Here a coffee to go, there a salad packaged in plastic for on the go: According to the Federal Environment Agency, around 19 million tons of packaging waste were generated in Germany in 2018. That's around 230 kilograms per person per year. Trend: rising.
Our mission is to provide you with our ice-cold smoothies, bowls and smoothie bowls at home in the highest quality. However, we want to keep the impact on our environment as low as possible. A real challenge. Believe us: When developing our products, the packaging has given us one or two sleepless nights. We take you on our journey to finding a packaging solution for our products and explain how and why we chose our packaging.
What is environmentally friendly packaging?
The sad truth straight away: There is no such thing as sustainable packaging. Nevertheless, we can make packaging decisions in a way that is most justifiable with our values.
Eco-design and material matrix: These are our steps on the way to optimal packaging
We have developed a packaging process that shows us the direction for the optimal packaging and material decisions - and lets us sleep more peacefully again.
Every packaging is individual. That's why every packaging at Wholey is viewed individually.
The packaging decision process involves several repeating steps and follows eco-design principles. The choice of material throughout the entire design process of packaging development is on the same level as the feasibility and feasibility, function, appearance and shape of the packaging.
- Reuse: In the first step, we try to design the packaging according to reusable principles so that it can be reused.
- Upcycling: If a reusable solution for the product is not feasible, for example due to logistics costs or food safety, we try to design packaging based on the upcycling principle. The packaging can be reused as a new product.
- Recycle: The last alternative for us is to design our packaging according to the design to recycle principle. In other words: to make it easier to recover the packaging materials for further use. We follow the relevant guidelines and work with experts to find the optimal materials.
In order to always find the optimal solution that corresponds to our values, we regularly question decisions. We exchange ideas with partners and challengers, listen, reflect on our findings and adapt the packaging accordingly – and continuously. Our purpose is always the focus: To inspire & educate people about a healthy plant-based diet, so that self-care and awareness become everyone’s new breakfast routine.
But how can we choose the right material for ourselves when there are always trade offs and constantly new findings about materials?
We have developed a material matrix based on our purpose, which we use to evaluate and prioritize the materials and decisions that come into question. The resulting order is: glass, cardboard, plant-based plastic, recycled plastic, monoplastic, composite materials. Once we have found a suitable solution in one of the design steps mentioned above, the matrix is used again to compare the individual producers with each other and decide on the optimal manufacturer of our material for the packaging.
Why do we use which packaging?
So much for theory. Below we would like to transparently explain to you the steps as to why we chose which material and packaging solution for our smoothie, smoothie bowl and shot packaging.
Smoothie Bowls
Our packaging solution: cardboard. Why?
Reuse: As a (still) small company, we were unable to logistically implement all the reusable variants that were possible for our smoothie bowls. because as a food and frozen product, it is not easy to design a packaging that can be reused as packaging.
Upcycling: We were unable to design a bowl packaging that serves a new purpose after use. The problem was always the contact of the packaging with food and the fact that it was a frozen product.
Recycling: Again we were at the point of designing packaging based on ours for optimal recycling. When selecting materials, we therefore followed the design guidelines for recycling. We have already achieved what still needs to be optimized in the packaging of our smoothies with our bowls: Since the requirements for the ingredients are less complex (although at least as versatile), we were able to win over a bottler in 2019 who can produce our bowls in... Fills cardboard boxes with a plastic content of less than 5 percent. Quite a stroke of luck. Our bowl packaging must also meet legal requirements regarding water barriers and food suitability. Together with our partner, we have developed a cardboard box that meets the legal requirements and our Wholey requirements: A composite cardboard whose fiber content in the inner coating is less than five percent. This means that it can be disposed of in paper waste and transferred to the paper recycling process.
With the packaging solution we are taking the first step in the right direction - although we are still looking for a better solution here. Until then, we ensure that the residual plastic contained is obtained from biodegradable and renewable raw materials and have decided on a starch coating.
And yet we are aware that packaging development is never finite. We are currently working more intensively on optimization and are working intensively on the printing ink of the cardboard packaging.
Shots
Our packaging solution: recycled plastic. Why?
Reuse: In contrast to smoothie and bowl packaging, our shot packaging is most suitable for cleaning and then filling new shots. Unfortunately only in theory. Since the production and manufacturing of the ingredients is in Portugal, the reuse approach was unfortunately unachievable due to logistical effort.
Upcycling: Although you can reuse our shot packaging in numerous variations in a different form, we would not – and do not want to – describe this packaging as a classic upcycling product.
Recycling: So we put a lot of thought into the material of the packaging. Our shots are made using the HPP process to preserve vitamins and ingredients. They are exposed to high pressure. Our first choice of material, glass, was ruled out as a material because it would simply break. We were also unable to use cardboard packaging for the liquid product and the associated requirements: all solution variants were composite products that could perhaps be technically separated from each other in theory, but in practice are not properly recycled by any plant in Germany. Our biggest exclusion criterion was the aluminum barrier, which must always be included in Tetra Pak packaging.
So we were again looking for a variant made from plant-based plastic. Our shots have a bottle size of 125 ml. We have not found any packaging made of plant-based plastic in this size that we can finance. And so the idea moved on to a solution made from recycled plastic. And that's exactly what it became. The packaging currently consists of 30 percent rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate). Why only 30 percent? We currently simply have too small purchase quantities. But: We managed to get our producer to switch completely to 100 percent rPET for all of his customers. As soon as the old batch of shot packaging is used up. According to our producer, this should be in the third quarter of 2021. You see: we're sticking with it.
Smoothies
Our packaging solution: polyethylene. Why?
Reuse: As with the smoothie bowls, we were unable to implement all the reusable variants that were possible for our bowls (see Smoothie Bowls ).
Upcycling: All packaging that was considered for upcycling for smoothies all had one crucial exclusion criterion: function. The smoothies are primarily used in the catering sector. Together with our customers, we researched what requirements the employees in the cafés and restaurants have. The answer: Fast packaging was needed. Our upcycling ideas couldn't score points here. Nevertheless, we are still developing new ideas.
Recycling: So we tried to design packaging according to recycling guidelines. It was clear: we want to prevent “littering”. That's why the Switch came up with a bag/disposable solution that is quick to use and easy to put into the recycling system. But which material? Glass fell out because our smoothies are a frozen product. After a long search for a manufacturer, we were unable to use cardboard due to the complexity of the ingredients. (To explain: There are no machines that can fill more than nine ingredients into cartons in exact quantities per gram). The next material in our matrix is plant-based plastic. And we tested that. More specifically, we tested a starch solution that could be composted at home. After the first lab test everything looked very good. But the results of our long-term field test spoiled the joy: Due to the -72°C cold dry ice that we used for shipping during the practical test, the packaging bags tore. So on to the next material: recycled plastic. However, this may only be used in the food sector in certain cases. Unfortunately, our smoothies don't pay for this.
So all we had left was the mono film. This is made of polyethylene (PE). You can dispose of our smoothies in the yellow bin so that they remain in the PE recycling cycle. Although food packaging is not made from it again due to food safety reasons, the recycled PE is reused in many other products.
For now, this packaging solution is the best for our smoothies. We'll stay tuned to find a better solution.
