Mondelēz International is one of the largest snacks companies in Europe and we produce some of the most loved chocolate, baked snacks, meals, gum, and candy brands such as OREO, belVita and LU, 7DAYS biscuits, Milka, Toblerone and Cote d’Or chocolate, and Philadelphia cream cheese.

Reducing the environmental impact of packaging and tackling plastic waste are key priorities for us. We want to help enable a circular economy where packaging material does not become waste but is recycled or reused

Our makers and bakers live and breathe snacks – and we want to make them right for people and the planet. Our approach is based on reducing the packaging we use, evolving our packaging so that it is designed to be recycled, and using recycled content where we can.

We believe that by continuously improving our packaging and measuring our performance, we can work towards our long-term aim of advancing a more circular economy for packaging.

What is our strategic approach?

Our strategic approach is focussed on three key areas of work that help us design and use packaging that is light and right.

(1) Reducing packaging: Our focus is on reducing the overall footprint of our packaging and designing packaging for consumer reuse and refill where feasible.

Thanks to the slowly increasing availability of new materials, such as recycled content for flexible film in key markets, as well as supply chain adjustments and successful line trials across a complex network of manufacturing facilities we are continuing to make progress. In 2023, we were able to reduce our plastic packaging footprint by about 2.3% versus 2020.

We were also one of the founding business signatories to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF)’s Global Commitment, which unites organizations behind a common vision of a circular economy for plastics.

We were delighted to be singled out in their 2023 Progress Report as the brand that reported the highest tonnage elimination of plastic packaging: over 12,000 metric tonnes.

(2) Evolving our packaging: By evolved packaging we mean designing our packaging to be recyclable and removing challenging materials; and substituting virgin plastic packaging with alternatives including recycled plastic content.

We continue to make meaningful strides in the evolution of our packaging material and all paper and carton board, and some rigid plastics and flexible plastic films are already designed to be recycled.

Our Kvikk Lsunj brand, which is incredibly popular in Norway now uses up to 80% ISCC-certified recycled plastic (through the mass balance principle) in the outer packaging of its multipacks.  This is a major investment to begin using recycled post-consumer plastic and we are aiming to using more as the capacity of advanced recycling technology increases.

(3) Improved systems: Working towards a circular economy will demand infrastructural development, widespread investment, an enabling policy and regulatory environment, and cooperation between multiple stakeholders over the long term.

Collaboration is key, and we are committed to working closely with our peers and other stakeholders, particularly on innovation to replace challenging materials with more sustainable alternatives.

To this end we are active members of several global coalitions which are focused on collecting, sorting and recycling plastic waste; and we also advocate for extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes to include plastic packaging, especially packaging made from flexible plastics.

As an example, we have committed to the Holygrail project, a multi-company initiative run by the European Brands Association (AIM) with the objective of proving the viability of digital watermarking technologies for accurate sorting and the business case at large scale.

We are also an active member of CEFLEX, working with 180 companies along the end-to-end supply chain to make flexible packaging in Europe circular.

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This is the point where dealing with and adjusting to climate change gets even tougher. That’s why this year’s COP28, just like every COP before it, marks a vital time for governments and civil society to take significant climate actions.

For the agri-food chain, the most meaningful action we can take is transitioning to more sustainable food systems. As you can see in FoodDrinkEurope’s latest Data & Trends report (p24), greenhouse gas emissions from global food production amount to one-quarter of the world’s total emissions, with 82% coming from agriculture, 11% from the packaging and transportation of our food, 4% from food processing, and 3% from retail.

As the global data about the agri-food chain shows, cutting emissions in food processing alone won’t even scratch the surface of agri-food emissions. We have to help farmers and enterprises up and down the value chain cut their emissions too and adopt more sustainable practices.

The call for a transition to more sustainable food systems is now an imperative, driven by the pressing need to tackle climate change and ensure the long-term viability of our food supply.

But talk is cheap and we need to confront the costs obstructing change. That’s why FoodDrinkEurope commissioned to Anthesis Group an extensive research into the cost of the transition to more sustainable agriculture. Results take shape of a discussion paper, which we have published today.

Our aim was to calculate the costs associated with moving to more sustainable farming practices and identify the actors or initiatives that would help meet these costs and affect positive change.

Trying to calculate a single number for transitioning all EU farms to a sustainable system is complex, with various factors at play such as the differing landscapes and climates, farming types, agricultural infrastructure, an actor’s will to change, and the amount of funding available at national level.

