Industry Trends

Green Food Packaging Gaining Ground

Back in 2009, Halal Consumer© magazine, Issue 16 covered the growing green  food packaging trend. That trend, today, is very much a consideration for food  manufacturers.

Since they were introduced in 2009, more than 10 billion PlantBottles have been used in 20 countries worldwide. H.J. Heinz Co. plans to switch to the PlantBottle for all its 20-oz. ketchup bottles. Recognizing the opportunity, Wisconsin-based Virent, Colorado based Gevo and Amsterdam's Avantium are biotech companies that are gearing to develop 'the next-generation' PlantBottle by 2015, i.e. bottles made 100% from plants, for global commercial use. In December 2011, IFANCA client Coca-Cola announced a multi-million dollar partnership agreement to invest in these three companies. While 100% recyclable, Coke's current PlantBottle is only 30 percent plant-derived.

According to a media release, the biotech companies' "patented technology features catalytic chemistry to convert plant-based sugars into a full range of products identical to those made from petroleum, including bio-based paraxylene." PlantBottles are expected to have the same "high quality and recyclability as materials used today".

Reducing the weight and size of the packaging materials are other popular ways to reduce both fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions during the manufacturing process and transportation.