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In the UK, bottler Britvic switched to recyclable bottles (rPET).
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One quarter of sustainability claims by coffee roasters cite packaging that is either recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable based on a review of Mintel’s Global New Products Database.
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Teavelope by Ronnefeldt. This attractive teabag is packaged in a sachet made of eco-friendly film, sealed which keep fragrance and flavor in and moisture out.
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Jan-Berendt Holzapfel, owner of Ronnefeldt Tea halted the 70-year practice of air-freighting first flush Darjeeling tea as an environmental measure.
This summer, as the European Union began enforcing a ban on single-use packaging, utensils, and bottles (see previous story in STiR) the European Speciality Tea Association (ESTA) went a step further and declared that “packaging” itself is among the characteristics that define specialty tea.
“At [ESTA] we support the use of biodegradable and environmentally friendly packaging because this is an integral part of the tea industry’s future,” reads the organization’s definition. In the past, premium teas displayed exceptional physical characteristics such as aroma, color, flavor, and mouthfeel.
The decision to include packaging as a defining characteristic is sure to please consumers as the majority globally view sustainability as a mandate. Sustainable best practices are well advanced at origin where government food safety and third-party certifying bodies monitor the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, deforestation, water conservation, labor, and measures to mitigate climate concerns.
The rest of the supply chain is far less advanced, especially when it comes to end-of-life solutions for packaging. Only 28% of the world’s 1.4 trillion plastic beverage containers (mainly PET) are recycled and most of that is downcycled into products such as textiles or repurposed in non-packaging uses from park benches to bins, shopping bags and furniture. Little is turned into fresh bottles for ready-to-drink tea, drinking cups or the films or valves to preserve freshness in coffee.
Clever reuse is helpful, but the volume of plastic produced for bottles alone far surpasses the quantities recycled for durable goods and the one million bottles produced every minute is growing at rate of 20%.
Coffee packaging claims
Last year almost half (48%) of new coffee products made at least one ethical or sustainability claim, according to Mintel, citing data from its Global New Products Database (GNDP). A quarter of these claims attest to the product’s environmentally friendly packaging. Report author Jonny Forsyth notes that capsules and pods are the “most controversial format” due to their disposal difficulties. Very few are biodegradable, and most cannot be recycled, adding to landfill waste. Mintel reports that only 2 in 5 (39%) new coffee pod/capsules carried a recycling claim. One in 10 pod/capsules displayed compostability (industrial) claims, and 11% of new products claim to be biodegradable.
The Mintel report notes an 8% increase in the number of packaged coffee launches in 2020 but far fewer ready-to-drink offerings (citing a 15% decline compared to 2019). European, Oceania, and North American firms introduced the most new products.
“Undoubtedly, sustainability will be the defining issue for the coffee industry over the next 20 years. Consumer expectations of coffee brands will rise dramatically as eco-anxiety replaces pandemic paranoia,” writes Forsyth, food and drink associate director at Mintel.
Packaging innovations
Motivated by a pledge to recycle the billions of capsules it manufactures, Keurig Dr Pepper drives innovation in the capsule category.
Penningtons in Kendal, UK is an example of a mid-sized roaster committed to sustainable practices. Director Gina Pennington writes that from the roaster’s launch in 2018, Penningtons sought to make its products ecofriendly. “Along with compostable coffee pods (cornstarch-based PLA), our tea bag boxes and wrappers are 100% recyclable too,” she said.
She says businesses are more discerning in choosing suppliers to endorse and stock. “There has been a step change in recent years and many companies are moving towards operating in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Certainly, that is the case in the hospitality business, and we are delighted that our coffee pods are enabling hotels and b&bs to move towards a greener future,” she said.
Five years ago, Ronnefeldt Tea, founded in 1836, committed to sustainable practices, embracing traceability, and reducing emissions by halting the 70-year practice of air-freighting first flush Darjeeling tea. This year the global hotel supplier replaced its tea packaging with eco-friendly Teavelopes, an overwrap covering sachets made of an eco-friendly film with a large-pore filter paper and knotted string. Jan Holzapfel, owner of Ronnefeldt Tea in Frankfurt, Germany writes that, “sustainable best practices at tea gardens are well established. The rest of the supply chain offers significant opportunities to protect the environment and conserve resources.”
Small brands like Penningtons and Ronnefeldt, operated by a generation of middle-aged managers, recognize that consumers appreciate businesses that act with integrity – not abandon. Multinationals are more attuned to the fact that the public generally supports regulation. In 2020 California mandated 50% recycled content in rPET plastic by 2030 beginning at 15% in January 2022 and increasing to 25% in 2025 – the toughest post-consumer recycling requirements in the world. Australia is considering legislation requiring that 100% of packaging materials to be either recyclable or compostable within the next five years. The EU Single-Use Plastics Directive similarly forces bottlers to recycle. By 2025 all beverage containers sold in the EU must incorporate 25% recycled plastic. In the UK, bottler Britvic plc turned to Esterform Packaging, a North Yorkshire converter, to conform to the new EU regulations for Lipton’s, Robinsons, and Drench bottled drinks. Esterform said the move to rPET (recyclable) would save 1,354 metric tons of virgin plastic a year.
