Recycling. 70 per cent in Europe. Homegrown. Trendwatch. Private Label Reaches Record Market Share. is here. Issue December 2009

Transcription

1 brought to you by Issue December 2009 Steel Recycling Reaches 70 per cent in Europe The latest figures from APEAL (the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging) show that 70 per cent of steel packaging is recycled in Europe. This represents over 2.5 million tonnes of food and drinks cans and other steel containers being recycled in 2008, saving 3.9 million tonnes of CO 2. According to the latest available data, this places recycling rates for steel above those of other packaging materials such as plastic, beverage cartons and glass (29 per cent 1, 33 per cent 2 and 62 per cent 3 respectively). Continued over page... Homegrown Canned Chicken is here Trendwatch Private Label Reaches Record Market Share

2 Top performer Steel s outstanding performance owes much to its unique material properties. Its magnetic abilities make it the easiest and most cost effective material to sort and recover. When household waste is recycled, these magnetic properties enable steel packaging to be easily separated from cartons, plastic, and other packaging materials. Unlike other materials, steel loses none of its strength or inherent qualities no matter how many times it is recycled. Made to be recycled Another reason for steel s continued recycling success is that the recycling process is embedded into steel production. Put simply: to make steel, you have to use recycled steel. This means that every steel plant is a recycling plant, producing steel of virgin quality while saving valuable resources. Complementing this is a network of wellestablished routes for collection and recovery of steel cans across Europe, which has helped to ensure recycling excellence. Saving energy and carbon By integrating recycled steel into the manufacturing process the industry achieves energy savings of 70 per cent and lowers its output of CO 2. In fact, each item of recycled steel packaging saves one-and-a-half times its weight of CO 2. So the more steel is recycled, the more CO 2 emissions are reduced. Once again steel is setting the standard for recycling across Europe and demonstrating that by recycling we can make an important contribution to reducing CO 2 emissions, said Guillaume de Formanoir, President of APEAL. In 2008, the recycling rate for steel packaging continued to grow throughout Europe, rising by 1.4 per cent from the 2007 total. Belgium was once again Europe s recycling champion, where 93 per cent of steel packaging was recycled, while Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands followed closely behind, recycling over 87 per cent of their steel containers. 1 Source: Plastics Europe (2008), 2 Source: ACE (2008), 3 Source: FEVE (2007) NEWS snippet As reported in The Canmaker, Hormel Foods, which produces Spam and Stagg Chilli, has cut the number of pallets used to ship its canned products by more than 14,000 in the US as part of a companywide project that has also saved 5.2 million pounds of product packaging. Our new initiatives build on about 40 packaging reduction projects completed in 2008, and reflect the way we continuously look for means to improve the packaging of our products and reduce our environmental footprint, said Daniel Miller, research and development manager of packaging development at Hormel Foods. Source: The Canmaker, 9 December, 2009 Homegrown Canned Chicken is here Heinz Australia is now offering canned chicken with the launch of a new product range. The shredded chicken meals are designed to be able to be eaten as either a snack, or to complement a meal. A number of different flavours are available in leading supermarkets and all in a convenient can from Impress.

3 Innovation Over the past 12 months Impress and its customers have launched many new products, shapes and looks which have been honoured by many different awards. Here are eight examples: 3. The new Ringo can, designed specifically for the paint market, features a lightweight, easy-to-open and re-close metal can to increase consumer convenience. The Ringo can weighs 10 per cent less than a traditional metal paint can, which means it will save almost 500 tonnes of steel in the manufacturing process at constant volumes. 6. Australia s largest dairy company, Murray Goulburn, launched and is developing its own Natrastart brand of infant formula in China. Murray Goulburn started its MG China operation two years ago to gain entry to the large infant formula market there. 1. Edgell launched a new range of Vegie Mixes in 450 gram cans. 4. Impress won Silver in the aerosol category for its embossed aerosol 3 Wetter Taft, produced in Germany for Schwarzkopf and Henkel. At the Can of the Year Awards Impress won the Gold Award in the beverages category at the 2009 Best in Metal awards for its Karvan Cévitam Specials range of syrups in a newly launched 350ml packaging size for H.J Heinz. 2. Impress Easip end is the world s first peelable steel end, which can be sterilised through continuous retorts without over-pressure. It was launched by French group Bonduelle s canned vegetable range and won the Supreme Gold award and the Gold award in the processed food category, in the Best in Metal 2009 awards (which were run by the MPMA). 5. Impress and Daiwa Can in Japan announced that they had reached agreement on a strategic alliance, with the first step being the agreement to give Impress exclusive rights to market Daiwa s range of re-sealable bottle cans in Europe. 8. In keeping with the technological advances in the automatic aerosols segment Air Wick introduced its new product: the Air Wick Freshmatic.

