packagingnews.co.uk

Sainsbury's completes Basics cereals switch to bag-only packs

Sainsbury's Basics cereals range will only be packaged in bags by the end of the year as the retailer completes its 18-month programme of removing the carton outer pack.

The roll-out of plastic bag packs began in June 2009 with Rice Pops and will conclude with Fruit and Fibre in December. The only line that will maintain the box is Breakfast Wholewheat biscuits that need it to protect the product.

The news of the scheme's progress comes as Sainsbury's packaging was thrust into the national media spotlight over a potential court case in Lincolnshire over the packaging of a joint of beef in its Taste the Difference range.

Sainsbury’s said that using the bags saved 165 tonnes of packaging a year and that the bags had been well received by customers.

Head of packaging Stuart Lendrum said: "Not using the boxes takes us some way towards meeting our target to cut packaging by a third by 2015.

"It will also reduce our packaging costs enabling us to keep these cereals at low prices. As such, customers wallets win and the environment wins, too."

No Kellogg’s to switch to bags
Cereal giant Kellogg’s said it had no plans to change its own packaging in the short term.

"Our tests have shown that putting cereal in a bag damages the product and results in more food waste due to breakages in the flakes in transit, on shelf and in the home," a spokesperson said.

"A box and a thin bag are fully recyclable – bag only uses more plastic and is much thicker and harder to recycle.  You also need a lot more packaging in transit to limit damage."