How hard is it for consumers to do the ‘right thing’ with on-the-go packaging?
On-the-go food packaging should have several properties, including keeping the food safe in transit, extending the shelf life for food on the go, keeping food warm, making it easy to eat, and looking delicious. End users have little choice or influence in how their food is packaged unless there are outside influences on the food outlet’s choice of packaging, such as event, festival or venue organisers. The end user can shop around, but the nature of the food to go is somewhat impulsive and determined by the retail outlet.
There are plenty of food packaging choices for our food-to-go outlet customers, and it is simple for them to ‘do the right thing’ and purchase compostable, widely recyclable and sustainable food packaging. These generally cost a few pence more than the plastic alternatives, which are recyclable but will also look more premium to the end consumer.
Should the government implement more guidance/support/ legislation?
The Government has made some excellent progress in creating a framework for a sustainable food packaging industry by putting in the legislative framework to ban the least recyclable products, for example, polystyrene-based products and Oxo-degradable plastic products.
Before widening the law further, the government needs to take a beat and make sure the existing laws are implemented more comprehensively. While many wholesalers have implemented bans, the banned product is still pushing its way into the market, with many outlets unaware of the ban. We still receive sales enquiries for this product and look to offer alternatives where we receive these calls. The FPA is our industry body and has worked closely with the Government to make the legislation work and close loopholes. However, they still exist, which is frustrating for suppliers like ourselves who have embraced the legislation.
Once existing legislation has been implemented, we welcome further legislation to improve the sustainability of our industry. In addition to legislation for the supply of sustainable products, the government also needs to make the recycling, composting and kerbside collection facilities across the country consistent and adequate to make the industry more circular rather than exporting the waste.
An exciting development being instigated by the FPA is for more testing of products and claims made by suppliers. We want to trust the product we are supplying to our customers and the claims made for the product’s source, sustainability and compostability.
What is the customer's demand for sustainable packaging?
We have two types of customers for our wholesale food packaging: the eco, sustainable focused business who is prepared to pay a few pence more for what is perceived to be a better product and those that prefer the traditional plastic options, which in some cases keeps the food warmer for customers in transit. We believe that the vast majority of our customers want the sustainable option and the small extra cost can be more than passed onto the customer with a more premium presentation of their food.
What are the current pressures across supply chains?
In our first 15 years of trading, we saw consistent supply, relatively little product development and relatively small changes in customer demands for sustainability. Planet Earth gave the industry a considerable jolt to make its product more sustainable. Then, Covid saw another vast change in the industry, with a spike in demand and supply struggling to keep up with closed factories worldwide. As this settled down and demand and supply dropped back to more normal levels, the sanctions on Russia for their invasion of Ukraine caused colossal supply issues for the board and corresponding price increases. Things were settling in 2023, with prices across the product range coming down a little, but now we are seeing double-digit price increases for products caused by the drone attacks in the Red Sea. This has affected container shipping prices worldwide and has already started to ripple through to the end user.
Our customers are also seeing huge issues with reliable labour, energy prices and most recently, business rate increases. Our customer base is seeing high churn as a quieter economy, and increased business costs are coming together to make our customers close their doors.
Fortunately, we are still a nimble business and can change our business quickly to whatever is thrown our way!
What are your plans for a more sustainable 2024 and beyond?
Cater For You has always supported sustainable initiatives in the industry, and the food packaging industry is showing no signs of slowing down at its current breathtaking level of innovation. We constantly appraise new products brought to us by suppliers and look forward to increasing our range of sustainable products on our website. For example, we have recently been offered products made of grass, seaweed and more. We will also go to industry exhibitions to view the latest trends and take on board new products that our customers will embrace.