Delegates at the National Food Waste Summit on 24-25 July were left in no doubt as to the vital role packaging plays in minimising food waste, thanks to a deftly delivered panel discussion led by Nerida Kelton of AIP, with participants Sophie Sumner of SEE (sealed Air), Michael Dossor of Result Group, and Dr Lucas Parker of RMIT.
The conversation focused on the role of packaging in minimising food waste and reducing environmental impact across the value chain, and stressed that packaging should be designed for food preservation first and foremost, but also with sustainability in mind.
In a deep dive on reducing food waste through packaging innovation, Sophie Sumner of SEE pointed to examples of vacuum packaging designed for fresh red meat that have seen significant extension of shelf life, and thus prevention of food waste. She said collaboration to develop an understanding of protein science led to the company's successful development of extended shelf life packaging.
Sumner also discussed the importance of portion control as a means to prevent food waste, with smaller packaged portions vs bulk packaging as a solution. She stressed the need to balance consumer demands for eco-friendly packaging with scientific understanding of materials and their end of life impact.
On the topic of portion control, Michael Dossor of Result Group showed an example of a small snack pack of grapes, designed for convenience and portability, that is popular in the Asian market.
Drawing on his expertise in connected packaging, Dossor highlighted the use of IoT devices embedded in packaging for tracking products, enabling full transparency of the product's journey in the supply chain. He spoke also of the growth of 2D codes which he believes will replace barcodes, and advised brands to adapt to stay ahead.
Dossor went on to talk about the table grape project Result Group is involved in with Australian Table Grape Association ATGA, which has enabled end-to-end traceability of exported products via a QR code, providing full transparency to all stakeholders and proof of authenticity to consumers. The project, initially rolled out as a pilot, has just received funding to scale up.
The hot button topic of date labelling was addressed by Dr Lucas Parker of RMIT, as he remarked on the confusion around 'best before' and 'use by' date labels, using the example of a pot of salt that had 'expired' according to the date label, yet everyone knows that salt does not spoil. He argued that date labels can lead to unnecessary food waste as consumers may throw out products based on labels rather than their actual quality. He said research shows that consumers prioritise date labels when making purchasing decisions.
The panel raised some feasible ideas for future actions, including developing standardised global design principles for Save Food Packaging; exploring behavioural interventions and ways to provide consumers with context-specific food storage/ use guidance via QR codes; and to pilot test interactive label technologies that dynamically update best before/use by dates on consumer packs.
Overall, the conversation emphasised the importance of a multi-faceted approach to reducing food waste and improving supply chain transparency, and importantly, brought Packaging's voice to the Food Waste table.
