SF-June-20

Covid-19 outbreak has seen UK businesses and consumers having to choose between health and the environment and re-examining the role of plastics and single-use plastics specifically, and if there are reasons to permanently reintroduce plastic carrier bags in UK supermarkets.” While sustainability is certainly the dominant trend in the packaging industry, it is not the only one. Paul says innovations are also happening with technology such as near-field communication and disruptive print techniques and pack finishes. Here, clarity is still key. “Strong packaging is able to communicate clearly to consumers what the product is in as fewmessages as possible,” says the YES! bar team. “As shoppers only spend a limited amount of time at the shelf, they are unlikely to spend time looking at the specific details of a pack, so it is important to have clear, short and simple keymessages. A logo for brand awareness, strapline or call to action for brand affinity and product description for product recognition, will communicate to consumers what they need to know about a product if executed effectively,” they say. From label information to packaging design, it is clear that straightforward and honest messaging is the most effective way to bothmeet legal requirements and excite and entice customers. Considering all of these aspects together, brands can achieve the complete package. and biodegradable options and using certain food waste for plastic alternatives through biomaterial development. Government intervention has also pushed the industry towards greener options. For example, a tax to be introduced in April 2022 will charge companies that use packaging that contains less than 30% recycled content. Brands both big and small have startedmaking commitments to usingmore sustainable packaging. Nestlé, whichmakes YES! bars, says all packaging will be either recyclable or reusable by 2025. “Our YES! snack bars are packaged in a recyclable paper wrapper. This was an industry first –marking the first time that paper had been used successfully on a high-speed ‘flowwrap cold seal’ packaging line, which had previously only been used for more durable plastic films and laminates,” the team says. Meanwhile, Lincoln and York has committed to using 100% recyclable packaging by 2024. The brand launched its recyclable film last year. “Food and drink packaging within the [out of home] market is moving towards being more sustainable – this appears to be more towards recyclable rather than compostable, as there is still a lot of confusion about what compostable means,” Karen says. “There is also an ongoing desire to try and reduce waste as much as possible and remove packaging that isn’t required and look to be as efficient as possible with packaging used.” This zero-waste trend can also be seen in the retail market with a number of shops introducing refill schemes. Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Asda are just some of the major retailers that have trialled such programmes. In the US, the company Loop has launched an initiative to help retailers provide products in refillable packaging. Despite the evident desire for sustainable packaging, the impact of the Covid-19 crisis may hinder efforts to shift the food industry towards a more environmentally friendly future. “The UK government has dropped the 5p plastic bag charge for online deliveries to speed up food distribution during the pandemic,” explains David Luttenberger, global packaging director at Mintel. “The specialityfoodmagazine.com 19 that do not realistically represent the environment in which an animal was reared, or wording or imagery that suggests food comes froma particular place when it does not, such as ‘farmhouse’. “Consumers should look out for claims that aren’t backed up or given a point of reference. Also be wary of packs that claim something like ‘bigger pack’ or ‘better value’ – this isn’t always the case,” adds Karen. While product descriptions can be a thorny area, they also present opportunities for brands to promote their genuine credentials. When used correctly, these claims can quickly communicate the key features of a product to busy shoppers in the supermarket aisle, explains YES! snack bars’ Lizzie Hendon, assistant brandmanager; Alison Bramfitt, group packaging manager; and Sarah Dowding, regulatory and scientific affairs manager. “It is important to be clear and honest with the claims information provided, much of which adheres to strict legal criteria, to ensure that consumers trust brands and do not feel misled. A ‘source of protein’ is just one of the claims that we call out on our YES! nut bars packaging to help consumers easily understand a key product benefit.” Packaging trends Another clear way of communicating a brand’s ethos without using misleading language is through the type of packaging used, from the colour and feel of the branding to how sustainable the physical packaging is. In fact, sustainable packaging is one of the most significant trends impacting the food and beverage industry today. In 2016, the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation gave the world a stark warning: by 2050 there will be more plastic waste in the sea than fish. A year later, Blue Planet II once again highlighted the toll of single-use plastics on the environment. Paul Jenkins, founder and managing director of packaging innovation consultancy The Pack Hub, said Blue Planet II was part of a “perfect storm” of events that changed the industry forever. “Consumers started questioning what was going on. Retailers and brands needed to act – to change how they were doing things.” Of the total number of innovations happening in packaging today, around 70% are focused on sustainability, Paul estimates, up from 30% before 2017. These include making packaging more recyclable, creating compostable Falsely describing, advertising or presenting food is an offence and there are many laws that help protect consumers against dishonest labelling and misleading descriptions