Packaging, food waste and the future of food factories

It’s said that you should never judge a book by its cover. When it comes to food packaging, however, products are very much being judged by their cover. Especially in a day and age when the average consumer is increasingly aware of their environmental impact.

In a recent survey by Deloitte UK, 64% of participants said they’re cutting down on single-use plastic in order to live more sustainably. It’s a trend many big brands are following too, with Lidl sticking to its commitment of removing two billion pieces of plastic packaging by the end of 2022. Starbucks UK has also allocated £1.4m towards sustainable packaging research.

When customers are choosing which brand of product to opt for whilst shopping, packaging can have a real sway. For brands, showcasing an investment in sustainable packaging and a commitment to shrinking the size of their carbon footprint can result in a greatly improved public perception. Deloitte’s research adds that consumers pinpointed sustainable packaging and reducing waste in manufacturing processes as the most important practice that food manufacturers should be undertaking. So, what can food factories do to address those priority concerns?

Reducing plastic

There are plenty of ways to assess your processes and reduce the plastic used in products. In 2022, packaging innovations are unfurling rapidly. You just need to have a look around to get inspired.

It’s important to assess what packaging is and isn’t needed across product ranges. In February, supermarkets agreed to begin selling the majority of fresh fruit and veg loose, which is predicted to save 21,500 tonnes of plastic waste per year.

As 2022 draws to a close, health & beauty retailer Boots will complete its phasing out of plastic-based wet wipes in the UK, with its sales accounting for around 15% of all face wipes sold in the UK. PepsiCo meanwhile is working to reduce virgin plastic usage by 50% per serving by 2030. Initiatives like this boost a company’s reputation. A failure to act, however, can yield harmful results, with Which?  finding that Marks & Spencer has one of the worst records on plastic packaging.

Affordable, sustainable alternatives

Cutting plastic isn’t the only solution. There’s been a lot of emphasis on sustainable plastic alternatives. A Thai supermarket led the way in 2019 when it replaced plastic with banana leaf packaging, secured with string-like bamboo strands for wrapping spring onions, peppers, chillies and other produce. Seaweed packaging is a similar revelation, it’s 100% sustainable, bio-degradable, and even edible, making used packaging perfect cattle feed. In addition, it does not require any fertilisation, pesticides, or freshwater

These more sustainable plastic alternatives will also help to drive packaging costs down. Deloitte’s research added that 54% of respondents don’t act more sustainably because it is too expensive. Therefore, with sustainably savvy brands leading the charge, it encourages other brands to follow suit. This, in turn, helps create a combined effort for the revolution of sustainable packaging and eradicating the problems of inflated costs, benefitting the consumer in the long run.

Packaging food waste issues

Packaging can play a big role in food waste by in helping consumers prolong the lifespan of produce. This is echoed by statistics highlighting that 70% of post-farm gate waste comes from households.

Consumer confusion between the differences of best-before and use-by dates is driving food waste. As best-before is simply a guideline as to when a product’s quality will be at its best, and not a matter of safety, there have been calls to scrap this date on packaging completely. Research for the Food Standards Agency has found that, of the two million tonnes of food binned by consumers each year, 670,000 tonnes were discarded because of misinterpretations of the definition of best-before dates. Annually, this is expected to cost a household around £470, with the environment bearing the brunt too. Therefore, displaying only use-by dates can simplify matters and help eliminate the number of food products consumers are wrongly throwing away each year.

Wrap has also championed the benefits of clearly displaying best storage practices for products. Making it clear to consumers that fruit, for instance, should be stored below 5°C, will ensure that, once food reaches the home, its lifespan is as long as possible. Its research, for instance, found that loose apples last approximately 70 days longer when refrigerated at 4°C than they do in ambient temperatures. It’s clear then, that packaging can play an important role in protecting our planet better than ever before.

Making packaging more accessible

To that end, ensuring food packaging and the information it provides is accessible to all is vitally important. Thankfully, companies are making positive progress. Aunt Bessie’s has pioneered packaging that utilises QR codes to allow visually impaired shoppers to hear information displayed on its packaging. The invention of the EEASY Lid and the easy-opening cardboard packaging designed by Xbox, meanwhile, is helping the UK’s 13.9 million people with a disability open packaging far more easily. These are important steps to level the playing field, so that reading and opening packaging is an easy task for everyone, regardless of any impairments they may have.

By cutting down on the amount of plastic the industry uses, embracing sustainable alternatives and clarifying consumer confusion, food manufacturers can do a huge amount for the safeguarding of the environment.

To find out how Ambrey Baker’s industry experts can help boost your factory’s environmental processes, head to https://ambreybaker.co.uk/