Pet Food: Raising the bar

Note: The products shown are design studies by the in-house design & prototyping department, DesPro.

Would you give up chocolate so that you could afford to feed your pet a healthy, high-quality diet? Perhaps you are thinking about canceling your Netflix subscription to spend extra money on wholesome dishes for your furry friend? If so, you are not alone, according to a recent Nielsen study. The well-being of dogs, cats, fish, and other pets is a growing priority for their owners, resulting in a strong “humanization” of animals in all areas of life – including in the pet food market. Trends presently sweeping through the human food scene can also be found in meals and snacks intended for animal consumption. And these trends affect the packaging as well as the ingredients themselves.

A quick look at the label to check the ingredients or origin information is now part of many people’s routine when shopping for food. Ideally, the product should be processed as little as possible, without artificial preservatives or flavorings, and with GMO-free ingredients that are organic, locally sourced, and contain plenty of vitamins and trace elements. Consumers’ expectations are also increasing in the pet food segment, including with regard to packaging, which they prefer to be easy to recycle, made from sustainable materials, and user friendly. Naturally, the packaging needs to make a strong visual impression, too.

At the moment, pet food is mainly packaged in aluminum trays and containers. However, this does not have to continue – at least, not if Greiner Packaging has its way. The packaging specialists have made it their mission to offer plastic alternatives that make the lives of customers and consumers easier while meeting expectations for practical and sustainable solutions.

There is a wealth of plastic packaging options available for pets’ dry food, snacks, and tasty treats. With choices including cups, trays, tubs, buckets, and boxes; colorful or transparent containers, whether round or unusually shaped; and labels, sleeves, or cardboard wraps, the right solution is available for almost every product – not forgetting those that require a premium look.

That is why product protection and sustainability are part of the picture, too. As it looks to fulfill its environmental obligations, Greiner Packaging largely utilizes monomaterial solutions that are easy to recycle. Recycled materials can also be used in many different types of packaging. By helping to reduce plastic usage and CO₂ emissions, sustainable cardboard-plastic combinations offer particularly strong potential. If properly separated, they can be easily recycled over and over again.

Packaging is more challenging when it comes to wet food. This is often filled under sterile conditions or at high temperatures and has to stay good for a long time – with or without preservatives being added. But Greiner Packaging is on hand with the right solutions in this area, too. Barrier packaging solutions ensure that the packaged product remains fresh and has a long shelf life. PP and EVOH are the materials used, with the latter providing a thin barrier layer to keep out oxygen and light. Sterilization, pasteurization, and hot filling are all possible, and the packaging is also suitable for more demanding pet food options. With only a small amount of EVOH, barrier packaging is considered a monomaterial, meaning that it can be easily recycled and reprocessed. As a result, these solutions check several boxes in terms of what will be expected of packaging in the future: They reduce food waste by extending shelf life without the use of preservatives. They are sustainable and allow for easy recycling. And, as in the case of dry food, the sky is the limit when it comes to decoration options.

We can offer our customers different barrier solutions and decoration possibilities depending on which packaging they want, or which technology and design requirements have to be met,” Ertan emphasizes.

Visually, pet food hardly differs from human food anymore due to the numerous attractive packaging options. However, the humanization of animals does have its limits in relation to food. According to Nielsen, pet owners are not convinced that their four-legged friends share their tastes – very few would buy them flavors such as “beef bolognese” or “chicken tandoori,” which firmly remain on the human menu.

In the following we may present some sustainable and visual eye-catchers that our Design & Prototyping department has developed for the pet food market. This is the direction we think pet food packaging can take in the future.

The plastic container looks like a glass jar but is lighter and shatterproof. The transparent packaging allows shoppers to see what is inside before they buy, giving the product a high-quality appearance. The container and label can be made of the same material, if requested, making them easy to recycle as a single material. Depending on requirements, there is also flexibility in how the label is applied during the filling process.

• Sustainable monomaterial packaging
• Flexible decoration options
• High-quality look and feel

Trends: premium status, sustainability

This packaging performs impressively on multiple levels as a cardboard-plastic combination with a top cup. Reduced use of plastic ensures that sustainability expectations are met. The cardboard and plastic are also easy to separate from each other and, if left attached, can be quickly identified and correctly classified in sorting systems using digital watermarks. The deep lid provides space for added extras like treats, which are hygienically separated from the actual pet food with a plastic seal. The cardboard wrap, which can be printed on both sides, is an eye-catching feature. If the plastic cup is left transparent, this gives consumers an additional view of the product from the outside.

• Up to 33 percent less plastic used
• Cardboard made from recycled material available on request
• Lower CO₂ emissions
• Stackable packaging
• Resealable lid

Trends: sustainability, premium status, convenience

This packaging solution, which features a large surface area for decoration, contains healthy snacks in several convenient individual boxes. The lid can be opened and clipped onto the other side, then closed back up once the desired amount has been served. The container and label can be made of the same material, if requested, making them easy to recycle as a single material. Since the product inside is packaged separately, the outer packaging can be made of 100 percent recycled material.

• Sustainable monomaterial packaging
• 100 percent recycled material
• Flexible decoration options
• Resealable
• Ideal storage system

Trends: convenience, sustainability

No more awkward fiddling around with a spoon or fork – with gentle pressure on the bottom of this plastic packaging, the wet food slides elegantly out of the cup and into the bowl. This is made possible by an innovative packaging solution based on a bottom-up, inverted cup concept. The result is packaging that is not only visually unique at the POS, but also easy to stack. The cup is closed with a sealing lid, while the brand logo can be eye-catchingly embossed on the bottom of the packaging where it acts as a “pressure point,” helping consumers serve the product.

• Sustainable monomaterial packaging
• No aluminum components
• Resealable
• Stackable
• Large surface area for decoration

Trends: convenience, sustainability

Cardboard-plastic combinations can be supplied in unusual shapes, too. The cardboard wrap, which can be printed on both sides, can also be used with noncylindrical packaging with multiple corners and edges – guaranteed to draw attention at the POS. At the same time, this packaging goes the extra mile in terms of sustainability, as the cardboard and plastic can be separated from one another in seconds using a patented tear-off solution. This then means that the two individual parts are as easy as possible to recycle. Thanks to the sealing lid, no additional sealing foil is required to keep the wet food airtight. Plus, the cup can be resealed so that any leftovers can be stored in the fridge without odor leakage.

• Sustainable monomaterial packaging
• No aluminum components
• Cardboard made from recycled material available on request
• Resealable
• Stackable
• Large surface area for decoration

Trends: sustainability, premium status

Pet food must meet the highest quality standards - it is therefore often filled under sterile conditions or at very high temperatures, and must have a long shelf life. For this reason, aluminum has often been the packaging material of choice up to now, but packaging made of plastic can meet the desired requirements just as well. For such packaging, Greiner Packaging relies on MBT, multi barrier technology. In this process, a special barrier layer, for example made of EVOH or PA, is embedded in a standard plastic. MBT can be used for thermoforming as well as for co-injection, kavoblow or IML - depending on the project and customer requirements. A high oxygen barrier is achieved, sterilization, pasteurization and hot filling are possible. This makes plastic packaging ideal for the pet food sector.

• Sustainable single material packaging
• No aluminum content
• Reclosable
• Stackable
• Generous decoration area

Trends: sustainability, premium claim

Note: The products shown are design studies by the in-house design & prototyping department, DesPro.