Tetra Pak looks to the future with innovations in ESL dairy packaging

By Alyssa Mitchell

Photo courtesy of Tetra Pak

TETRA TOP — One of Tetra Pak’s primary offerings for extended-shelf-life beverages is the Tetra Top, a premium package that combines the functionality and performance of a bottle with the sustainability benefits of a carton.

Photo courtesy of Tetra Pak

TETRA PAK A3/COMPACTFLEX — Tetra Pak’s A3/CompactFlex is a filling machine for packaging of liquid food in Tetra Prisma Aseptic or Tetra Brik Aseptic cartons. It can handle a capacity of 7,500-9,000 packages per hour and features a compact design.

DENTON, Texas — Long available overseas, aseptic and extended-shelf-life (ESL) dairy beverages are starting to make inroads in the U.S. market as stakeholders along the supply chain seek increased efficiencies and flexibility in packaging, shelf life and food safety.

Tetra Pak — a Switzerland-based packaging provider with U.S. headquarters in Denton, Texas — has been a leader in this space for some time, first in Europe and now in the United States. The company offers a full portfolio of ESL and shelf-stable packages for the U.S. dairy market, predominantly ranging between 8- and 48-ounce sizes, says Mathew Rutz, vice president of contract manufacturing U.S. and Canada for Tetra Pak.

• Innovative offerings

One of Tetra Pak’s primary offerings is the Tetra Top, a premium package that combines the functionality and performance of a bottle with the sustainability benefits of a carton. The carton bottle for premium chilled products is available in a comprehensive range of shapes and sizes, from portion pack to family size, for both at-home and on-the-go consumption. It also delivers differentiation opportunities with colorful, creative branding and package designs.

“We see this as a great sustainable offering compared to other quarts and pints in the market,” Rutz says. “It’s a renewable package made with renewable material and formed with a one-step opening and resealable cap.”

He adds that Tetra Top is a flexible choice from a machine perspective.

“It’s one of our most flexible filling platforms,” he says. “It’s new to the U.S. market and very innovative in its design.”

Tetra Pak notes that carton packages deliver natural light protection, which is important when considering dairy products and their shelf life. Their carbon footprint also typically is lower when compared to equivalent, fossil-based plastic packaging, and their shape adds to distribution efficiency — square or rectangular shapes are more efficient to stack, store and transport compared to circular or oval-shaped plastic bottles or pouches.

While the Tetra Top package has to be refrigerated, it boasts a 100-day shelf life, making it an attractive option for various retailers and foodservice providers.

Tetra Top is available to brands who want to work in a co-manufacturing relationship, such as Suntado LLC, a new vertically integrated plant that recently came online in Burley, Idaho.

“Suntado is working with us on both ESL and aseptic. We supply the packaging and the equipment to enable the extended shelf life of the product and packaging,” Rutz says.

Meanwhile, Tetra Pak’s Tetra Brik Aseptic 1-liter Edge packaging is a shelf-stable offering that can hold low-acid products for more than six months.

“That’s something we see growing in traction in the chilled section in retail as well as foodservice,” Rutz says, noting that while the package does not have to be chilled, it typically is offered to consumers in a chilled environment.

One offering gaining traction in an 8-ounce size is Tetra Prisma Aseptic 250 Edge, an aseptic milk or plant-based beverage package designed for on-the-go consumption. Rutz notes it’s an ideal option for kids since it’s easy to pour from and features an easy open-and-close design. It also features an ergonomic, space-saving design that offers optimal efficiency.

An additional offering is Tetra Brik Aseptic 250 Base Leaf, another 8-ounce package making inroads into shelf-stable school milk.

Rutz notes school milk is one of the primary opportunities for ESL and aseptic packaging, and something Tetra Pak is increasingly focused on for the U.S. market — getting milk to that next generation of consumers.

“School milk is a growing business for the industry, not just Tetra Pak,” he says. “The idea and purpose to provide shelf-stable milk is to reduce deliveries and to go further distances, build up inventories and more.”

If schools shut down, operators traditionally had a product that would last only 16-20 days, so these products help to create flexibility and reduce deliveries without impacting cost to the schools — rather, they can reduce management and handling logistics at the schools, Rutz adds.

Meanwhile, for consumers at home, aseptic and ESL packaging options make food safe and available for a longer period of time.

“These offerings create more flexibility to build more stocks at home and have a product that lasts longer,” Rutz says. “We see more and more that U.S. households are changing, and what we see as a product of that is a demand at retail for smaller than half gallon formats at home. Shelf stable enables that capability.”

He adds that today’s consumers increasingly are looking for sustainable options in what they buy, and they’re pressuring retailers and brands to offer those options.

“You’re connecting to that modern consumer expecting and making purchase decisions based on a sustainable package,” he says.

• The future of the supply chain

While the United States has been slower to embrace aseptic and ESL beverages compared to its global counterparts, these products are one solution to the increasing number of disruptions seen across today’s supply chain.

U.S. dairy companies historically may have been more regional in their operations where milk and finished products did not have to travel as far. At the same time, many logistical factors that previously may have been cost-effective and readily available no longer are — such as chilled warehousing, truck drivers and more, Rutz notes.

“Post-pandemic, we see more of a nationwide network with nationwide operations, and milk supply being provided outside of those old regional lines,” he says.

“I think supply chain disruption is somewhat of a new norm, and what shelf stable enables, outside of just the cost of providing that product, is being able to have the flexibility and ability to weather those storms of disruption that hit the industry,” Rutz says. “This is one way you can be enabled to build up inventory.”

He adds that there are increased access opportunities with the transportation flexibilities that ESL products provide — not only across the United States, but around the world.

“There are producers on both sides of the country with these capabilities,” he says.

The economics also have shifted, Rutz notes.

“Being able to provide shelf-stable milk 10 years ago was a costly endeavor — today in many cases, it can be done even cheaper than its traditional counterpart,” he says.

He’s quick to add, however, that the level of complexity in technology and operations is a factor when implementing ESL and aseptic offerings into a production line.

“There is a requirement that the operations and the employees level up to that new technology, and that creates a learning curve that’s important to plan for,” he says. “At Tetra Pak, we do support our customers to prepare them for the things they need to train for and the skill sets they need to have.”

It’s also not uncommon now to find manufacturers packaging both traditional and shelf-stable beverages, Rutz says.

“They can push efficiencies through the plant and build up inventories, extend their runs and use their assets with fewer cleaning cycles, but the challenge is a mindset change in order to accommodate that,” he says. “It’s beneficial to look at their production strategy and quality practices to maximize what their equipment and technology can enable them to do.”

Ultimately, embracing aseptic and ESL options in dairy beverages creates a longer product shelf life, which helps to eliminate waste, Rutz says.

“Less product wasted means more consumption by consumers,” he says.

CMN

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