Tetra Pak, the world’s leading food packaging and processing company, has set its sights on mainland China for growing the sales of its plant-based products, as it seeks to assist beverage firms to cut their carbon footprints.
In 2021, Inner Mongolia-based dairy producer Yili Group adopted plant-based caps for its Tetra Pak cartons. Its competitor, Mengniu Dairy followed suit this year.
According to Marco Marchetti, Vice-President of packaging materials, sales and distribution solutions at Tetra Pak, “Some 50 million units with plant-based caps have been sold in China since local production began last year.” Tetra Pak has 3 factories in China.
Marco added, “The Chinese market is ripe for the expansion of sustainable packaging solutions.”
There is a growing consumer appetite for sustainable products in China. This is confirmed by a consumer survey conducted by Tetra Pak last year which found that around half of Chinese respondents were choosing brands based on sustainability credentials more frequently than before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Marco said, “We are already working with Chinese food and beverage brands to roll out innovations such as plant-based caps, We expect the demand to increase as manufacturers look to improve the sustainability credentials of their portfolios and become more attractive to environmentally conscious consumers.”
In 2021, China launched a 5-year action plan to tackle plastic pollution, with targets for phasing out single-use plastics, boosting recycling and promoting plastic alternatives.
Adoption of plant-based caps could cut the ‘cradle-to-grave’ carbon footprint from production to disposal of conventional Tetra Pak packaging by 8%, he said, citing certification by British-based Carbon Trust.
Mengniu sourced some 20 billion packs of paper packages last year, all of which obtained the Forest Stewardship Council’ (FSC) certification showing they were made of wood harvested from responsibly managed forests.
