SAVE FOOD PACKAGING CRITERIA AND FRAMEWORK

The challenge

Whilst the primary functions of packaging are to contain, protect and provide information about the product, the overall role of packaging in reducing food waste needs to be better understood by food producers, manufacturers, brand owners, retailers, government and consumers.

Finding the right balance between minimising the use of packaging without increasing food waste is the key challenge for this project. This is highlighted by the findings of a 2016 survey by Sealed Air reporting that 88% of respondents thought packaging material was more harmful to the environment than discarded food, even though 50-90% of the energy required to feed us goes into food production not the packaging.

Enhancing packaging’s role in reducing food waste is the next challenge for packaging technologists, designers, and engineers. Industry needs access to guidelines and tools to assist them in their design, selection, and use of packaging materials for food.

Our plan

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) has established an extensive Save Food Packaging Consortium that is made up of leaders of design and innovation to create save food packaging guidelines that are practical for the industries they serve.  

This project will produce packaging design criteria and communication material that will lead to better packaging design, material selection and format selection using appropriate portioning, sealability, resealability features, date labelling, extend shelf life and provide the information required to assist retail, food service and consumers to minimise food waste.

The expected impacts of this project are that:

• the packaging criteria for reducing food waste meet the needs of and is used by packaging and food technologists/designers/marketers/sustainability managers.
• communication, education and training programs are delivered to industry to demonstrate how to use the criteria and integrate within product-packaging development processes.
• food producers, manufacturers, retailers, and packaging companies are designing innovative save food packaging and communicating this to customers and consumers.
• companies are recognised for their save food packaging innovations through the Australian/New Zealand Packaging Innovation & Design Awards (PIDA) and the international WPO WorldStar Packaging Awards.
• revision occurs, where required, of the criteria for the Australian/New Zealand PIDA Save Food Packaging Special Award.
• contributions are made to consumer education and engagement projects to change the narrative around packaging’s role in minimising food waste.

This project will work closely with the consumer perceptions of the role of packaging in reducing food waste project.

Project Contributors

AIP Partners

SAVE FOOD PACKAGING TRAINING COURSE

Overview of the course

Does your business actively design packaging to minimise food loss & waste? If the answer is yes then what design criteria are your packaging technologists using? This new training course will not only help set the scene on food waste globally and across the ANZ region, but it will also help you to redesign your packaging to minimise food loss & waste.

The most innovative and intuitive Save Food Packaging uses design features that can contain & protect, preserve, extend shelf life, easily open and reseal, provide consumer convenience and portion control; all the while meeting global sustainable packaging targets.

Opportunities for packaging design to minimise food loss & waste can include better facilitation or communication around portion control, date labelling, extension of shelf life, protection, resealability and openability, serving size, food safety/freshness information, information on storage options and improved communication on packs.

The packaging should also highlight a wide range of design factors that help to prevent food waste including: mechanical protection, physical-chemical protection, resealability, easy to open, grip, dose and empty, contains the correct quantity and serving size, food safety/ freshness information, expiry date and Best before date, information on storage options and improved communication on packs including open, reseal, close and dispense.

The packaging should also facilitate sorting of household waste – easy to clean, separate, recycle or reuse.

Who should attend?

Packaging Technologists & Designers have the opportunity to minimise food waste at the start by incorporating the Save Food Packaging Design guidelines into their NPD process. Embedding Save Food Packaging design features at the NPD stage ultimately reduces the product’s overall environmental impact at the start of the value chain which minimises food wasted in the household. Marketers can spotlight the SFP design features as a point of difference and send a message to the consumer that the brand is actively trying to minimise food waste from paddock to plate. Sustainability Directors can ensure that the 2030 Food Waste Targets are included in their ESG’s policies and food loss and waste across their value chain can be measured.

There is significant appetite in the food and beverage industries for the deployment of the Save Food Packaging Design principles. The Save Food Packaging design training course will provide the detailed guidelines, criteria, research and action places to arm packaging technologists, designers, innovation teams, sustainability & environmental teams, sales, business development, design agencies, consultants, procurement and marketing & communications departments with the tools to integrate the roadmap into their product-packaging design. The outcomes from this course will include more innovative and intuitive packaging that can minimise food loss and waste across the value chain all the way to the household and ultimately lower environmental impacts.

Lecturer:

Nerida Kelton FAIP

Executive Director – AIP

Vice President Sustainability & Save Food – WPO

TRAINING COURSE LINK