Page 14 - Packaging New magazine Jan-Feb 2023

COVER STORY
Collaborating to accelerate action
On the front foot when it comes to driving sustainable innovation, packaging giant Tetra Pak has made huge strides in partnership with its customers. Marketing director Jaymie Pagdato shares the latest company developments, and market trends, with Lindy Hughson.
SUSTAINABILITY REMAINS DOMINANT as we look at trends shaping the food and beverage industry in 2023, with con- sumers wanting to see less packaging waste through recycling, reduce littering and low impact on environment. So says Tetra Pak marketing director Jaymie Pagdato, who notes that consumer inter- est in sustainability has also shifted.
“A few a years ago it was all about recy- cling but now climate change is a growing concern, and closely linked to that is awareness of the carbon footprint of the products we’re buying and consuming,” she says. “In consumer research studies Tetra Pak has conducted, the primary ten- sion in the room is ‘we should not make our environmental crisis any worse’.” As a producer of cartons for food and beverage products, and one which has sustainability firmly embedded in its DNA, Tetra Pak’s investment in R&D to build on its vision to deliver on the world’s most sustainable food package is ongoing.
An LCA study of food and beverage packaging in Australia and New Zealand conducted by thinkstep in 2020 showed that cartons have the lowest carbon footprint compared to other beverage packaging formats including glass, PET and recycled PET.
“The carton performs best compared to other forms of packaging because of its material efficiency –it uses less mate- rial – – and its mass, which is mostly fibre from a renewable plant source,” Pagdato explains. “Lifecycle matters because over 99 per cent of packaging impact to climate change has occurred before it hits the shelf,” she continues. “This is contributed the most by the source of the material and its distribution.”
When it comes to recycling, Pagdato points out, the carbon contribution of recycling all other packaging formats is also greater (due to energy usage) than
the carbon contribution of a single-use beverage carton.
UPTICK IN PAPER-BASED UPTAKE
The case for paper-based cartons in food and beverage packaging is solid, Padgato maintains, and this is reflected in an increase in uptake of this packag- ing format by big brands.
Rosella and SuperBoost are two nota- ble brands to make that shift in 2022, with Rosella moving from a metal can into a carton for soup range, and SuperBoost choosing cartons for its sports hydration products. There’s huge potential in other categories too.
Pagdato believes the rise of plant- based beverages in Australia presents opportunities for beverage manufacturers and packaging companies to evolve and innovate when it comes to product for- mulation and packaging in order to grow this category – and Tetra Pak is partner- ing with brands to lead the way, she says.
Dairy alternatives or plant- based beverages have seen their popularity skyrocket in the last few years in the Australian market. According to Euromonitor research,
Right: Joining forces with leading beverage producers, Tetra Pak launched tethered caps on carton packages last year.
Below: The case for paper-based cartons in food and beverage packaging is solid, reflected in an increase in uptake of this packaging format by brands.
health and environmentally conscious consumers are among the factors fueling growth in demand for plant-based bev- erages, a clear link between consumers who are more conscious about sustain- ability and those who have a higher propensity to buy plant-based milk.
“As consumers seek alternatives by opting for plant-based beverages that nourish not only their body but also the environment, beverage manufacturers need to look at their product and pack- aging, ensuring it is sustainable across the entire value chain,” Pagdato says.
Minor Figures, Inside Out, So Good, Vitasoy and Madame Tiger are some of the emerging and established brands who are continuing to lead the way in plant-based innovation – in collabora- tion with Tetra Pak as their processing and packaging partner.
“Across all categories, consumers are looking for the authentic narrative behind the product, and not just the manufacturing provenance, the packag- ing story too,” she says. “Brand owners are responding by moving their FSC- certified logos from the side to the prime position on front of pack, for example.”
“Beverage cartons have an important and growing role to play in de-car- bonising packaging because they are made mostly of paperboard, which is renewable plant fibre,” Pagdato adds, pointing to the Material Economics work, ‘Sustainable packaging – the role of materials substitution’, which shows that a 65 per cent reduction in emissions from packaging is possible for fibre- based packaging whereas even with a
14 ❙ JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2023
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