Let’s be honest. We all have high expectations when it comes to food. We seek exceptional taste, good nutrition, convenience and more. Increasingly, we also want the brands we support to be more responsible. This makes the integration of product and packaging more critical than ever. It means manufacturers and brands face the dual challenge of creating high-quality, better-for-you products while navigating the added complexities of developing more environmentally friendly options, with a crucial role for packaging.

Packaging and sauce innovation

Packaging is more than just a container for sauces; it is a vital component that ensures product quality, safety, and consumer satisfaction. Packaging technologies play a critical role in maintaining the flavour, freshness, and shelf life of sauces while offering user-friendly features that cater to our diverse needs as consumers. It’s also an area with a lot of potential for innovation.

With single-use packaging falling further out of favour, there is considerable opportunity for those willing to think outside the box. However, packaging must still meet the functional needs of a sauce. To address the demands of modern food production, especially in hot-filling processes, using advanced materials that minimize environmental impact while maintaining high standards of quality and functionality is essential.

Example: reduce packaging

A key strategy for sustainable packaging is using less material. The benefits are various: reduced raw inputs equate to lower costs, can shrink the environmental impact of harvesting or producing raw materials, and reduce waste, both in production and for the end user. The weight reduction also improves logistics, lowering your overall costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a strategy that suits many packaging categories, including flexible plastics, rigid plastics, paper and cardboard, and more.

Imagine you own a quick-serve restaurant in the Netherlands, where new Single Use Plastic (SUP) legislation bans the use of rigid cups for serving sauces. How do you now provide a comparable experience for your customers, replicating the convenience and experience for the consumer while maintaining the shelf life? In this single-serve use case scenario, the answer could be our lightweight mono-material recyclable sachet, with the composition expertly chosen to ensure recyclability and retain all the properties of the sauce you and your customers rely on.

Example: recyclable packaging

For flexible packaging, a challenge remains to switch from difficult-to-recycle flexible films to recycle-ready mono-material films without compromising on shelf life, food safety, sensory performance, and other vital functionalities. For rigid packaging, like food containers, lids, and closures, developing or selecting materials that can be sorted and recycled in the most common facilities to make it as easy as possible for the end user continues to be an obstacle to overcome. Also, recycle-ready mono-materials are preferred; using other components can make or break the recyclability of the packaging.

For example, carbon black, frequently used in rigid packaging for colouring. Unfortunately, it poses recycling challenges due to its undetectability in sorting processes. Consequently, packaging that contains carbon black will not be accepted for recycling. To address this, we can replace black closures with white ones for sauce bottles.

At Solina, we recognize that success in the food industry goes beyond knowing what to do. It requires flawless execution based on that knowledge. The challenges faced by food and sauce manufacturers extend well beyond recipes and production.

In an industry where regulations are constantly evolving, staying ahead is essential. We help you navigate these changes, ensuring compliance at every stage. At the same time, technological advancements allow the adoption of new methods that enhance efficiency and quality, areas where our expertise in cutting-edge technologies delivers results. With deep knowledge in ingredients, processing, packaging, and regulatory compliance, we transform innovative concepts into exceptional culinary products. Whether you’re looking for a finished sauce or a sauce component for your product, partner with Solina to innovate with integrated solutions that ensure superior, responsible products every time.