PHOTO:
NIGEL
RODDIS/PA
WIRE
PHOTO: IMPOSSIBLE FOODS
&
A look at the events, issues, and
innovations shaping specialty food,
plus industry news, trends, and more.
trends
happenings
Inching Toward the
Plastic-Free Deadline
The pressure is on for corporate players to make
a dent in the amount of plastic used. Global food
giant Nestlé SA recently launched paper packaging
for its Yes! snack bars, a technology it hopes to scale
up and extend to other confectionery products as it
tries to make all its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.
"It was always our plan to wrap Yes! bars in recyclable paper as it is a perfect fit with
our brand that stands for 'celebrating and caring for Nature's diversity,'" according to a
Nestlé spokesperson. The new wrapper is composed of paper and a water-based coating to
guarantee the same shelf life as plastic, and has the potential to be used on its existing high-
speed lines that can seal up to 500 snack bars per minute. Once scaled, the paper packaging
could be extended to the company's other products, like KitKat bars, but at this stage, its
partners cannot supply enough paper.
Here at home, Kroger's revamped gallon-size jug—used for milk, water, juice, and tea
products—has reduced nearly two million pounds of plastics in two years and Kroger officials
expect the jug will save more than five million pounds of plastic a year.
TAKING ON MEAT EATERS
WORLDWIDE
The plant-based meat market could be
worth $140 billion in the next 10 years,
according to investment bank Barclays,
inspiring Impossible Burger—the well-
known plant-based burger—to look East.
Asia accounts for more than 46 percent of
the world's meat consumption, and while
Impossible Burger established a following
in Hong Kong 18 months after debuting, it
wants a bigger piece of the meatless pie.
14 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com
