Nestlé's move towards waste-free future
Nestlé announced that its brand Maggi has broken new ground by using recyclable paper packaging to wrap individual bouillon cubes for its organic range in France. This is the latest result of an innovation drive to use more paper packaging for Nestlé products.
The new solution is a coated paper that is recyclable through the paper stream in France. Until now, the bouillon cubes have been wrapped in a multi-layer laminate that includes aluminum.
Agnes Lalanne, Global category lead for Cooking Aids at Nestlé, said, “We want to provide both healthy and more sustainable options. That’s why we’re happy to bring recyclable paper packaging to a favorite like these Maggi organic bouillon cubes.”
The paper used for the wrapper is from sustainable sources – pulp and paper mills certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and The program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification – and its development marks another step in Nestlé’s commitment to making all its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, as the company works towards a waste-free future.
Torsten Pohl, head of Nestlé’s Product Technology Center for Food in Singen, Germany, said, “The main challenge our team faced was the creation of a foldable, sealable material that is robust enough to provide a sufficient barrier – to keep the product fresh and safe – whilst also being readily recyclable.”
Ahead of the launch, the team also worked on refurbishing and upgrading existing packaging machines to allow the new paper wrapping to run on them.
Maggi products – including bouillons, soups, seasonings, and sauces – are sold in over 90 countries. Nestlé selects local ingredients where possible to ensure that its bouillon cubes provide an authentic taste and texture, consistent with regional preferences and cooking styles. The cubes are fortified with vital micronutrients in some markets, such as iron deficiency.
Nestlé is transitioning to paper packaging across various formats. For example, Smarties sharing block, a popular color-coated chocolate confectionery product, is available in a recyclable paper wrapper in the UK.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.
The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.
Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.
As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.
It is the right time to support our high-impact reporting and authoritative and technical information with some of the best correspondents in the industry. Readers can power Packaging South Asia’s balanced industry journalism and help sustain us by subscribing.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.