Waitrose switches from glass to carton packs for private label line

SIG Combibloc Inc., a global provider of food and beverage packaging with U.S. operations in Chester, Pa., said Waitrose, a Bracknell, U.K.-based retailer, is changing the packaging for its own label Waitrose passata tomato sauce range from glass jars to SIG Combibloc’s heat resistant combisafe carton pack. The premium food retailer will use SIG Combibloc’s flexible filling technology and the retortable combisafe carton pack for its own label passata with basil and passata with garlic and onion products, changing its 680-gram glass jar to a 500-milliliter combisafe carton pack.

The store brand passata line will be filled by La Doria in Italy on food filling machines from SIG Combibloc. After the products have been filled into the carton pack, which is open at the top, the carton top is sealed ultrasonically. The carton packs are then automatically conveyed into an autoclave. Package and product are sterilized together. In the area of carton packs for long-life food, the use of a rotary autoclave is a world first, delivering optimum temperature distribution inside the carton pack, SIG Combibloc said.

Due to its rectangular shape, Waitrose will benefit from maximized transportation and storage efficiency, and use of shelf space in the supply chain. combisafe carton packs fill up the available space on supermarket shelves around 30 per cent better than food metal cans, and also have high visual impact, the company added.

SIG Combibloc said it offers a complete perforation opening for combisafe, which means the top of the carton pack can simply and safely be torn off by consumers, without the use of scissors. This allows easy pouring and even spooning to remove all contents from the carton pack, hence reducing food waste.

“Switching to SIG Combibloc’s combisafe carton pack means we can now offer our discerning customers a lighter long-life alternative, which also guarantees first-class quality and product protection from our stores to kitchen cupboard storage,” said John Vine, category manager, Waitrose. “The carton pack’s impact on the environment will also be an important factor both to Waitrose and our environmentally aware customers.  The low weight of the carton pack, due to resource-efficient use of raw materials, plus the excellent environmental performance of the unprocessed cardboard, are major factors in why the combisafe carton pack has the best environmental performance.”