Mars, the confectionery giant, has announced that it will be testing paper packaging for its Mars bars at 500 Tesco stores across the country. The trial, which begins this week, is part of the company’s ongoing attempt to reduce the use of virgin plastics by 25% in the short-term while increasing the use of recycled plastic in its packaging.
The move follows widespread calls from consumers and campaigners for big brands to find alternative packaging to plastic in a bid to help the environment. Nestlé recently announced a trial in Australia to use paper packaging for its KitKat chocolate wafer snack, while Quality Street ditched its foil and plastic wrappers for recyclable paper last Christmas.
Mars’s packaging expert, Richard Sutherland-Moore, explained the challenge of finding “the right paper packaging solution with an adequate level of barrier properties to protect the chocolate whilst guaranteeing the food safety, quality, and integrity of the product to prevent food waste”.
The company aims to use the feedback from the trial to inform future packaging pilots and invests a significant amount to explore different types of packaging.
In conclusion, Mars’s latest trial represents an important step forward in the search for environmentally-friendly packaging alternatives. As businesses strive to meet consumers’ expectations around environmental responsibility, the adoption of sustainable packaging solutions is becoming increasingly essential.