Pepper containers were made of tin and have high-volume numbers, so they were ideal candidates for a sustainable redesign.

When it comes to packaging materials, are some favored over others? Why or why not? Are there any materials that McCormick will not use?

We are material agnostic. At McCormick, we select packaging materials based on product requirements for safety, shelf life, and taste. Moving forward, we are eliminating the use of PVC and will not be making anything new that contains PVC in it. We’ve traditionally employed PVC in secondary packaging, such as shrink bands and not as primary packaging.

At Heinz, you were involved with the transition to the use of Coca-Cola’s drop-in bioplastic technology for the company’s ketchup bottle. Is McCormick considering the use of bioplastics? Why or why not?

McCormick is considering renewable materials, especially bio-based PET.Additionally, we are interested in other renewable plastic materials such as plant-based PE. We believe that there is value in looking at all materials, and we’re taking all into consideration.

Are there any thought leaders or organizations in the sustainable packaging community that inspire you? If so, what have you learned from them?

Paul Polman of Unilever has been an inspiration for my journey. We are looking at sustainability from the perspective of doing the right thing. Adopting a sustainable living agenda is quite motivating for me and the company.

How—if at all—have you seen the concept of sustainability evolve as it relates to packaging? What do you see as some of the major trends in the near future?

If I look at the last eight years, the concept of sustainability has changed in that people now have quantifiable ways of looking at things—people look at sustainability with a scientific approach. For example, the circular economy is evolving from the process of make, use, and dispose, to the more popular make, use, and reuse process. I believe that in our future, it is not impossible to visualize edible packaging as a component in our evolving landscape.

Packaging makeover preserves tradition, reduces footprint

McCormick’s Old Bay has been a food-seasoning staple for more than 75 years, with its familiar blue-and-yellow tin package achieving iconic status as well. The same can also be said of its red-and-white Black Pepper tin. But with McCormick’s aggressive environmental goals around packaging, including reducing the carbon footprint of its packaging by 25% by 2025, the company felt it was time for a change. The switch—from a tin container to one made of PET—was skillfully executed however to retain the brand equity of the original, while reducing CO₂ emissions by 16%.

According to Michael Okoroafor, Global Sustainability & Packaging Innovation for McCormick, two factors spurred the redesign: “The idea of eliminating the inside coating that contained BPA and enhancing our carbon footprint stimulated our approach. When you look at the energy needed to recycle metal versus PET, metal requires a significantly higher temperature—over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit for metal versus about 400 degrees Fahrenheit for PET. It made sense that we would look at both at the same time.”

McCormick began working on the redesign in the mid-2000s, but ramped up development over the last three years after committing to eliminating all BPA from its packaging by year-end 2018. From the beginning, the company had its eye on PET due to its proven sustainable nature, which includes 100% recyclability, Okoroafor explains.

The task of making the switch to PET while maintaining the appearance of the original package presented some challenges, Okoroafor admits. “So we leveraged creative partners and technical houses to address areas of weakness, which enabled us to arrive at an optimal design,” he says.

With the redesign, McCormick also took the opportunity to add a freshness seal as well as make changes to the lid to allow for easier measuring and pouring. The opening of the package is now covered with a tamper-evident lidding film that, when coupled with the PET container, increases the shelf life of the product inside. Explains Okoroafor, “Metal packaging is vulnerable to egress of moisture and volatiles. We eliminated that by going to a PET format with a tamper-evident seal.” The new lid, the design of which was based on consumer input, is a multifunction closure that allows consumers to sift, pour, or spoon product.

The Old Bay and Black Pepper packages are decorated with oriented polystyrene sleeve labels that stay true to the graphics of the former package.

The new containers were introduced on shelves in fall 2017. While Okoroafor says the new packaging has led to cost savings for McCormick, he can’t share specifics.

Euro jars: a weighty challenge

One of McCormick’s considerations in choosing a package that can be redesigned for greater sustainability is how great an impact the change will have on the carbon footprint of its packaging. Therefore, the sheer volume of packaging represented by its Euro jar glass jars—used for all its herb and spice products in Europe as well as for some in China and Australia—made them an ideal candidate for a change. Europeans are wedded to their glass jars, so a switch to PET was not an option. But lightweighting the packaging was.

The challenge was to take material out of the jars while eliminating breakage during the manufacturing process. “The glass breaks primarily due to the residual stress during the annealing process,” explains Michael Okoroafor, Global Sustainability & Packaging Innovation for McCormick. “By FEA [Finite Element Analysis], we could see where the stresses were to minimize breakage.” Each jar shape and size had to analyzed individually.

For this project, McCormick worked with Agr Intl., which Okoroafor says is known around the world as having the best capability for glass research. “We are not experts in glassmaking,” he says. “We worked with Agr to optimize every aspect—it was pure collaboration. After we did that, we brought it to our glass suppliers and advised them on how to implement the changes. We are continuing the process of lightweighting globally.”

The new jars began rolling out in 2017, resulting in a 10.4% reduction in carbon emissions versus the previous package design.