1) The price of progress: €28-35bn for sustainable agricultural production

Our economic analysis reveals that the cost of transitioning to more sustainable agriculture in the EU is estimated to be in the range of €28-35 billion for the first year. While this may seem like a substantial investment, it’s crucial to view it as a strategic expenditure that will yield long-term benefits for both the environment and the economy.

2) The cost of inaction: a hefty price tag of €50bn annually

Compared to the financial commitment required for a sustainable transition, the cost of doing nothing is far greater. The European Commission estimates that soil degradation alone already incurs an annual cost of around €50 billion. This staggering figure reflects the loss of essential services provided by healthy soil, jeopardising the very foundation of our agricultural productivity.

According to the FAO, failure to address soil degradation has the potential to reduce crop yields by up to 10% by 2050. This not only risks global food security but also imposes significant economic burdens as we struggle to meet the demands of a growing global population.

3) Encouraging discussions around funding opportunities

Our discussion paper also delves into the pivotal question of “who pays?” and explores various funding avenues. Options which could contribute to support the sustainable transition in agriculture include public government funding and private sector investments to initiatives led by the food and drink industry. Financial institutions also play an essential role. The paper contemplates strategies such as adopting the “polluter pays” principle, explores emerging concepts like expanding the voluntary carbon market, or monetizing broader ecosystem services.

Engaging in open discussions around these funding mechanisms can pave the way for innovative solutions and shared responsibility in driving sustainable practices across the agri-food sector.

In Conclusion: A Call to Action for European Policymakers

European policymakers have a unique opportunity to lead the way in supporting the agri-food industry’s shift towards sustainability, not only as a moral imperative but as a strategic investment in our shared future. The financial cost of transitioning to more sustainable food systems is a small price to pay compared to the economic toll of inaction.

By allocating resources wisely and implementing policies that encourage sustainable practices, we can build a resilient food system that not only mitigates environmental risks but also ensures the long-term economic prosperity of our continent. Let us seize this opportunity to invest in a sustainable future, where the agri-food chain thrives, and our planet flourishes. The time for action is now.

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As part of our #FoodFuture project we’re speaking to experts about how to best achieve more sustainable food systems. We spoke to Unilever to find out how they’re tackling food waste in the supply chain.

Food loss and waste is a global crisis with one-third of all food produced globally lost or wasted.  Tackling food waste is an opportunity to address food insecurity, protect natural resources and mitigate climate change – and it requires a holistic approach.

As one of the world’s biggest food producers, we want to protect and preserve food – for everyone across our value chain – starting in our own operations.

A winning mindset starts in our factories

Leadership driven change in culture and mindset has been the key to successful reduction of food waste in several of our factories. This in combination with clear target setting, training of teams as well as digitisation of results to allow for real time monitoring of waste, often lead to not only having less food waste but in many cases better efficiency too.

Our employees in the French factory at Chevigny have been using a tracking platform to bring visibility to operators on largest waste areas, from which loss stratification & counter measures are identified. At the same time, the factory makes sure employees are committed to reducing waste, while cultivating ‘Zero Foods waste’ culture & values. Employees are educated about both environmental & financial impact of foods waste, hence they are motivated to optimize their daily operation. As a result, factory has reduced food waste by 15% in 2022.

A team at the Heilbronn factory, where we manufacture many of our Knorr products, has successfully developed a prototype machine to recover the contents of rejected products, which significantly reduces food waste. In an unprecedented and creative way, a prototype was created – so successfully, in fact, that it is now being manufactured by a professional machine builder and will soon go into production in Heilbronn.

Partnering for a world without food waste

Accurate data is crucial to our food waste reduction programme. We follow the Target-Measure-Act approach from Champions 12.3 to ensure that we’re measuring and managing food waste in a meaningful way. The Global Food Loss and Waste Standard guides our methodology for accounting and reporting on how much food is lost or wasted in our manufacturing operations.

But when it comes to food waste, we view partnership as the new leadership and we’re embracing collaboration with others for change – that includes suppliers, retailers, our peers and governments. We encourage both governments and companies to apply the Target-Measure-Act approach to dramatically accelerate efforts to halve food waste by:

• Adopting explicit food loss and waste reduction targets that align with Sustainable Development Goal target 12.3;
• Developing an EU harmonised approach for measurement and reporting;
• Implementing strategies to tackle food waste from farm to fork, including EU guidelines and training tools to ensure best practices sharing and ensure R&I funds to support and promote circularity as well as in consumer-facing behaviour change campaigns to address household food waste.

