In-store bakery and deli items require diverse packaging solutions to cater to varied needs: preserving heat for hot foods, keeping cool for cold foods, and maintaining integrity for oil and saucy foods.
Debra Goulding, Foodstuffs packaging programme manager, said the supermarkets also look at how items are transported from the store, considering how they would be stored or reheated.
“You’ll typically find tubs, lids, trays, dishes, bags and both paper and plastic boxes and wrap,” said Goulding.
A key challenge to catering to these needs is food safety, which Goulding emphasised was a top consideration for Foodstuffs packaging solutions. Deli staff ensure hot boxes are kept at food-safe temperatures and time frames and continuously check supply while ensuring food does not dry out or end up as waste because it goes unsold.
“Packaging plays an important role in protecting the food, both in the store and for the customer when they take it home.”
The packaging industry faces consumer demand for sustainable solutions, with compostable packaging being a significant innovation introduced over the last few years. However, while a shift from plastic and consumer awareness around what is and is not recyclable has grown, plastic alternatives are not always better regarding recyclability or their ability to maintain food quality and safety requirements.
Compostable packaging has its appeal in eco-friendliness. However, Goulding said there were always compromises and trade-offs to consider when using this as a packaging solution.
If the packaging is certified home compostable, there may only be a small percentage of customers that take the packaging home and put it into their composting bin.
“If it is industrially compostable, there’s also a limited network of industrial composters in New Zealand, at around ten facilities nationwide. So, realistically, how much packaging will end up being composted?”
Goulding explained that plant-based plastic alternatives make sense from the point of view that they are from a renewable resource, but they have still been created from a crop like wheat or sugarcane.
Growing a crop requires extensive resources like land, water, labour, and energy. It must then undergo an energy-intensive process to convert the starch to a usable material.
However, removing unnecessary plastics, for example, when shopping for loose fruit and vegetable items, and trialling alternative packaging solutions, such as foil-free sealable wrap to replace deli and seafood foil-lined pouches, are a couple of the many ways to mitigate and reduce plastic waste.
Moving forward, Goulding said brands were still adjusting to legislative changes to kerbside recycling, reflected in foodstuffs in-store efforts and its sustainable packaging commitments and ensuring its customers know how to recycle packaging.
