Amcor manager: Plant-based products pose specific packaging challenges as market explodes

15 Feb 2022 --- Amcor recently revealed the COVID-19 experience is accelerating European consumer trends toward plant-based diets and plastic reduction preferences, but what could this mean for packaging? We talk to Rosalia Rosalinova, senior marketing manager at Amcor Flexibles, about the challenges and opportunities of designing packaging for meat alternatives for an increasingly eco-conscious consumer base.

A major challenge for packaging designers is that plant-based products behave differently from meat products, setting additional and higher demands when processed.

“Plant-based products are more challenging to handle, primarily because of their texture, which is softer than regular meat, creating a higher risk of deformation when it is processed,” explains Rosalinova. “The presence of fluids, like water or oil, brine or sugar, also influence plant-based products’ appearance, texture, flavor, and stability.”

“Due to this [challenge], it is often vital to use packaging that maintains the product’s stability during supply chain and transport. The skin films are particularly adapted, as they follow the product shape and preserve it during the supply chain.”Rosalia Rosalinova, senior marketing manager at Amcor Flexibles.

Amcor’s plastic reductions
Amcor’s SkinNova skin pack reduces plastic waste by 70% and carbon footprint by 45% compared to conventional MAP packaging. Meanwhile, its Packpyrus solution uses a lightweight, thermoformable paper-based tray for a 52% reduction in non-renewable primary energy and a 56% reduction in carbon footprint compared to traditional plastic APET/PE trays.

The packaging supplier’s survey found 75% of shoppers would pay more for packaging with “sustainability credentials.” Notably, meat alternative consumers are more likely to pay attention to food packaging than before.

The on-pack message “recyclable” appeared to resonate the most with meat alternative consumers in the UK.

“The UK leads in terms of preference for recyclable packaging (38%). One possible explanation is that the UK is not very advanced with recyclability streams in comparison with Germany, for instance, and the consumers are very concerned about the packaging’s recyclability,” notes Rosalinova. “Less plastic (25%) [in the UK] is below the preferences in other countries.”

The pandemic effect
According to Rosalinova, the COVID-19 experience has accelerated consumer interest in healthier eating, which has been combined with “an explosion of more great-tasting meat alternatives for consumers to choose from.”Amcor’s EZ Peel Reseal tray combines product visibility with an easy-to-open and reclosable PET sealing.

The study found about four out of every five consumers changed the way they consume meat or meat alternatives since the pandemic.

“Italy had the highest percentage of consumers (43%) eating more meat alternatives during the pandemic,” she says. “The UK leads in the number of consumers who stopped eating meat altogether during the pandemic, with about 12% indicating this change in their eating habits.”

“French consumers are mixed in their changes, with more than half of French consumers (53%) reducing their meat intake, but the country was also leading on the other side in the percentage of consumers (15%) who ate more meat during the pandemic.”Plant-based brands typically use natural colors on-pack.

Plant-based growth
As established, European meat-alternative consumers are sensitive to environmental sustainability claims. Brands in this sector typically use natural colors and recyclable-ready structures to appeal to eco-conscious consumers.

Amcor also offers the EZ Peel Reseal tray, combining product visibility with easy-to-open and reclosable PET sealing for extended shelf life.

“Meat alternatives will continue to grow, as consumers pay more attention to their health and the environment,” continues Rosalinova. “And it doesn’t mean that all people will turn into vegan or vegetarian, but more and more people are flexitarians, and they are trying a more variegated diet.”

“The meatless meat products on the market today are products made from plants that are meant to taste like meat, be marketed to meat-eating customers, and replace some of those customers’ meat purchases. That’s what makes them different from classic veggie burgers, which have typically been aimed mostly at vegetarians,” she concludes.

By Joshua Poole