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Behind the breakfast on our plates are Europe’s food processors, farmers, retailers, and logisticians working round the clock to keep the food supply chain running day and night.

The fact that food and drink from all corners of Europe can be a part of one’s diet, wherever we may be, is not just a testament to the people who are a part of the agri-food chain but also to the ingenuity of our European Single Market, which allows free and unfettered trade throughout the European Union.

 30th anniversary

The European Single Market was launched on 1 January 1993 and this year marks its 30th anniversary – three decades of open trade across the continent.

Significance for our food supply chains

But why is the Single Market so special and what make it so important for the agri-food chain?

1. Food security: by opening up trade with all 27 EU Member States, the Single Market can help blunt supply chain shocks in times of crisis – as was demonstrated during COVID – and makes it is easier for businesses to find new suppliers, new partners, and new customers for their products.
2. Food sustainability: harmonised EU rules on sustainable food systems for example EU-wide rules for recycled packaging design and waste infrastructure would benefit food packaging circularity. Together with a “food investment and resilience plan” this will create an enabling environment to accelerate the food system transition.
3. Food diversity: the wide range of farmers and producers across the Single Market and the unrestrained access to manufacturing & transport hubs across the continent are a big reason why we are able to source a varied, nutritious and balanced diet year round.
4. Food economy: the free flow of goods acts as a driver of growth not just in the food and drink industry but across value chains. This broadens economic opportunities for enterprises both large and small, builds in flexibility in sourcing, and cements the conditions for adaptability and resilience across the agri-food chain.

 Single Market numbers

In 2022 for example, this trade in food and drink products across Europe amounted to €266bn, bringing a diverse selection of European cuisine to our plates no matter where we are.

In fact, the majority of exports from almost all food and drink sectors are destined for consumers across the EU, through the Single Market, representing almost 90% of total turnover for the industry.

Challenges

Now more than ever though, the Single Market is under increasing pressure from unilateral national barriers and crises in supply chains. All stakeholders in the agri-food chain need to be actively supporting the Single Market and policymakers above all need to help complete it and safeguard it.

Large and small food businesses, including food processors and farmers, face increasing difficulties trading across the Single Market due to unfair trading practices, gastronationalism, and divergent rules across Member States, like in packaging and labelling.

I spoke to one Belgian SME, who faces such barriers in France where buyers are requiring them to source from French pigs only because of the French country-of-origin law, as opposed to local Belgian farms with whom they have trusted and sustainable supplies. Failure to comply means the buyer will refuse their product, even though it complies with EU legislation and is sustainably sourced.

It is barriers like these that mean that the Single Market is still incomplete even today and in some parts tending towards more fragmentation, leaving its full benefits for our economy and our society yet to be fully unlocked.

Policy ask

European policymakers need to take this seriously, especially at a time when we need more co-ordination and co-operation, not less. The recent calls from a number of Member States to dilute the European Commission’s proposal for Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, preferring to keep their own national systems are a wake-up call !

This is what it takes: addressing unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burden across the Single Market, establishing EU harmonised rules where appropriate, confronting mismatches in national standards where they exist, supporting SMEs in accessing the Single Market, and facing down a rising tide of gastronationalism, which some countries use to elevate their own products over those from other countries in Europe.

We call on policymakers to take a more robust and proactive approach in tackling these barriers because we need to safeguard our greatest asset, the Single Market, which for 30 years has driven growth across Europe and the world. And we need to support it for the next 30 years.

For it is the European Single Market that will crucially allow us to unlock our full economic potential and help deliver the transition to more sustainable food systems, uniting Europe as we face the challenges of tomorrow.

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As part of our #FoodFuture project we’re speaking to experts about how to best achieve more sustainable food systems. We spoke to Laurens Van Delft from the European Dairy Association to find out how dairy producers have benefitted and what the next 30 years looks like for the sector.

This year, the EU celebrates the 30th anniversary of its Single Market. This flagship achievement of the EU has been a driver of prosperity and economic growth, not in the least for our European dairy industry which is the economic backbone of rural Europe and beyond.

