Focus on sustainability: Sauces and spices packaged in an environmentally friendly way

More variety – in taste, size, and shape – and a more sustainable range: The market for sauces, dips, honey, and spices is booming. For packaging companies like Greiner Packaging, these trends and market changes mean that innovative and sustainable packaging solutions must be developed to meet the wishes of consumers as well as the requirements of customers and their products. This also includes minimizing the ecological footprint. It’s not an easy task – but it’s the path to a successful and sustainable future.

In the past, the choice used to be easier: ketchup, mayonnaise, pepper, salt, maybe a little chili and salad herbs. Today, there is an almost bewildering range of sauces, dips, honey, dried herbs and spices. There’s something for every taste and every cooking preference in the supermarket. Recent food trends have also contributed to this: Consumers are increasingly looking for healthy, organic, and sustainable alternatives to traditional sauces and spices. Vegetarian or vegan options are also increasingly in demand, as are regional or seasonal offerings. These should contain as few artificial additives as possible, such as flavor enhancers or preservatives, but still have a long shelf-life – especially as there is often no longer just one sauce bottle in the fridge but a greater variety of flavors.

If eating habits and thus the products offered change, there is also a change in terms of packaging: here too, sustainability plays an increasingly important role. Content and packaging should be a harmonious match. However, there are also stricter legal requirements: At the EU level, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) aims to create a circular economic model, making packaging more sustainable and reducing packaging waste. Implementing PPWR and its specifications also has an impact on packaging in the sauces and spices sector. This means that modern packaging needs to be made from easily recycled materials. It should be safe, contribute to consumer convenience - easy to open and handle - and support the product's shelf life. In addition, the packaging should also be visually eye-catching - with an abundance of products on offer, the packaging can help the product stand out from the competition on the shelf. Whether through form, function, or decoration.

Traditionally, sauces and spices are often filled in glass containers; the material appears very high-quality and, what's more, natural and sustainable. But especially in this market, plastic packaging also scores points with several advantages: It does not break into splinters like glass, it can be produced in many variants cost-effectively and is especially light, which is advantageous for longer transport distances in terms of CO2 emissions.