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Packaging innovation reduces food waste
Palsgaard
They are supposed to tempt customers in the cold counter: Ready-made salads, fresh meals and sliced vegetables. However, that is not always the case. According to the UK organization WRAP, up to 40 percent of the green convenience food is thrown directly in the bin, partly because of condensation in the packaging that makes the food unattractive to look at. The Danish food ingredient manufacturer Palsgaard would like to change that, says CEO Jakob Thøisen:
“We have long known that inadequate packaging results in a huge waste of fresh food in the supermarket. In fact, our customers began to ask us if it was a challenge we would like to take on. That created a clear motivation to shake things up and look at brand new types of solutions.”
For Palsgaard, the solution is a special coating specifically developed for plastic packaging such as bagged salads. The coating causes condensation water to not accumulate as large opaque drops, but rather as a completely thin transparent film.
“The new coating is 100 percent plant-based, food-approved, sustainable, produced on CO2-neutral facilities and furthermore competitive on price compared to non-sustainable alternatives. By spraying or rolling it on, packaging manufacturers can create a completely different visual expression of those products that are kept in the cold counter. Furthermore, the products remain fresher for a longer time as the coating results in a more appropriate distribution of condensate water,” explains Jakob Thøisen.
According to Jakob Thøisen, aligning the new coating with the Sustainable Development Goals was an easy decision:
“It is estimated that about one third of all food production in the world ends directly in the trash bin. Because Palsgaard is a global company with sales offices throughout the world, we can actually make a difference. There is no doubt that sustainable packaging innovation is a significant weapon in the fight against food waste.”
Being a part of SDG Accelerator for SMEs has provided Palsgaard with a number of important tools, says Jakob Thøisen:
“The SDG Accelerator certainly became a strong gathering point for the entire organization in accelerating development and taking some major steps faster than we would otherwise have done. At the same time, we have met some extremely skilled facilitators who have given us important knowledge of systematic business development.”
The next step for Palsgaard is to intensify the dialogue with customers for an even deeper market understanding:
“When you develop a new product, you partly move into a new market. We are looking forward to many exciting dialogues with both current and future customers. The biggest market potential is without doubt in Asia and the United States, so we also operate over large geographical distances. But the commercial potential is clearly present. We get positive reactions everywhere we go, and our product has actually already been sold.”
In spite of the positive outlook, Palsgaard has even greater ambitions for the coating, says Jakob Thøisen:
“Think of diving glasses that do not steam up. Think of car mirrors or the millions of electronic rack cabinets that should be kept dry at all costs. Or solar panels with unwanted morning dew. The possibilities of coating are endless and we have just scratched the surface of different applications. That is certainly also the key learning from working with the Sustainable Development Goals: You start somewhere, decide to make a difference and end up opening the door to something even bigger.”
Read more about Palsgaard here.