Our 12,000 processing sites across Europe are partnering with more than 650,000 well-trained and committed dairy farmers on a daily basis. They are providing more than 300,000 direct jobs in the milk processing industry, of which 45,000 are directly linked to dairy exports in third countries. The market integration under the Single Market has played a pivotal role in accelerating this economic development, to the benefit of small and medium-sized enterprises, global players, and our European rural community as a whole.

One of the main benefits is the removal of trade barriers within the EU, allowing for the free flow of goods, services, capital, and people. This has enabled dairy processors to access larger and more diverse markets, increasing competition and driving innovation in the sector – and has also opened more options for dairy farmers to sell their milk.

Additionally, the EU internal market has provided a level playing field for dairy processors, ensuring that all players in the market are subject to the same rules and regulations. This has reduced the risk of unfair competition and encouraged the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector.

The EU internal market has also facilitated the harmonization of food safety standards, ensuring that all dairy products produced within the EU meet the same high standards of quality and safety. This has increased consumer confidence in the sector and has opened new export opportunities for European dairy processors, increasing their competitiveness and helping to secure their future growth.

The end of the milk quotas has been another boost for the Single Market, as it has improved market transparency and orientation.  Increased market transparency is key since it will allow all players in the dairy sector to take the right business decisions and to better manage the price and cost volatility, which is and has always been a natural market phenomenon.

Recently we have been confronted with the impact of the sanitary/COVID-19 crisis. While large parts of the economy came to a sudden standstill, the dairy sector made every effort possible to keep shelves and fridges stocked in Europe. The designation of milk and dairy as an essential sector and the associated EU measures have helped substantially in maintaining functioning supply chains across regions and borders. Our well-functioning Single Market has been essential in doing so. 

All of the above doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels, as we see new barriers for our Single Market looming on the horizon.

As dairy industry we agree that animal welfare labelling, environmental labelling, front of pack nutrition labelling or origin labelling are today a market reality. The European dairy industry has already proven its global leadership towards more sustainable agri-food practices and such new initiatives could be done without setting huge barriers within the Single Market. But we can’t accept policies that undermine the Single Market and only lead to higher costs without any environmental benefit. The barrage of EU, national and private initiatives on simplified nutrition and on origin labelling that is being launched are simply putting an end to the Single Market for our industry. Let alone the fact that these initiatives have an anti-livestock and anti-dairy resonance in common, from  the revision of the EU School Food Scheme, the Promotion Policy to all the labelling initiatives.

The only way forward is a science-based and harmonised system at EU level. I am confident that such an approach can lay the foundations for another 30 years of our successful Single Market. 

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As part of our #FoodFuture project we’re speaking to experts about how to best achieve more sustainable food systems. We spoke to Luc Hendrickx, Director General of SMEunited, to understand how the Single Market supports small businesses around Europe.

During the last 30 years, a lot has been achieved in the European Single Market. Now at least SMEs are receiving attention while in 1992 this certainly was not the case,

At the time 300 harmonisation measures and additional liberalisation directives were approved without the involvement or consultation of SMEs. That SMEs were not taken into account was also due to the fact that there was no strong SME representation at EU level. This has led to a huge liberalisation wave which abolished national legislations which ensured a level playing field for all businesses, big and small, with nothing to replace these legislations. In addition the abolishment of some “barriers” was often in the interest of only a minority.

Through trial and error, our SMEs had to adapt to this environment often paying a high price. This in contrast to some sectors which are considered international and cross-border by nature, but after all these years are still extremely nationally structured such as telecom, energy, banking and insurance sector.

Luckily, we are seeing the end of the liberal concept of the Single Market with recent proposals such as the Business to Platform Regulation, the DMA and DSA, the Data Act and the Late Payment Directive.

Nobody can deny that the European single market is also of great geopolitical value. It provides the strategic basis that ensures prosperity and makes us, Europeans, play in international forums. So there is certainly no intention to tamper with its functioning.

However SMEs often question the balance between costs and benefits stemming from the Single Market. Existing rules are not sufficiently implemented and enforced. Harmonised rules are put at the highest level, protecting consumers and the environment and turning Europe into an island at a global level. Furthermore, gold plating at national level creates unnecessary burdens for SMEs and adds to regulatory differences between Member States, which increase entry barriers for SMEs.

