New Zealand’s Tatua Dairy Company has launched a new range of pouches for its specialty cream products using Ecolean film and pouch system – one of the first times this has been employed in the cream category in the region.
The company’s 1kg Culinary and Whipping Cream, Mascarpone, Cheese Sauce and Sour Cream products, as well as its Cooking Cream, Crème Fraiche, Mascarpone and Sour Cream 500g range, are now packaged in the new Ecolean pouches.
Up to 35 per cent of these pouches are made of chalk, reducing their plastic content while not compromising strength or durability, says Tatua.
In order to reduce the plastic content the Ecolean package consists of up to 35% (by weight) of dolomite a recycled element.
According to Susanne Rolfe, Tatua’s GM of marketing and sales, the new pouches are better for retailers, consumers, and the environment.
“Replacing approximately a third of our plastic use with innovative natural minerals like chalk is a small yet significant step in the right direction.
“We’re the first company in New Zealand to use Ecolean packaging, and it has been approved for soft plastic recycling,” she said.
Rolfe added that the pouches stand up steadily on the shelf, and are resealable, making for less waste.
Mark Easton, sales manager of Ecolean in ANZ, told Food & Drink Business's associate title PKN: "Ecolean packages come ready to fill, pre-converted -- a major point of difference to other products on the market, reducing the need for chemicals and complex sterilisation processes at the customer's site."
"Ecolean filling line solutions are designed to maximise production capacity, minimising downtime while reducing resources and costs such as cost of operation and ownership, increased system profitability and lower environmental impact with less use of electricity, compressed air, water," adds Easton, noting that Ecolean uses no water during the filling processes.
Rolfe points out the user benefits of the pouches: “Because they’re made from thin film, our pouches let you squeeze out every last drop and fold the pouch flat for minimal waste: less than three percent, to be exact. The controlled opening slot and air-filled handle also means the pouch is easy to grip, hold and use – making cooking a breeze.”
Easton says that there has been growing uptake in a number of markets for high viscocity dairy products that would otherwise be packed in a plastic tub. The Tatua cream project is similar to another Ecolean adoption by Mexican dairy firm Alpura.
