Mars is asking a question of its packaging that might surprise its suppliers. 'Do we really need all of that performance? That barrier? That shelf life?' It had always been inexpensive and available, so there was no reason not to use high-performance film, for instance. But with sustainability emerging as a major KPI, brands are rethinking what they need.
Mars' Kind brand's new paper-based wrapper has a shorter shelf life than the existing polypropylene wrapper. But for grab-and-go sales of a product likely to be immediately consumed, is all that shelf-life necessary?
Matt Reynolds, editor, Packaging WorldMars has been getting a lot of ink in PW lately. Despite not being likely to meet its ambitious 2025 Ellen MacArthur goals, the brand owner has earned some recognition. It shifted to monomaterial PE or PP in some pet food applications, making recycling easier in store drop-off settings. In other pet food applications, it implemented high-content, food-safe advanced recycled material, and in still others, the brand owner adopted durable, reusable, refillable pet treat packaging systems. On the confectionery and snack bar side of the coin, as the cover story indicates, Mars has been piloting paper-based barrier packaging for confectionery and snack bars here in the states. I remember covering the brand’s first iteration of this now mainstream trend with the Balisto bar in Germany, more than four years ago. These things take time, but there’s been a steady and undeniable drumbeat of new packaging rollouts across Mars’ swath of divisions and brands.
Why? Looming EPR is a big part of the calculus. Brand owners have frequently referenced the ticking clock on the Oregon EPR legislation and other impending rules, so the countdown that must be happening in all big brands’ sustainability and packaging divisions. Shortly after the state’s EPR law is enacted on July 1, 2025, brand owners doing business in the state are essentially going to get a bill from the PRO (Producer Responsibility Org). What happens then? How will the bill be routed internally? From what pool of a money will it be paid? Are brands ready? Because EPR is about to get real.
Whether in service of EPR compliance, lower eco-modulation fees within EPR, self-imposed and aspirational Ellen MacArthur Foundation goals, or just meeting consumer demand for sustainable packaging, the brand is certainly making progress. On its path, Mars seems to be discovering an important, and perhaps surprising fact about its packaging: “How much performance do we actually need?”
Eric Klingenberg, Mars’ material science lead, posed this very question at a recent Rethinking Materials panel on health and safety I attended in London. Klingenberg’s apparent realization that packaging may well have been over-engineered. That’s especially true of plastic, which has been honed to near application-specific performance perfection for decades. Only now that sustainability is becoming a major KPI that
“It causes us to ask the question, ‘Do we really need that level of performance?’ We’re learning a lot of that through our plastic transition and our wider packaging transition. ‘Do we need that oxygen barrier? That shelf life?’” he mused on the panel. “I don’t know. We bought a lot of [those packaging formats] really cheap—but maybe we don’t [need the performance]. Now we can look for new solutions that are more recyclable, compostable, better, and we don’t lose much as a tradeoff.”
This rang especially true to me since I had just completed the article on Mars’ new Kind bar barrier paper pilot. The existing polypropylene wrappers have a 12- to 15-month shelf life. The latest curbside recyclable paper wrappers have a six-month shelf life. It’s important to note that these material launches are iterative, so next versions may well have better OTR and WVTR barriers, thus longer shelf lives. One major packaging supplier once told me that developing these new materials was like building a plane while flying it. They haven’t put the landing gear on quite yet, so expect improvements based on data gathered in these pilots.
Meanwhile, as brands like Mars are coming around to this idea, big chunks of the supply chain both upstream and down have grown accustomed to—maybe addicted to that extra level of performance. Inexpensive and highly optimized packaging formats afford slack to the system by way of shelf life, puncture resistance, tear resistance, machinability, and slick, glossy, colorful appearance.
But packaging is situational. The paper wrapper pilot is in single-use, grab-and-go style bars taken from a retail-ready container. One has to assume the bars will be consumed pretty quickly after purchase. They’re not in multipacks, which might sit on a shelf at home for months. So when you apply that situational filter consumption occasions for a packaged product, Klingenberg’s question is apt. Do you really need all that performance? PW
Welcome to the inaugural Packaging World/ProFood World Innovations Report on liquid food packaging, drawn from nearly 300 PACK EXPO International booth visits (Chicago, Nov. 3–6, 2024). Our editors highlight the most groundbreaking equipment and materials—supported by video demos—that promise to transform how liquid foods are processed, packaged, and delivered.
Looking for engineering services? Our curated list features 100+ companies specializing in civil, process, structural, and electrical engineering. Many also offer construction, design, and architecture services. Download to access company names, markets served, key services, contact information, and more!
Matt Reynolds, editor, Packaging World
