Howling sustainability: zooplus chooses Mondi’s monomaterial packaging for pet food

20 Aug 2020 --- German pet food company zooplus has opted for Mondi’s recyclable packaging for the new flavors of its premium pet food brand Wolf of Wilderness. The global packaging and paper solutions player is supplying environmentally sustainable mono-material packaging for the pet food brand’s new dry dog food range to boost recyclability. The FlexiBag Recyclable and BarrierPack Recyclable form-fill-and-seal (FFS) reel material are both certified recyclable by the Institute cyclos HTP, which specializes in the classification, assessment and certification of recyclability of packaging.

“Mondi has worked hard on providing recyclable dry pet food packaging that has all the features customers have come to expect when taking care of their pets. This includes maintaining freshness, easy re-closeablility, offering a wide variety of sizes, convenience for portioning and handling, while also being recyclable,” Alfons Kruse, Plant Manager at Mondi’s Steinfeld facility, tells PackagingInsights.

“Dry pet food packaging requires certain grease barriers during transport and at the point of sale for the customer. The packaging needs to be air tight and have aroma barriers in order to maintain freshness and extend the shelf-life of the pet food,” Kruse adds.

Dry pet food packaging requires grease barriers for transport, to be air tight and have aroma barriers, says Mondi. (Image Credit: Wolf of Wilderness)

Kruse underscores that BarrierPack Recyclable can also be used for food, dry pet food, and home care and hygiene products. Meanwhile, FlexiBag Recyclable can be also used for B2B customers in food, as well as consumer food, home care and hygiene industries.

Pet owners demand’s drive the space
zooplus says it enlisted Mondi to provide the eco-friendly packaging solutions for its ‘Wolf of Wilderness’ flagship brand, in order to meet the growing consumer demand for sustainable packaging. FMCG brands are increasingly acknowledging the environmental attributes of packaging as a key selling proposition of consumer packaged goods. Innova Market Insights identified “Storytelling: Winning with Words” as its top food and beverage trend for 2020, in which product packaging has become increasingly integral to brand-consumer relationships.

“We are continuously working along the value chain with our customers and recyclers to optimize the recyclability of the materials we use for flexible packaging. With this in mind, we used current Design for Recycling guidelines, having both products independently certified,” Graeme Smith, Head of Product Sustainability Flexible Packing and Engineered Materials, also tells PackagingInsights.

“Mondi leverages its customer-centric EcoSolutions approach to create sustainable packaging by design without compromising on quality. By applying our extensive materials knowledge, we were able to replicate the look without the use of any metallic substances to produce recyclable packaging,” notes Thomas Kahl, Project Manager EcoSolutions for Mondi.

BarrierPack Recyclable can also be used for food, dry pet food, and home care and hygiene products. (Image Credit: Wolf of Wilderness)Echoing this and in collaboration with PackagingInsights, Innova Market Insights previously unveiled its Top Packaging Trends 2020, with “The Language of Environmental Sustainability” identified as this year’s leading trend. Moreover, a 2019 Innova consumer survey found that 38 percent of Indian, German and UK consumers want to know what impact the food and beverage products they buy have on the planet. The majority of these respondents indicated that this information makes them feel more connected to the brand.

Previously, PackagingInsights reported that consumers are holding pet packaging to similar standards as seen within the food and personal care space. Experts note a surging demand for environmentally sustainable packaging that is simultaneously convenient and safe. Moreover, industry players discussed how premium demands are driving the segment and explain how the pet food packaging sector is projected to evolve in the future.

The premium feel
While seeking greater recyclability for its packaging, the zooplus was not willing to compromise on any performance properties, including barrier protection, or aesthetics. Mondi’s materials provide all the necessary barrier properties to protect against the unwanted transmission of moisture, oxygen and odors with a high premium look and feel.

Mondi’s expertise made it possible to maintain the desired aesthetics on the packaging, so that the previously metalized highlights on the label and, in the eyes of the wolf, are also recyclable.

“The success of ‘Wolf of Wilderness’ shows that we have our finger on the pulse for species-appropriate, convenient and high-quality food that dogs love. As a consequence, we only considered a sustainable and high-quality solution to package the new flavors,” says Dominik Mayer, Senior Product Manager for Wolf of Wilderness at zooplus.

By Kristiana Lalou

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