4 Trendwatch Private Label Reaches Record Market Share The battle for the supermarket floor between private labels and branded goods is heating up, with private labels reaching a record share of the grocery market in Australia, according to new research by market insight and information group TNS. TNS director of consumer research, Nicole Marquardt, warned that a purchasing mentality had emerged that was here to stay, with private labels growing in popularity among most shopper groups particularly adult households, young singles and young couples. Private labels growth has been spurred by the economic downturn, but when we look at the motivators behind [their] purchase, we find that few consumers are buying it in response to the recession, with many there by choice, said Marquardt. People are opting for private label for a myriad of reasons; the foremost being to save money to spend on the family; the belief that brands are all hype and not of superior quality; and to display thrift by being smart selectors. Surprisingly, the research found that a large proportion of Australians who buy private label do so despite being concerned over potentially lower quality, inferior status image, poor packaging and lack of innovation of the products. Organics Continue to Be Niche Market As more traditional retailers expand their selection of organic food and beauty products and as the media continues to focus more attention on this emerging trend there has actually been no growth in the number of US consumers that purchase these products, according to a recently released study by TABS Group. TABS Group, a leading marketing, research and consulting firm in the consumer products industry, found: The usage results for our latest study were remarkably similar to the results from last year s study: Organic food and beauty products continue to be niche products; they have not penetrated a mass audience to date, stated TABS Group President and Founder, Dr. Kurt Jetta. [It is] identical to last year: only 38 per cent of adults claim to have purchased anything from the major organic categories in the last six months. According to the study, organic fresh fruit had the highest purchase incidence at 26 per cent, with organic fresh vegetables close behind at 25 per cent. Organic dairy products, eggs Environment Facts: Cans prevent waste Cans deliver 100 per cent protection against oxygen, gas, light, moisture or other contamination Cans are unbreakable Cans reduce household waste when compared with other packaging Canned products are kept until needed and not thrown away Canned products retain all their properties longer than any other packaging Source: and milk, were cited for purchase by 17 per cent and 16 per cent of US adults, respectively. Frozen organic products (vegetables, fruit and ice cream) had low purchase levels at five-to-seven per cent. Purchase levels for organic beauty care products also had very low mainstream acceptance with stated purchase for organic skincare at six per cent and organic hair care and cosmetics at four per cent. There was no meaningful change in the household penetration of any of these categories compared to the 2008 study done by TABS Group, and by contrast, non-organic products for all of the above categories have household penetration levels of well above 70 per cent. The study found that traditional supermarkets were the preferred outlets for these products, compared to natural food stores, by a margin of 39 per cent to 27 per cent. However, Jetta noted that while there were 50 per cent more organic shoppers at traditional outlets than natural food outlets, there are times more of these outlets. When we see a dynamic that says that it takes a 20-fold increase in store count to generate a 50 per cent increase in buyer count, we conclude that the vast majority retailers with a broad assortment of these products are seeing very low returns on their investment, commented Dr. Jetta. We can only hope that the mainstream retailers and manufacturers stop marching in lockstep to this illusory trend and refocus their efforts on more mainstream categories and products. There is a role for a modest selection of organic products in their store, but they should accept that the natural food markets are better positioned to service the needs of the organic shopper.

5 upcoming events January 2010 Deadline for entries to the Paris Aerosol Awards Visit February 2010 Packaging and Converting Executive Forum (PACE) Plaza Riverbank Hotel, London UK Visit February 2010 The Packaging Conference Las Vegas, NV, USA Visit February 2010 PackTech NEC Birmingham, UK Visit popon.net/events _packaging.asp 9-10 March 2010 Aerosol Forum, Paris, France Visit popon.net/events _packaging.asp March 2010 Approved Persons Course for Thermal Processing of Low-Acid Foods CSIRO Food and Nutritional Sciences, Werribee, Vic. Contact Diana Castree, CSIRO; Tel: (03) , Web: September 2010 Aerosol Rome 2010 FEA Congress and Exhibition, Italy