Ready to meet the future?
Food producers, co-packers and brands all have a huge variety of food packaging options to choose from, but with more competition on the shelves than ever before, together with rising material costs, it is crucial to make the right choice. Find out how Tetra Recart can drive optimisation across your food business.
Shelf-stable food sales have remained relatively steady in recent years, with most categories showing 1-2% growth, and some, such as the pet food category, growing more than that. However, with rising prices, inflationary pressure and a variety of evolving tastes and trends, food producers need to adapt to a changing consumer landscape. Younger generations in particular are demanding options that are not only healthier and more visually appealing, but also more affordable.
Tetra Recart is an option that can help overcome all these challenges while meeting the modern consumer’s demands.
Cost competitive across the value chain
Tetra Recart enables efficiency and flexibility while delivering a more cost-competitive alternative than traditional packaging options, with the ability to simultaneously produce multiple eye-catching package sizes for various food categories on a single production line.
“Considering the supply chain constraints in recent years heavily affecting traditional canned food packaging, Tetra Recart has become the most competitive solution for shelf-stable food,” explains Artur Dannenberg, Tetra Recart Solution Sales Director EME and Asia at Tetra Pak. “Increasing demand for our solution has allowed us to continuously improve costs across the whole value chain, which means we are able to offer competitive prices in terms of the total solution, including the line itself as well as the overall operating costs.”
"Tetra Recart has become the most competitive solution for shelf-stable food"
Automation and package shape drive efficiency
There have been significant cost increases across supply chains that have been driven by supply disruptions, rising energy prices, and raw material shortages . These increases have put pressure on food producers and retailers alike, impacting shelf prices and tightening margins. In addition to this, there have been mounting challenges from a combination of rising labour costs and labour shortages.
Even in this challenging landscape, Tetra Recart has been able to maintain pricing stability in recent years thanks to its optimised packaging composition and continuous volume growth, while the potential for fully automated production lines can also reduce labour costs and ease concerns over labour shortages.
In addition, the shape of Tetra Recart provides significant logistical advantages compared to traditional round formats, enabling up to 12% more packs per truck for 390 ml packages and up to 50% more for 100 ml packages1 , which can significantly reduce transportation costs.
“We always listen to food producers and try to accommodate their desired cost when they are looking to implement Tetra Recart,” adds Dannenberg. “We align on their needs, jointly identify existing challenges, and find ways to reduce costs and improve profitability, together. With Tetra Recart, we can provide a competitive pricing solution to overcome the hurdle of investment even against existing installed traditional food packaging lines that are fully amortised.”
"We always listen to food producers and try to accommodate their desired cost."
Meet consumer demands on sustainability and convenience
Adding Tetra Recart to your range will offer more benefits in addition to the flexibility, reduced packaging costs and improved bottom line.
“There are so many benefits with Tetra Recart,” says Dannenberg. “For instance, in addition to logistical efficiency, its carbon footprint is lower than the alternatives2 which helps you meet consumer demands related to improving sustainability. People also appreciate the visual appeal, convenience, and user experience, with more than 70% of consumers preferring this package to the alternatives.3 It’s also easy to open, reclose and store, it’s robust, and easy to fold flat after use. We’re convinced that Tetra Recart is the package of the future.”
Tetra Recart can already be used for a wide range of categories like vegetables, soups, beans, tomato preparations and pet food, and the Tetra Recart Food Development Centre (FDC) offers the capability to develop new product recipes either in Tetra Pak facilities or at the customer’s site through a mobile test unit, meaning that producers can work directly with our experts to innovate and improve.
“Every producer has unique production specifications and requirements,” explains Dannenberg. “This is where our Food Development Centre excels, as it empowers producers to achieve their growth plans, meet quality standards and drive product innovation. With deep expertise in consumer behaviour, industry trends, and market demands, we provide a comprehensive solution, guiding producers from initial concept to a fully commercialised product on the shelf.”
"We are convinced that Tetra Recart is the package of the future."
From smooth line installation to market-ready products
“We make line installations as smooth and straightforward as possible for producers,” explains Dannenberg. “Beyond the installation itself, we provide training to ensure producers get the most out of their new line. We also deliver top-tier technical service and engineering, ensuring the line consistently operates at peak performance. In parallel, our product technology expertise helps producers optimise production processes, while our marketing support assists with branding and label adaptation to suit the new packaging format, making products even more appealing to consumers.”
This integrated approach not only simplifies operations for producers, but it also accelerates their ability to bring high-quality, market-ready products to the shelf.
“Our goal is to help our customers grow,” Dannenberg adds, “and by leveraging our technical, engineering, and marketing expertise, we enable them to produce a complete final product more cost-efficiently than alternative solutions.”
"Our goal is to help our customers grow."
How can we help boost your business?
Get in touch with one of our experts to find out more about how Tetra Recart can work for your business. We know every customer has different needs, so we can find the solution that works for you while also reducing your cost per package. It’s the food package that’s great for your product, great for your consumers, and great for business.
1. Based on internal simulations comparing Tetra Recart cartons to cans and jars of equivalent sizes
2. Carbon emissions from Tetra Recart cartons are 85% lower than those of steel cans and 83% lower than glass jars over the lifetime of the respective packages. Source: LCA report, 2020, European market
3. Based on quantitative research during 2014-2018, total of 2,970 RDs who have bought it at least once, covering several continents around the world