However the functioning of the Single market needs urgently to be improved by ensuring an enabling environment for SMEs. Legislation should be conceived with the smallest enterprises in mind and after a thorough SME test. The trickle down effect of legislations and the cumulative effect on SMEs must be taken into account. Also, e-government is still not well developed and could significantly reduce red tape, as well as the generalised introduction of the “once-only” and the “one in-X out” principles.  

The role of standards as the foundation of the Single market should not be forgotten. Harmonised standards are extremely important for SMEs as they rely on their availability to show the conformity of their products with EU legislation, as it is often too expensive to use alternatives. However, there is still room for improvement to ensure the effective representation of SMEs in the European and international standardisation process.

SOLVIT, the informal problem-solving mechanism, can quickly and easily help in 80% of cases where companies are prevented from carrying out their legitimate business activities in other Member States within the single market due to misapplication or failure to implement EU law by public authorities. SMEunited asks the European Commission to grant preferential treatment for the remaining 20% of unresolved SOLVIT cases.

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As part of our #FoodFuture project we’re speaking to experts about how to best achieve more sustainable food systems. We spoke to UNESDA, Soft Drinks Europe, to find out how the European Commission’s latest packaging regulation will affect the sector’s circular economy ambitions.

The European Commission’s proposal for an EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation finally came out last November. This proposal reflects the strong ambition of the EU to reduce packaging waste and accelerate the transition to a circular economy.

The European soft drinks sector, represented by UNESDA, fully supports the EU’s objective of driving packaging circularity forward. Our sector is on a journey towards delivering fully circular soft drinks packaging by 2030: UNESDA aims to reach 100% recyclable soft drinks packaging and use an average of 50% recycled content in PET bottles by 2025. UNESDA has also pledged that by 2030 we will achieve at least 90% collection for all our packaging (plastics bottles, metal cans and glass bottles), use only PET bottles made from 100% recycled and/or renewable material and increase the offer of reusable beverage systems.

While we remain steadfast in our commitment to make our packaging fully circular, we cannot do it alone. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation has a crucial role to play in providing our sector with the right enablers to help us fulfil our circularity commitments. We are supportive of this Regulation, but we should acknowledge the complexity of regulating at EU level without understanding the various local realities across Europe, in particular in areas such as Deposit Refund Systems and reusable packaging.

We have put forward suggestions for crucial improvements to be implemented in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation to make it more supportive. Here’s what we propose.

Amendments needed to the minimum requirements for efficient Deposit Refund Systems

It is positive that the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation supports the wider rollout of Deposit Refund Systems (DRS) and recommends minimum requirements to ensure they are well-designed. However, some key elements necessary for the set-up of new efficient DRS across Europe are still not included in the Regulation, such as the need for the DRS to be run by the industry participating in the DRS and the need for an exemption from “composition” labelling for packaging covered by a DRS. The latter will avoid consumer confusion as, in the case of packaging covered by a DRS, the only relevant information to allow the consumer to dispose of its packaging correctly is the DRS label or marking itself.

Another essential condition that needs to be created in the minimum requirements is a fair access right to recycled PET for beverage companies financing the DRS. This legal instrument will ensure that beverage packaging collected via the DRS is used in priority in new beverage packaging as a way to prevent its downcycling and comply with the mandatory recycled content targets set out in the Single-Use Plastics Directive and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

How can the proposed recycled content targets be achieved? Only with a fair access right to the necessary feedstock

High-quality recycling of food-grade material is the way forward to maintain a closed-loop and reach full circularity of beverage packaging, and both our sector and the NGO community are in agreement that it needs to be further promoted.

We know that downcycling of PET coming from beverage bottles is a major issue with an estimated 69% of PET beverage bottles getting transformed into other non-food products – like polyester textiles (60%), automobile or toys -, without the possibility of being recovered and recycled back into new bottles. This results in a considerable shortage of food-grade PET for our sector.

Without the necessary access to food-grade recycled material it won’t be possible for the beverage industry to meet the mandatory EU recycled content targets and its own voluntary commitments (50% by 2025 and up to 100% by 2030), whilst complying with EU food safety requirements.

That’s why the EU should create a fair access right to recycled feedstock and promote high-quality recycling in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. It will enable all beverage manufacturers to have the necessary access to the food-grade recycled material issued from the packaging they put on the market and which was successfully collected. This will be particularly helpful for SMEs, which represent 95% of the beverage industry, and are particularly at risk of not complying with their legal obligations without a support mechanism in place.

