Industry Partnerships and Collaboration; a Fuelling Force in Food Security & Sustainable Development
By Niels Hougaard, Managing Director, Tetra Pak Arabia Area
In the quest for secure food systems and sustainable development, partnerships and collaborations are pivotal. As the food manufacturing and processing industry, a significant player in the global economy, faces mounting pressure to adopt sustainable practices, Tetra Pak, a leader in food packaging and processing, demonstrates how strategic partnerships and collaborations can drive sustainable development into fruition.
Food security and sustainability challenges in the Food & Beverages industry are multifaceted, encompassing environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Addressing these requires a collective effort. Effective waste management, recycling and reduction of climate impact is only possible through collaboration, globally, regionally, and locally. By joining forces, companies can pool resources, share knowledge, and drive innovation more effectively than working in isolation.
Environmental Sustainability
Collaborations between food manufacturers, retailers, and packaging companies can lead to the development of eco-friendly materials and processes. Tetra Pak collaborates with various stakeholders to promote the circular economy. In Europe, a game-changing partnership agreement with Veolia, a global resource management company, to recycle all the components of used beverage cartons collected within the EU by 2025, sees used beverage cartons turned into valuable raw materials. This initiative not only reduces waste but also conserves resources by reusing materials.
On a regional level, Tetra Pak is driving significant progress towards a circular economy and fostering sustainability at every level of society. Tetra Pak works with local recycling companies in Saudi Arabia such as Obeikan Paper Industries (OPI) and Saudi Top Plastics (STP) to enhance recycling infrastructure, ensuring efficient processing of used packaging materials into valuable products, thus diverting cartons from landfills. We have also formed partnerships with local recycling companies in the UAE, such as Union Paper Mills (UPM), a major player in the paper recycling industry in the UAE, to develop systems that ensure the effective collection and recycling of Tetra Pak cartons, contributing to a more sustainable waste management system across the Emirates.
Social Sustainability
Social sustainability is another area where partnerships are vital for the creation of viable food systems. Tetra Pak partners with local governments and NGOs across the world to support community development projects. For example, our collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) aims to improve nutrition and education in underprivileged communities. By providing fortified milk in Tetra Pak cartons to school children, we ensure safe and hygienic delivery of essential nutrients, enhancing both health and educational outcomes.
On the social front, Tetra Pak engages in numerous projects aimed at improving livelihoods and health. Our collaboration with the Global Child Nutrition Foundation supports school feeding programs worldwide. These programs not only provide essential nutrition to children but also encourage school attendance, contributing to long-term societal benefits.
We are also taking effective regional action. In Saudi Arabia, Tetra Pak partnered with the Saudi Food & Dairy Company (SADAFCO), a strategic customer for our business and an industry leader in Food & Beverages, to support the Saudi Green Initiative by driving community-based recycling and sustainability initiatives at grassroots level in schools to promote awareness campaigns and community programs focused on recycling of packaging material. Together with SADAFCO, we rolled out a recycling awareness program with local schools to integrate recycling and sustainability into the curriculum. These programs educate students on the importance of environmental stewardship and practical recycling methods. The program rolled out across 250 schools in the Kingdom, reaching over 125,000 students in public and private schools, who were educated on the importance of their social contribution to the environment, responsible consumption, and on the importance of developing recycling habits.
While in Yemen, Tetra Pak and the Hayel Saeed Anam (HAS) Group have joined forces with the World Food Programme to rethink food crises responses and to support access to safe nutrition in schools. By leveraging our combined product development and manufacturing capabilities, Tetra Pak and HAS have partnered to provide fortified milk for 10,000 children in Yemen, in the first phase of the joint program, thereby seeking to improve the children’s nutritional intake and health while incentivising school attendance, ultimately enabling access to safe nutrition for the children of Yemen and supporting them as they grow physically and intellectually.
And in Iraq, Tetra Pak launched a pilot program with Alssad, an industry pioneer in beverages production, to support the government of Iraq in its efforts to address access to safe and nutritious food in the country. The pilot is a school milk program, where 800,000 students across the public school network in Iraq, receive access to flavoured milk products that ensures they receive their daily intake of nutrition. The program runs across Baghdad and neighbouring cities targeting underprivileged school areas. The pilot started distribution for around 1300 schools at elementary grades 1-6. Thus, by engaging diverse stakeholders, from young students to industry leaders, Tetra Pak is helping create a robust framework for sustainable food systems in the region.
Economic Sustainability
Economic sustainability focuses on creating value while ensuring long-term profitability. Tetra Pak’s open approach to cross-industry collaboration aims to affect a circular economy, implemented by initiatives such as working with local recycling companies and producers. Tetra Pak's partnerships with customers and suppliers are also designed to optimize supply chains, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.
By working closely with dairy farmers, Tetra Pak helps implement sustainable farming practices, improving yield and quality. This not only benefits the farmers economically but also ensures a steady supply of high-quality milk for their packaging solutions.
Most recently, we’ve announced a mega partnership with Ektifa, the commercial subsidiary of the Government of Sharjah’s Department of Agriculture and Livestock in the United Arab Emirates, that will provide high quality, home grown organic dairy products at the Meliha Dairy Plant. Tetra Pak’s sustainability capabilities across our processing equipment, filling lines and innovative packaging have positioned us uniquely and aligned us with the Government’s sustainability goals in powering the first organic dairy plant in the country.
Economic Performance
Economically, Tetra Pak focuses on creating shared value through its end-to-end solutions. Our partnerships with food manufacturers and retailers aim to develop products that meet consumer demands for sustainability without compromising on quality or affordability. By innovating in areas such as aseptic processing, which allows products to be stored without refrigeration, Tetra Pak helps reduce energy consumption and food spoilage across the supply chain.
We continue to explore future opportunities for collaboration, circular economy initiatives and climate action partnerships. Recently, Tetra Pak announced a collaboration with Absolicon, a Swedish solar thermal company, to offer a standardised solution for industrial equipment powered by renewable thermal energy (heat).
This scalable solar thermal module can be integrated with current and new UHT lines to enable a range of decarbonisation options, including a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, based on the customer requirement and location. Tetra Pak’s UHT processing line for high temperature sterilisation of dairy products is the first solution to be offered together with a scalable solar thermal supply, with the potential to reduce fossil fuel usage by up to 40%. The first module is due to be installed this year, before we begin scaling to a worldwide market.
By working together with our stakeholders, Tetra Pak not only enhances its own sustainability performance, but also contributes to broader industry and societal goals. This collaborative approach is essential for addressing the complex challenges of sustainability and ensuring a resilient and sustainable future for the food industry.
