Page 20 - Food & Drink Magazine Jan-Feb 21

TRENDS FORECAST 2021
Leading the way
After a torrid 2020, Food & Drink Business asks some of the leaders in Australian food and beverage manufacturing what they think about the year ahead. Kim Berry writes.
FOOD and beverage manufacturing is always evolving. New ingredients, products, technology, equipment and processes are in a symbiotic relationship with changing consumer tastes, demands and expectations. But no one denies 2020 was a remarkable year, driving change faster and deeper than ever before. So where to now?
SUSTAINABILITY FRONT AND CENTRE
Simplot Australia innovation & growth executive director Angeline Achariya says if sustainability was hot in 2020 it is even hotter in 2021, especially with packaging. “Brands and manufacturers are stepping into this, not just trying to meet the APCO targets but also starting to signal to the consumer the sustainable options available.
“If manufacturing businesses want to secure their long-term future and profitability, they need to be thinking about how they’re going to reduce their environmental footprint in the years to come.”
To that end, Diageo’s 10-year sustainability action plan Society 2030: Spirit of Progress puts sustainability initiatives at the forefront of the business. Consumers also expect businesses to innovate and incorporate sustainable practices into their operations as standard, he says.
Foodmach CEO Earle Roberts agrees sustainability was at the forefront for manufacturing, with increased use of sustainable materials in primary and secondary packaging increasing across a range of formats.
“This is not just more recycled content or ease of recycling but a
“ If manufacturing businesses want to secure their long-term future and profitability, they need to be thinking about how they’re going to reduce their environmental footprint in the years to come.”
“The opportunity for manufacturers is to set sustainability as table stakes, not as a ‘nice to have’, and to do that in a way where consumers are willing to pay more. Then manufacturers can meet the challenges of the raw inputs and packaging waste transformation needed to move the dial.”
Diageo Australia managing director Angus McPherson says the company’s large manufacturing footprint means it has a responsibility to the communities it operates in, and the planet, to be as sustainable as possible.
McPherson told Food & Drink Business: “We have production sites in western Sydney and Bundaberg, Queensland. Our business represents thirty per cent of the Australian spirits category, we produce more than ten million cases of products every year and eighty per cent of what we sell in Australia is bottled locally.”
move away from plastics in all one-way packaging. As packaging automation manufacturers, this requires a shift in our design approach as the performance of some of these materials is markedly different,” Roberts says.
Murray River Organics former CEO Valentina Tripp told Food & Drink Business the trend towards functional, sustainable packaging will only grow in prevalence as more customers opt to use less plastic and re-use existing jars and canisters.
Tripp says: “With educational, planet-positive content picking up traction across mass media, we believe the onus will be on brands to adapt and innovate in line with a larger shift in consumer values.”
FUTURE PROOFING
Matthews Australia CEO and chair of the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association Mark Dingley says
20 | Food&Drink business | January/February 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au