Make it work: a realistic integration of more reusable solutions

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation includes targets to increase reusable beverage packaging and refill with the aim of reducing packaging waste. Our sector fully supports the EU’s goal to increase reuse and refill and we are already offering several solutions, from refillable bottles to home dispensers.

However, our ability to reach those goals relies on how those targets are designed and whether the necessary enablers are in place.

The integration of more reusable options on the European market needs to be done properly. We must not underestimate the significant costs and changes in manufacturing, bottling, logistics, distribution and retail that the transition to more reuse will imply. A PwC study for UNESDA estimates a cost of more than €16 billion to achieve 10% refillable PET by 2030 in the EU. More importantly, we need to ensure that the investments made result in a positive environmental outcome.

This brings us to the question of how the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation should promote the integration of more reusable packaging in a realistic way. If targets are being set in each Member State, a thorough environmental and economic impact assessment, not only at EU level but also at the national level, is required. The current impact assessment of the European Commission just fails in this regard.

It is our belief that the reuse targets should provide the necessary flexibility to invest where reusable solutions make more sense than their single-use recycled counterpart from an environmental perspective. Targets set on each manufacturer, each final distributor and in each Member State are too prescriptive as to where investments need to be made and do not guarantee a positive environmental outcome.

Furthermore, we consider that the targets should cover the full scope of reusable and refill solutions available on the EU market, including refill-at-home solutions, because all of them will contribute to reducing beverage packaging and packaging waste.

Lastly, the timing to develop the methodology for the calculation of reuse targets is currently set for December 2028 while the first targets are due by 2030. How achievable is this? The methodology needs to be defined as soon as possible and at least 5 years ahead of the deadline to achieve the targets to allow our sector to plan its investments.

Improving the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is key to putting us on the path to fully circular beverage packaging. We will continue collaborating with EU decision-makers to create the necessary supportive legislative conditions to get the future of beverage packaging right.

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As part of our #FoodFuture project we’re speaking to experts about how to best achieve more sustainable food systems. We spoke to ACE, the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment, to see how the beverage carton industry is pioneering sustainable packaging.

The EU bubble is putting a lens directly on the Commission’s Green Deal agenda following the publication of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) proposal. Perhaps none more so than the beverage carton industry whose products provide a safe, circular and sustainable packaging solution for your everyday milk, juice and other food items.

Starting from their inception, beverage cartons are a crucial type of packaging. Beverage cartons comply with the overarching safety requirements of the EU and come with a Declaration of Compliance (DoC) towards various regulatory or industry standards. Thanks to their protective and recyclable barriers, they allow for longer shelf life, protection of food and prevention of food waste. This is particularly important for sensitive products such as milk and juice, especially when we consider that ~75% and 59%[1] of milk and juice (respectively) is packaged in beverage cartons in the EU, for example. Add to that the fact that beverage cartons are on average made of 75% of fibres and that they have the lowest carbon footprint in their category of milk and juice packaging[2], and you find yourself with a strong case to promote the use of beverage cartons as a sustainable packaging solution.

Beverage cartons are already recycled at scale in Europe, 51% in 2019[3], with the industry committing in their Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond to achieve at least a 70% recycling rate, verified by third parties, and produce beverage cartons only from renewable or recycled materials. Beyond that, the industry has continued to support their commitment to beverage carton recycling by investing over 200 million euros in Europe (with another 120-150 million planned on top) to support the recycling of all components of beverage cartons[4].

However, the ambitions of the industry must be supported by legislation to become a reality. What does not get collected, does not get recycled. This is why the industry is calling for the European Commission to set a mandatory 90% collection target for beverage cartons. Existing national collection targets have demonstrated that they provide the needed predictability for investments and allow for quality recycling.

Without a target, there could be an unsolicited push in the market towards greater use of substitute packaging leading to more plastic waste and greater CO2 emissions. It would also secure a level playing field between all packaging materials (the single use plastic directive mandates a 90% collection of PET bottles by 2030).

The time is now to ensure that proper measures are taken to not only protect, but also promote sustainable and innovative packaging solutions such as beverage cartons. So next time you take a sip of juice or pour your kids a glass of milk, think of how much of a difference that beverage carton makes in your everyday life.

