Colpac has been awarded the prestigious New Packaging Award at the Sammies 2025, in recognition of its innovative use of direct food contact inks in the foodservice sector. This enabled the removal of plastic content from Pret’s platter bases, increasing pack recyclability and reducing overall cost.
This custom food packaging project drives simpler recycling of Pret’s platter bases, in support of the latest Recycling Assessment Methodology (RAM), food safety requirements, and improved visual appeal.
“We are thrilled to have won the new packaging award at this year’s Sammies! We work closely with Pret to deliver packaging that does their fresh food justice, and I am so proud of the extensive teamwork that went into getting the new, plastic-free platters out there. Well done to our fantastic team!” Jonathan Morton, Director of Business Development at Colpac
By replacing fibreboard composite materials and plastic laminate with uncoated paperboard and direct food contact inks, the platters are recyclable through any paper re-pulping process. This change, alongside lightweighting the paperboard material used, is projected to achieve 9407kg* of packaging material savings/year and reduce projected Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) unit cost by an impressive 55%.
“The new platters look superb, and the premise of this project truly represents our pledge to eliminate all unnecessary single-use plastic.” Simon Oxley, Global Head of Packaging at Pret
The Sammies (Sandwich & Food to Go Industry Awards), organised by the British Sandwich & Food to Go Association, celebrate the UK's sandwich and food-to-go industry, recognising development and innovation. Colpac continuously innovates food packaging with its customers, bringing new materials and coatings to the food-to-go marketplace and helping foodservice providers to meet sustainability goals.
“Congratulations to Colpac on this well-deserved win! Our judges were unanimous that this was a very comprehensive entry and that the application of technology in the packaging showed real innovation. The product has exceptional sustainability credentials, and we look forward to seeing it rolled out across industry.” Pete Ward, Managing Director at The Sammies Awards
Having set the bar for the use of direct food contact inks in foodservice packaging, Colpac is now working with other customers to implement this technology.
For further information on direct food contact inks, read the full Pret platters case study on the Colpac website.
*Weights are calculated on a usage rate of 6,000 bases per week 312,000 per annum – usage provided by Pret.