Tetra Pak’s canning plan to convert big and small food from tins to paper

Tetra Pak is ramping up its food and drink industry focus with bold plans to convert even the world’s biggest food manufacturers to its way of doing things.

Why? Because the business is adamant the sustainability and stability credentials of its Tetra Recart product are a winning sales formula, alongside the Switzerland-based company’s support functions.

Central to the success is food development specialist Sanne Touw, whose five years working in food development for Tetra Pak has given her a strong grounding to make any business’s transition a little smoother.

Tetra Pak has supported its food development centre for over 10 years, with Tetra Recart existing for 20 years of the company’s overall 75-plus years. Though now, Touw and her bosses believe there needs to be a bigger focus on pushing the product forward.

“Right now, we’re focusing on the big fish,” she says. “We’re looking for big producers that we can have conversations with about going from cans or glass to Tetra Recart.”

There have already been some big deals, though Touw is reluctant to give names. But brands like Heinz and other large food corporates are the names Touw and her team aspire to work with, of course.

Tetra Pak is targeting food categories

Tetra Pak is targeting categories including, but not limited to, fruit, vegetables, sauces and also pet food. The Tetra Recart system allows products to be filled into paper-based packaging before being sealed, sterilised and then stored for up to two years.

But is it a straight sell for the team? “There are certain pros and cons when comparing cans or tin to glass carton,“ she admits. ”Carton is a flexible material, but by nature paper is not made to hold water. However, we have developed our materials to withstand the high temperatures during sterilisation.”

The filling and sterilisation processes are the same as glass and tin, she says. But there can be flavour differences between tin and paper. As there is no chance of food products reacting with Tetra Recart, the flavours of whatever is packed into them are “pure”.

“There are some funny examples of taste changes, like pineapple,” explains Touw. “Customers buying pineapple in cans got used to the funny taste caused by the reaction between the juice and the can. But now there’s a super fresh and sweet flavour from Tetra Recart, because it’s a neutral environment.”

Scenarios and expectations like this are managed through Touw and her six-strong team in the food development centre. “We work with customers to transition from can to Tetra Recart by testing recipes,” she says.

They also work alongside clients on NPD, meaning they don’t have to pull any production lines out of operation and can transition the SKUs straight from Tetra Pak’s food development lab straight to their own facilities.

“We’ve had products go straight from our facility to shelf, instead of the manufacturer spending one to two years on R&D,” Touw says.

How to do NPD in paper

“They come to us because they don’t have to stop their production, they can come and experiment. They can also come to us before their Tetra Recart machines are installed and do the new product development here and then they can start straight away in their own sites after our machinery is installed there.”

Major manufacturers in categories like peach production, silken tofu and also legumes are all currently working with Tetra Recart. Silken tofu is a good example of how the business is solving a shelf-life problem. Silken tofu is made fresh, but has a shelf-life of two to three days. Being packed in Tetra Recart lengthens that considerably to two years, claims Touw.

Along with quality and shelf-life, food manufacturers are keen to bolster their sustainability credentials. Packing in tins or glass usually means transporting the empty packaging to site, storing and filling before shipping it out again.

“We see from retailers and supermarkets the request to switch from core packaging to carton because it’s perceived as more sustainable,” says Touw.

“Our products are received by the customer as 500 flat sheets, which are assembled on the packaging line. There’s also a cost saving here, as you don’t need to transport lots of empty cans or bottles.”

And it is needs like this that Touw and her team will continue to play into as they seek to bolster the business. There are already plans to target the tinned tomato category in Italy and green peas in Argentina, she says.

Executing the plan to grow the business will, however, require cunning as the canning sector is a conservative area. “That’s why we’re focusing on product first.”