1 Roland Berger: Impact assessment study of an EU-wide collection for recycling target of beverage cartons (2022); 2018 Liquid Fruit Market Report
2 Circular Analytics: Supporting evidence – Environmental performance of beverage cartons (2020)
3 Based on the existing calculation method according to which recycling is accounted to the predominant material; EC Decision 2005/270.
4 Roland Berger: Impact assessment study of an EU-wide collection for recycling target of beverage cartons (2022)

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Close your eyes for a second and think about what good food and drink looks like – what do you see?

Maybe you thought of something from your childhood, a classic recipe, a cherished memory?

Perhaps it was a delicate pastry or a hearty stew.

Good food comes in many shapes and sizes. It supports your health, your lifestyles, the environment, food security, and jobs.

Good food for you

Are you a vegan? Vegetarian? Flexitarian? Pescatarian? Meat eater? Or perhaps all of the above depending on the day.

Whatever your diet, and whatever your reasons for choosing it, you need the food and drink products that enable it.

You might want cow’s milk on your cereal, or a plant-based alternative.

You might want to treat yourself with a bar of chocolate or dried apricots.

And you might be inclined to warm yourself with a hot cup of coffee or tea.

That’s all to say that good food supports your diet; good food supports your choices.

Food that saves you time

Imagine having to make your own fresh pasta and sauce tonight after work… from scratch.

If you’re a gifted cook it might take you under an hour but dried pasta and a ready-made sauce can give you a delicious meal in half the time, leaving you more time to do something else in your day.

Maybe you do have time tonight and want to cook from scratch. That’s great – especially if it means more fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet!

But you’ll probably need flour for your freshly-made pasta, some dried herbs for seasoning, and maybe a splash of wine for the sauce.

Want to turn it into a ragù? You’d best head down to the butchers then for a cut of meat… or just get that packet of minced meat out the fridge.

Good food provides you with convenience when you need it most.  

Food that makes you smile

Whether it’s the refreshing relief of an after-work beer or the smile on a child’s face when their birthday cake arrives – good food and drink are a pleasure.

It’s the pride of an artisan, the cultural heritage that’s part of who we are.

Europe is a melting pot of amazing food. From German sausage, French cheese, Greek yoghurt, Belgian beer, to Italian pasta, and much much more.

Good food is a pleasure; good food is in our culture.

Good food for your health

Of course, good food looks like fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, and pulses. But there’s more to a healthy food system than just raw food.

Some foods can be fortified to add micronutrients – vitamins, minerals and others – to support your health.

Did you know that fortifying foods with vitamin D can help prevent common nutritional deficiencies, particularly in the winter months in some European countries? Milk is often fortified with vitamin D.

Vitamin B12 is one nutrient that vegans find hard to access with their animal-free diets and is therefore added to many vegan products as well.

In some parts of the world in fact, food fortification is a lifeline where diets are low on nutrients. For example, vitamin A is the leading cause of preventable blindness and stunted growth in children under five years old. Food manufacturers add it to flour, milk and dairy products, and plant-based fats too.

Good food provides these vital nutrients.

Find out more about the food processing industry’s efforts to fortify food in the fight against malnutrition below:

Food that’s safe

In our early beginnings, humans started using fire to make ‘good’ food: safe and edible.

Today, we still use heat to destroy harmful pathogens that spoil food, and other methods to remove certain natural toxins, such as aflatoxins found on agricultural crops like maize and peanuts.

Food is not good if it’s not safe. And if it’s not safe, it’s not food.

Food with reduced salt, fat, sugar…or not

For some individuals looking to cut down on their consumption of fat, salt, or sugar, good food might look like a low-fat cheese spread, semi-skimmed milk, or low- and no-sugar drinks, where innovations help to maintain taste and texture for discerning consumers.

Of course, good food can equally be the full fat and sugar versions – as long as it fits into a healthy and balanced diet that takes into account portion size and moderation.

Good food suits you.

Food for special diets

Good food can also be those foods which are made for special dietary needs. For example, allergen-free foods for people with lactose and gluten allergies or intolerances, or nut allergies.

Other examples of good food that enables special diets includes:

• Baby formula for women that are unable to or choose not to breast feed their children, and even special formulas for babies with unique medical needs.
• Sports drinks and energy bars to aid recovery and hydration during exercise.
• Specialised nutritional products to meet specific needs of patients recovering from serious illness.

Good food leaves no-one behind.

Good food for the environment

Globally, if food waste was a country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and the US. This is a huge waste of resources.

