Packaging providers aim to meet dairy processor demands

Packaging is evolving with eco-friendly solutions that also enhance food quality.

Dairy packaging is in a dynamic state.

Demands from brands for attractive designs that are eco-friendly while enhancing food quality and safety is triggering the launch of new primary packaging solutions.

Technology developers, meanwhile, are engineering packaging systems that are simpler to maintain and provide processors with greater operating efficiencies.

The greater interest by brands in using packaging as marketing tools will lead to further upgrades, analysts say.

“Dairy processors strive to develop packaging that is easy to use, while also being distinctive enough to be eye-catching and jump off the grocery self,” says Jonathan Veins, North American sales manager for Osgood Industries LLC, an Oldsmar, Fla.-based manufacturer of inline and rotary cup filling machines for preformed containers.

Occurring simultaneously is a shift toward sustainable packaging that includes the development of products that are either recyclable, use recycled content, or are compostable, says Tim Kieny, vice president of marketing — dairy, protein, and pet, for TC Transcontinental, a Montreal-based flexible packaging provider.

“With rising environmental concerns, the leading dairy companies are adopting eco-friendly packaging to reduce their environmental impact and to preserve natural resources,” reports IMARC Group, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based management strategy advisory and market research firm. Such packaging formats include Tetra Packs, glass bottles, clear tubs, and squeezable pouches, the firm states.

Sustainability takes center stage

Dairy food producer Nestlé S.A., for instance, says it is seeking to eventually prevent all its packaging from ending up in landfills or becoming litter. The Vevey, Switzerland-based developer reports that 85.8% of its total packaging was recyclable or reusable in 2022; 36% was made from recycled and/or renewable materials; and its total packaging weight of 3.6 million tons was down from 4.5 million tons in 2020.

“Shoppers are connecting more with brands that are responsible from the product itself to the packaging,” Kieny says. “They want to affect change by their choices and are demanding that brands take a responsible stance.”

Such interest is leading more processors to reduce the amount of material, or lightweighting, in product packaging, which for instance, might include reducing the length of cheese packaging by 15 to 20 millimeters, says Carlo Bergonzi, product manager — Mondini Tray Seal, at Taunton, Mass.-based Harpak-ULMA Packaging LLC.

“Dairy food packaging is evolving and adapting to become an integral part of a circular economy where packaging never ends up in a landfill but is recycled and used to package the next sweet treat,” says Harrison Carney, account manager, consumer goods division, for Huhtamäki Oyj, an Espoo, Finland-based packaging developer.

Dairy processors, he notes, are seeking packaging with elements that enhance food safety and prevent food waste while contributing to a low-carbon system.

In addition to leveraging packaging with sustainable properties, operators are seeking designs with protective features. Producers, for instance, are offering yogurt in high-density polyethylene bottles sealed with either aluminum foil, laminated heat-seal closures, or low-density polyethylene caps or lids to guard the contents from oxidation and delay the fading of light-sensitive colors, IMARC Group states.

Packaging manufacturers also are providing modified atmosphere packaging with aseptic and antimicrobial properties to help extend the shelf life of dairy products up to 90 days under refrigeration storage by controlling the associated fungal contamination, IMARC Group notes.

“The evolution of dairy packaging is being driven by a combination of sustainability, innovation, and technological advancements, all of which aim to create more effective and environmentally friendly solutions,” Kieny states.

Packaging lines become more potent

This evolution includes the incorporation of sensors and inspection systems in packaging lines that allow processors to control upstream and downstream processes and maximize line performance, says Rudy Sanchez, food handling systems product manager at Key Technology, a Walla Walla, Wash.-based equipment provider.

Sensors, for instance, can collect operational data on one machine to automatically cause adjustments to other line machines without human intervention, he notes.

Such measures include the transmission of information on product flow to trigger upstream gates or diverters on distribution shakers to control feed rates, Sanchez states. Integrating plant-wide networks into lines enables processors to monitor and control the entire line from one location inside the plant as well as remotely via smartphones and other devices, he adds.

Performance, sanitation, and reliability, meanwhile, are key elements for dairy processors to consider when choosing conveying systems for packaging lines, Sanchez says.

“Processors will want to understand how the packaging supplier’s recommended solution will achieve their objectives, including transporting product and distributing and feeding other packaging machinery effectively, while maintaining the desired throughput and maximizing reliability and uptime,” he states.