Baby & toddler food packaging confronts pandemic-enhanced hygiene and recyclability challenges

19 Jan 2022 --- Packaging for baby and toddler foods has come under increased focus and scrutiny as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and health worries continue to occupy consumers’ concerns around the globe. 

Parents and F&B producers alike are searching for assurances in hygiene, safety and usability while under the threat of coronavirus infection and movement constraints. 

PackagingInsights speaks with Geoffrey Gendebien, Amcor Flexibles’ marketing manager for baby nutrition in EMEA, about how packaging manufacturers have been quick to analyze and respond to these demands over the past two years. 

Amcor has been at the forefront of these developments, conducting detailed market research and producing products in keeping with the latest demands. 

Hygiene concerns abound 
Like most other market segments, hygiene concerns are at the forefront of the baby and toddler packaging market. 

In light of COVID-19, consumers are adopting behaviors such as leaving packs untouched for a period of time or trying to disinfect them, Gendebien explains.

Scannable QR codes on FrieslandCampina’s infant milk formula.“Sixty-nine percent of Spanish shoppers are concerned about who may have touched a product’s packaging before they pick it up and 47% of Italian consumers report that they now try to disinfect their shopping when they get it home.”

“For infant formula, sachets offer pre-dosed convenience, portability and hygiene. Single-serve sachets and pouches provide improved hygiene to consumers, alongside other benefits such as easy opening and enhanced [environmental] sustainability.” 

Within European powder formula launches, single-serve sachets have increased from 1% of launches in 2018 to nearly 4% in 2020, says Gendebien. The classic bag-in-box also provides an enhanced protective barrier, alongside features such as easy opening and improved environmental sustainability credentials. 

Fighting food safety fears 
Besides hygiene concerns, anxiety over food safety has also risen during COVID-19. A renewed focus for parents on the role of nutrition in maintaining a healthy immune system has boomed, continues Gendebien. 

Ninety-six percent of Spanish parents are worried that baby food and drink products might contain harmful substances. New baby food launches have addressed parents’ concerns with organic, free-from, and low/no/reduced allergen claims. 

Recent findings have warned that harmful substances like bisphenol A, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and phthalates can damage human health. Recently, researchers found that phthalates can damage hormone development in pregnant women, impacting fetal development and infant growth. 

“We expect to see brands turn more to digital tools, like QR codes on the pack, to provide buyers clearer product traceability and establish stronger consumer trust,” says Gendebien.

He points to Amcor’s Peel-Off-Ends design, which contains printed QR codes on each can’s aluminum lidding, allowing consumers to experience a product’s “farm-to-store” journey. 

The inside lidding has another code for consumer engagement and loyalty points. The design won the “Can of the Year” award as part of Trivium Packaging’s project for FrieslandCampina infant milk formula.Amcor’s flexible packs featuring Carbon Trust labels.

Boosting convenience and usability 
Besides safety and hygiene, convenience is driving parents and caretakers to supplement homemade food with prepared baby/toddler food, continues Gendebien. Seventy-nine percent of Italian parents say they feed their youngest child ready-prepared baby/toddler products, according to Amcor. 

“Changing shopper habits are creating opportunities for larger pack sizes. Since the pandemic, consumers tend to make fewer trips to the store and stock up on one big spend or move their purchases online. This will likely drive purchases of larger packs and multi-serve packaging.” 

“For pack format, we continue to see an increase in brands moving to stand-up pouches. Pouches are more popular for desserts and yogurts than for savory meals, where jars remain the top format for baby food. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 56% of European launches for baby fruit products, desserts and yogurt were in a pouch format,” he says. 

“The stand-up pouch is a modern format that offers portability, neater consumption and product protection, in addition to providing baby food brands with an opportunity to better highlight new flavors and fresh combinations.” 

Improving environmental sustainability 
Consumers increasingly focus on environmental sustainability and, according to Amcor, are ready to pay for it. “Parents report deep concern over the environmental impact of infant food packaging: 70% of Spanish parents agree that the environmental impact of baby/toddler food and drink packaging is concerning,” says Gendebien 

“Initiatives to improve the recyclability of pouches are likely to appeal to wary consumers. Depending on the country where the product is sold, pouches can be designed to fit local recycling streams, where possible.”According to Innova Market Insights, most baby and toddler packaging launches are made with plastic but feature recyclability or environmental sustainability claims.

“We have also seen interest from baby food brands in bio-based packaging material, such as pouches where a percentage of the plastic is made from sugarcane or other renewable sources,” he continues. 

Innova Market Insights notes that while plastic remains the top packaging material for baby and toddler foods, with 52% of NPD in 2021 being plastic, recyclability and climate-related claims are often featured on product labels. 

Gendebien highlights how Amcor has sought to reassure consumer’s on climate change by using its Asset packaging life cycle assessment system, which is certified by the Carbon Trust to measure and find ways to decrease its packaging’s carbon footprint.

Brands that can demonstrate a carbon footprint reduction of 20% or more can qualify to add a certified Carbon Trust label to their packaging.

“Getting [environmental] sustainability claims right is important. This can enable baby food brands to increase consumers’ trust and enhance the product experience, and strengthen their brand’s reputation,” says Gendebien. 

Revving up recyclability 
On top of Amcor’s Carbon Trust labeling, the company is working to improve recyclability through improved on-pack communication to parents and guardians. 

“Lack of recyclability used to be a limitation of flexible pouches that undergo retort or heat sterilization processing, for example for savory baby meals,” explains Gendebien.

However, this problem “was cracked” in 2020, he says, when Amcor launched the world’s first recycle-ready flexible retort pouch. The new solution is a full polypropylene pouch, which uses an ultra-thin AmLite transparent barrier coating for product protection. 

The result is a recycle-ready pack that can withstand heat-sterilization and provides a reliable barrier to oxygen and bacteria, keeping food safe without refrigeration for long shelf life.

By Louis Gore-Langton