Good food can therefore be food that lasts longer on our shelves, adding convenience and reducing food waste.

Bread, ham, and cheese are examples of products that can use antioxidants, cultures, and texturisers to stay on our shelf for longer and ensure a safe and secure food supply.

Canned, dried, and frozen fruit and vegetables are another great example of how we can provide consumers with highly nutritious foods that won’t rot or spoil any time soon.

Food that supports your values

Increasingly, consumers are choosing their diet based on the impact their food and drinks have on the environment.

Good food gives consumers this choice, catering for vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians, pescatarians, meat eaters and all others alike.

Food that uses waste

Speaking of the environment, consumers, supermarkets, chefs, and food processors are making use of foods that would have gone to waste.

By taking advantage of (ugly) fruit and vegetables that consumers don’t want or by using every part of the foodstuff, from peels to seeds and leaves, we can develop new products and safeguard resource value.

In addition, one sector’s waste can be another sector’s raw material. Think of orange peels to make essential oils or oat husks to create green electricity, for instance.

Good food helps reduce waste and unlock a Circular Economy.  

Good food for nutrition security

Food and drink are a fundamental part of life but sometimes people are unable to access what they need.

Good food is therefore food that is available during hardship.

To take a recent example, look at the food trucks going to Ukraine that have been loaded with infant formula, cereals, long-life milk, canned fruits and vegetables, tea and coffee, pasta and rice.

To take another example – good food is food that helped us get through the worst of the Covid pandemic. Think of your shelves at the height of Covid-19. Were they as packed with dried, canned, and long-life foods as mine?

Good food helps us through a crisis.

Good food for good jobs

Finally, good food – all described above – provides jobs and enriches our local communities.

Think of your local farmer, or the nearest butcher and baker, or of a small food manufacturing business or retailer.  

Good food provides jobs that are the beating heart of many communities from farm to fork, both rural and urban.  

Indeed there are 10 million farmers supplying 294,000 food manufacturing businesses that employ 4.6 million people in Europe. And 99% of these businesses are small and medium-sized themselves.

In fact, the food and drink processing industry buys some 70% of all EU agri-food produce.

Good food supports local communities.

Food processing for good

You may have noticed the common thread in this article.

Every single example of good food mentioned here, is provided by the processed foods industry.

It is good, processed food that supports your lifestyle choices, provides access to essential nutrients, enables environmentally-conscious choices, provides food security, and enriches our culture and communities.

Essential though the processed foods sector is, our industry also has significant health and environmental challenges to tackle.

That’s why FoodDrinkEurope recently launched its Action Plan for Sustainable Food Systems, to help the food and drink industry continue to provide good food while also moving towards net-zero emissions by 2050, fully sustainable packaging, and an ever-healthier Europe.  

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Take a tomato.

As soon as you’ve chopped it, your food processing journey has begun. Add a few more steps into the process in your kitchen and you have tomato soup. Or give it to a food manufacturer, with a few other crucial ingredients, and they can create and bottle a tomato sauce that can live safely on your shelf for months.    

Indeed, food processing is any method used to turn agricultural produce and ingredients into edible, safe, and nutritious food and drink. This can involve heating, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, packaging and many more methods.

During food processing, manufacturers can make foods in many different ways by adding ingredients, to enhance flavour, to maintain good taste and texture, and extend shelf life.

Food processing can also improve the nutritional quality of the food, by adding vitamins and minerals, reformulating existing products to be more nutrient-dense, and bringing innovative products to the market.

Almost all foods require processing to some degree to be digestible (such as grains), safe (such as pasteurised milk) or available all year round (such as canned, dried or frozen fruit and vegetables).

By using scale for good, manufacturers can reach many more consumers, keeping food affordable while minimising per capita impacts.

It’s important to remember that humankind has been processing food for thousands of years, for example by using fire to cook meat, pickling or salting fish, drying herbs, or fermenting vegetables and beer. 

And if you think about it, we are all still food processors today. Most of us chop, slice, grate, season, mix, cook or bake ingredients and foods in our kitchens every single day.

We all buy processed foods to stock our shelves and fridges, and we all eat processed foods when we visit restaurants, cafes, and bakeries.

In short, food processing, whether at home or at industrial scale, is central to our daily lives and an integral part of our relationship with food and drink. 

For FoodDrinkEurope‘s next article in the series, we will ask: What does good food look like? Check our feed for updates!

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