Companies constantly innovate with technology and redesign their packaging to get better performance, improve marketability and enhance sustainability. Here’s a look at four recent packaging product launches or redesigns on Packaging Dive’s radar.

Petite paper

Alcoholic beverage company Diageo is testing molded fiber bottles for individual-sized Baileys drinks, as opposed to the brand’s standard glass bottles. The 90% fiber bottle has a thin plastic coating and a foil seal. The bottle is designed to be recycled in conventional paper streams, according to a company news release, and consumers do not have to separate the plastic liner from the fiber portion. Diageo worked with molded fiber company PulPac and PA Consulting to develop the product. 

The initial 2,000-bottle trial for the 80 milliliter “mini” format launched last weekend at Time Out Fest in Barcelona. This is Diageo’s first consumer-facing test for paper bottles. It will give the company insights related to how the bottles travel from the filling site in Ireland as well as consumer interactions with the material and its sustainability attributes.

Ewan Andrew, Diageo’s chief sustainability officer, suggested in the release that this is just a first iteration of the company’s paper container use.

“[W]e’re taking an approach of progress over perfection, knowing our packaging will need to evolve along with consumer needs and technological advancements,” Andrew said. “The consumer is becoming more sustainability savvy and we believe we can meet that need using our design and innovation to bring premium products and more sustainable solutions together.”

Diageo is exploring paper formats across other parts of its beverage portfolio as well, with development and internal tests underway for a paper Johnnie Walker bottle, among other concepts. It’s looking for ways to improve other substrates as well: In March, Diageo announced a limited trial of aluminum bottles for Baileys at some European airports.

Wheat a minute...

Nestlé wants consumers to eat its limited-edition release: a plant-based fork. Food science and packaging experts at its India R&D center worked with a local startup to create a two-piece edible fork made from wheat flour and salt. The cutlery will accompany Maggi cup noodles in India. 

The change is one of Nestlé’s efforts to reduce the use of plastics in packaging, according to a news release.

“Our teams are constantly exploring novel materials and cutting-edge technologies for packaging solutions that are convenient, protect the food inside, and are good for the planet,” Antonia Wanner, group head of ESG strategy and deployment, said in a news release.

Seeking circularity

Beauty and wellness brand L’Occitane en Provence worked with Carbios and Pinard Beauty Pack to develop a PET bottle for shower oil that was made using an enzymatic recycling process. The partners said in a news release that this process reduces reliance on petroleum-sourced plastics while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 57%.

Production of the 100% recycled PET bottle began will a local supply of PET collected in France — including colored bottles and multilayer trays — that currently aren’t recycled with conventional technologies, according to a news release. Carbios’ enzymatic depolymerization process deconstructed the material into its original monomers, which were then made into new resins that Pinard Beauty Pack formed into new bottles via blow molding. The recycled PET bottles were blow molded under the same conditions and with the same parameters as virgin or mechanically recycled PET.

“Today, just over 50% of our PET material is from recycled origin. Thanks in particular to CARBIOS and depolymerization technologies, we will be able to reach 100% by 2027 for all our retail bottles,” David Bayard, R&D packaging director at L’Occitane, said in the release.

Leaf some plastic behind

Green Life Farms changed the packaging for its butter leaf and sandwich leaf lettuces, and the container now has a peel-and-reseal film cover. The new design uses 40% less plastic than the previous packaging and is made from PET, according to a company news release. Green Life Farms says the new format also extends the shelf life of the lettuce.

“We are confident that our customers will love not only the new look but also the functionality of the new packaging, which enhances the freshness and flavor,” Sarah Boone, director of marketing, said in the release.