Heinz and Coca-Cola packaging deal ‘paving the way for industry-wide collaboration’
The partnership will allow Heinz to produce its ketchup bottles using Coke’s PlantBottle packaging - PET material made partially from renewable plant material.
The food giants declared the move to be an industry-first, and said they hoped other companies would follow suit “to transform how food is packaged around the world”.
‘Important step’
Heinz said it would convert to using the PlantBottle on all its 20-ounce ketchup bottles in June 2011 – amounting to around 120m packages this year. Coca-Cola Company said it would use more than 5bn during the same period. The adoption of the packaging was described as “the biggest change” to the ketchup bottles since it began using plastic 27 years ago.
The tomato sauce producer said all it bottles would be made using the eco-packaging “in time” without giving a firm date. Heinz has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste, water consumption and energy usage at least 20 percent by 2015 and said the deal with Coke was an “important step” in this.
“The partnership of Coca-Cola and Heinz is a model of collaboration in the food and beverage industry that will make a sustainable difference for the planet,” said Heinz chairman, president and CEO William R. Johnson.
Collaboration
Coca-Cola said its goal to transition all of its plastic packaging to its plant-based packaging by 2020.
The PlantBottle, launched in 2009, is made from up to 30 per cent from plant material. The container is produced through an innovative process that turns natural sugars found in plants into a key component for PET plastic. Currently, the material is made using sugarcane ethanol from Brazil.
“PlantBottle is revolutionizing plastic, and our partnership with Heinz is paving the way for industry-wide collaboration,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “This partnership is a great example of how businesses are working together to advance smart technologies that make a difference to our consumers and the planet we all share.”
Coke is currently selling PlantBottle in nine markets including Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the United States - with plans to expand to over a dozen new markets in 2011.
