'Sustainable' food packaging: a mixed bag
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Sun Chips: can you not hear me now?
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The frozen peas from Stahlbush Island Farms tend to stand out in the freezer at the grocery store. They're in a brown bag -- a heavy paper bag with a biodegradable liner -- rather different from the dependable plastic packages that have kept veggies from getting freezer burn for decades.
The Corvallis, Ore., company had to spend only five or six years trying to get that package right before rolling it out in April. Then, said Debbie Cozzetto, director of sales and marketing, the company started getting calls from other processors and manufacturers to find out how it was done.
Sustainable food packaging is becoming all the rage, and a lot of food companies would like to be part of that trend. But don't expect an overnight change even if more folks are on board with the idea of biodegradable, compostable, recyclable and otherwise sustainable.
It isn't easy finding packaging that fits the new demands and still delivers good food to customers. Often either the technology isn't there or the cost is unworkable.
Or there can be other unforeseen issues. Take the case of Frito-Lay's SunChips snacks.
In 2010, the company introduced a compostable snack bag made from plant-based materials. Environmentalists cheered.
Then it turned out the bags were, well, loud. Annoyingly so. The "Today" show found the bags were louder than a New York subway car.
Last month, the company introduced a new bag that it promises is quieter. There's even a video on the Sun Chips site, www.sunchips.com, touting the improvement.
Noise issues aside, food just presents different challenges than other goods.
Phil Anson, founder and chief operating officer of Evol Foods in Boulder, Colo., would really like to put his company's frozen burritos in something more sustainable than a plastic film. But shifting temperatures -- going from chilled delivery trucks to freezer cases and so on -- create difficult issues.
First Published March 29, 2011 12:00 am