“Our $28 million [£20 million] project to produce 42,000 tonnes of recycled food grade rPET could not have got off the ground without Britvic’s support,” said Mark Tyne, Esterform’s managing director.
In August, Keurig Dr Pepper agreed to cut its use of virgin plastic in its packaging by 25% by 2025. To achieve this, the company will “increase its use of recycled content, eliminate unnecessary material, redesign packaging, and explore reuse models,” according to a press release issued by As You Sow a non-profit that has secured similar pledges from PepsiCo and Mondelez. Keurig Dr Pepper produces more than 200,000 metric tons of plastic packaging annually. In a McKinsey survey of consumer packaged goods companies, 52% confirmed pledges to use recycled content.
A closed loop is the ultimate solution
In a world of expanding consumption, a growing middle class and plastic proliferation, the ultimate solution is to return used plastic to its virgin state. The chemistry is proven; chemical deconstruction to the molecular level (monomers) produces a resin virtually indistinguishable from virgin plastic – the challenge is scale. Currently only 2% of the world’s annual plastic production is used for the same or similar products. That means 98% is outside the circular economy
Google released a report, “Closing the Plastics Circularity Gap” states that without major global changes in how material is managed, humanity should “expect to mismanage more than 7.7 billion metric tons of plastic waste globally” through 2040. But according to the report, a handful of key interventions can bring 4.5 billion metric tons of that material into recovery systems by 2040.
“Chemical recycling through decomposition and purification pathways is projected to close the plastics circularity gap by 20%, while increased mechanical recycling closes the gap by 19%,” the paper states. Growing both sectors by this degree will require consumer education, consumer incentives and design for recyclability,” according to Google.
Packaging plays many roles
Neil Farmer, in his book, Trends in Packaging of Food, Beverages, and other Fast-Moving Consumer Goods: Markets, Materials, and Technologies, writes that in addition to striking or aesthetically attractive graphics and distinctive design elements, shapes, logos, and promotional messaging, packaging “needs to communicate product attributes and characteristics valued by the modern consumer such as integrity, safety, authenticity, convenience, health, naturalness, freshness, purity, tradition, comfort, well-being, ethical and minimal ecological impact.”
Packaging’s role as a “silent salesperson” has never been more critical, according to Farmer. He explains that visuals at the point of sale are what marketers refer to as the first moment of truth (FMoT).
In coffee and tea, that moment now involves a QR scan where consumers can meet the grower and virtually visit a neighborhood roaster in a mobile moment of truth (MMT). Organizations like iFinca that use blockchain technology to promote farmers must first convince consumers to reach for the product.
Customer driven trend
Packaging has a significant impact on the perceived sustainability image of the product, according to market researchers. The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) writes that sourcing and “endlife” of packaging “will become significantly more relevant as the product life cycle and waste impact are becoming a stronger part of consumers’ purchase decisions.” In a Finnish study of 1,000 consumers last year, half of those in the lifestyle cohort that support personal health and sustainability (LOHAS) said they felt guilty buying products whose packaging they considered harmful to the environment.
“This was the third LOHAS consumer survey to address packaging issues extensively,” said Virpi Korhonen, a co-founder of Sense N Insight, a consumer research firm specializing in packaging. “Compared to previous studies conducted in 2011 and 2014, a lifestyle that supports both personal health and sustainable development has become an increasingly important factor in driving consumer behavior. The coronavirus pandemic has probably further increased consumers’ understanding of the core benefits of packaging.”
NMI maintains consumer panels identified by behaviors. When queried, the LOHAS segment ranked what they view as excessive use of packaging above their concerns about recyclability while acknowledging that biodegradable packaging may require years of development.
NMI writes that “changing the type of packaging material is one answer to reducing the environmental impact of packaging, but a simpler, more immediate response is to reduce the amount of packaging. Certainly, such efforts need to be balanced against consumers’ undying interest in convenience, which tends to come with a single-use or single-serving mentality.”
A decade ago (2012) only 25% of coffee product launches made at least one ethical or environmental claim. The most recent Mintel’s GNDP report finds that in Europe, only 35% of all food and drink products made sustainability claims. During this period the number of coffee products making sustainability claims more than doubled (65%), demonstrating that firms introducing new coffee products are much better tuned to consumer concerns than their f&b peers.