I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual Food Expo in Chicago on the subject of sustainability and the implications of climate regulation on the food and beverage industry.  The panel discussed the progress of formal climate legislation, the importance of developing more energy and water efficient approaches to farming and agriculture, voluntary carbon reporting and labeling programs for consumer goods, and consumers’ perception of sustainability.

Coming from the perspective of a packaging technology provider, AEB is feeling the pull from co-packers and brand owners for solutions that offer strong sustainability and economic value propositions.  The packaging research firm Mintel released a study earlier in the conference illustrating a lack of consensus among consumers on what defined sustainability.  Furthermore, they found that consumers preferred “sustainable” products, but were not willing to pay higher prices.  This sentiment is paralleled in the market for packaging technology equipment.

As we discussed in a recent webinar, AEB’s Blu sterilization technology enables greater sustainability as well as a superior Total Cost of Ownership when compared to conventional thermal or chemical based approaches.   With increasing pressure to show progress on common sustainability metrics such as carbon footprint reduction, water footprint reduction, and package light weighting, food and beverage packagers are considering advanced technologies for new filling capacity and for filling line retrofits. 

Download a copy of our IFT presentation here. 

• Nestle Launches Lightweight PET Bottle:  Already the leader in lightweighting single serve water bottles, Nestle has managed to reduce the PET resin weight of their water bottles by another 25%.  Additionally, they are pledging to develop water bottles produced entirely from recycled or renewable materials by 2020.  
  
• PepsiCo introduces lighter-weight, eco-friendly packaging in a new bottle for Propel fitness water: Pepsi successfully delivered the mechanical properties the market requires for a single serve sports drink while using 33% less material than the older design. PepsiCo makes the argument that from an energy savings perspective, this lightweighting is equivalent of taking 6,800 cars off the road.  
  
• Pepsico introduces a 10.9-g Eco-Fina bottle for Aquafina water: This new bottle design uses 50% less plastic than the bottle used in 2002.  In addition to changing the design, Pepsi now produces bottles at the same site as where they bottle the water, eliminating the carbon footprint and secondary packaging associated with logistics of producing in a separate location. 
  
• Abbott commits to global reduction in packaging: On the list of 40 sustainable packaging initiatives is bottle lightweighting and increasing the recycled content of their packaging. 
  
• Coca Cola recently began shipping product in its "Plant Bottle": The new design incorporates a blend of bioplastic with conventional PET packaging.  This approach is a more practical short term solution to improving sustainability through the use of bioplastics.
  
  

The past several weeks have seen mainstream media reporting on important trends that are shaping the food and beverage packaging landscape.  In particular, rising consumer, retailer, and brand owner attention to Sustainability, Food Safety, and Health and Wellness are shaping the evolution of packaging. 

Here are a few hot topics that are standing out:

1. Retailers demanding more transparent reporting of packaging footprint.

2. Water footprint of food and beverage products is increasingly being scrutinized in addition to carbon footprint.

3. Consumer concern over the migration of chemical contaminants into food and beverages is prompting regulatory agencies to take closer look at established packaging materials and processes.

4. Consumers are demanded accountability from packaged food and beverage providers on the microbiological safety of their products.

5. The demand for more healthy food and beverage options continue, despite economic downturn.

AEB recently hosted a webinar that discussed how in-line electron beam sterilization is enabling the evolution of aseptic packaging by addressing these market trends while delivering cost effective solutions and product differentiation opportunities for packagers and brand owners. 

Click here to view an archived version of the webinar.