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I have been responsible for marketing PLA (corn resin) plastic bottles for approximately five years, and I’ve been attending the Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Expo for four. Each year, I follow the progress of NatureWorks, the maker of IngeoTM PLA resin, which is used for everything from shrink films to disposable silverware to vitamin bottles. PLA, or polylactic acid, is a compostable material that meets ASTM 6400, a standard established by the Biodegradable Products Institute.

Although my working knowledge of PLA is somewhat limited to rigid plastic bottles, my consumer experience with the bioresin includes the much-criticized Sunchips bag, which apparently creates more decibels of noise than the average subway train.

The noise is interesting, but not necessarily surprising when I think about how we used to tell which bottles in our trade show booth were traditional clear plastic, and which were PLA: We’d flick our fingers onto the bottom of the bottles, and if we heard a dull thump, we knew the bottles were PET plastic. However, if we heard a more high-pitched “clink,” we knew it was PLA.

Packaging, Sustainable Packaging

April has been dominated by a single issue: Save the Earth. But at the end of a month filled with so many Earth-friendly themes, I am left wondering if most people understand which of their actions are really sustainable and which ones simply make them feel better about what they consume.

My month started with a trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, for the Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Expo. For each of the past five years, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs have invited over 100 packaging suppliers who offer sustainable packaging solutions to their key suppliers.

Last week, the nation celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

And this week, I wrapped up the month by participating in a bioresin survey from Iowa State University.

A Wal-Mart winner: A package redesign by Body Fortress allows it to fit the same volume of protein powder in a canister that uses 30% less plastic.

The Wal-Mart Expo was notable for its many admirable materials and technologies that have little practical chance of succeeding in Wal-Mart’s “cost-neutral” business model. The room was full of vendors — manufacturers of plastic and aluminum bottles, paperboard, pallets, films and thermoformed trays — who all offer legitimate sustainable solutions. But the fact is that many of these solutions still come at a price premium, especially those products that contain some or all recycled materials or are made from bioresins. Wal-Mart is hoping that by mandating use of sustainable materials through its Packaging Scorecard, that the volumes they support will drive down prices for recycled feedstock. Eventually, that may happen. But for now, the only viable sustainable solutions that meet Wal-Mart’s cost-driven mantra are those that cost the same or less than the packaging they replace.

The Iowa State University survey was more proof that sustainable solutions — particularly bioresins — are having trouble gaining traction. The survey sought to find out why companies making products from bioresins (which in this country, are primarily corn-based) are making these products, what challenges they have encountered making them, and what barriers would need to be removed in order to have bioresins succeed on a large scale. Overall, the survey was well-designed and seemed to consider most of the factors that impact this young industry (cost, supply, certifications, government support and subsidies). However, I was somewhat surprised that “performance” was not among their list of potential barriers to large-scale adoption.

All of April’s activities (except for the horrific oil spill in the Gulf Coast) demonstrate steps in the right direction for the environment. Maybe by the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we’ll have options for recycled packaging and bioresins that are not only at cost parity with traditional plastics, but also outperform them.

Packaging, Sustainable Packaging

Last year, you could hardly walk through Natural Products Expo West without consuming at least one beverage shot that promised to boost your energy. But this year, whether it’s because of a return to wholesomeness or a fascination with Lindsey Lohan, “milkaholics” can find dairy products that solve a whole host of problems. As a bonus, they almost always have clever branding and interesting packaging to draw you into the booth.

Do your children like bugs? Then they will love Lifeway ProBugs Organic Whole Milk Kefir. It’s a drinkable dairy product with probiotics (the “friendly bugs” – or bacteria – found in the stomach that boost the immune system) and great flavors like Sublime Slime Lime. Lifeway Kefir increases the level of good bacteria in the digestive systems of children and also promotes overall healthy digestion, and its colorful plastic pouches with funny bug illustrations make them an appealing Gogurt-like drink with added benefits.

Does your dog like frozen yogurt? Regular frozen dog treats are made mostly from water, dried whey, soy flour and animal fat. But yoghund frozen yogurt treats are not only made from real yogurt – they  too have probiotics (or Yobiotics) to ensure the digestive health of your canine. First developed by dog boarders who saw common tummy troubles in canine guests, they can be given as a daily treat to enhance pets’ digestive and immune health. Also for dogs, Nature’s Milk offers a series of goat milk products – from protein-rich bite-sized bones to an entire line of goat’s milk shampoos and wipes – that are allergen-free for sensitive dogs.

Do you like ice cream too? All-natural dairy snacks from Late July Organic Snacks include its yummy Limited Edition Peppermint Chocolate Covered Sandwich Cookies. Late July’s evocative packaging shows a young child on an idyllic beach picnic with his family, and represents that “carefree time of year when your worries are a million miles away. A time so special it should only be paired with healthful, eco-friendly snacks that offer families the carefree choices they deserve.”

At the opposite end of the all-natural scale, Manitoba Harvest has a chocolate milk made not from dairy sources, but from hemp. The slightly-watery beverage is the chocolate-flavored equivalent of coconut milk – it sounds exotic, but is always a little disappointing. Manitoba Harvest says hemp protein is a truly organic plant-based protein that both carnivores and vegans can enjoy, and can be added to juices, smoothies and baked goods such as breads and pies.

Just about the only thing I haven’t seen milk paired with at Natural Products Expo West is alcoholic beverages – although I still have a whole day to visit the booths on the downstairs level. I’ll be watching out for throngs of milkaholics queuing up for free samples.

Packaging

I was recently involved in the launch of a new line of packaging for dry ingredients. The line was intended to compete with another company’s well-entrenched line that had no other direct competition. The reason we decided to bring out these knock-offs was because we saw a unique opportunity to capture up to 50% of the market, which was looking for any reason not to buy from the other manufacturer.

You see, the other manufacturer had, at one time, been an independent company who sold its packaging to distributors and direct customers alike. Then it became affiliated with the largest distributor in the industry. Once that happened, the second-largest distributor – and all the other distributors, for that matter – hated to line the coffers of their competitor, if even indirectly.

It seemed like the industry needed a second source for these bottles, and since we could make the full line with existing equipment, we jumped on the opportunity. We knew if we could capture sales from a good portion of the alienated distributors, this could be a profitable line.

But we never counted on selling this new line to the large distributor whose affiliate made the bottles we were knocking off. And yet, when orders rolled in, the very first one came from that distributor.

In sales circles, when someone is really good at connecting with the customers, we say, “She could sell ice to Eskimos.” In this case, I don’t doubt the salesperson did her job well. But there were also three other critical factors at work that helped us get this first order:

• We made exact knock-offs of the competitor’s style (which works only with custom caps), but also built another version with a neck thread that works with standard commercial closures.
• We’re selling them in relatively small quantities, making them accessible to more companies.
• We’ve priced them competitively, and our central manufacturing location provides shipping efficiencies to customers across the country.

What we might also learn over time is that the affiliation between the largest distributor and the other manufacturer is not actually as strong as the other distributors perceived it to be. If that’s the case, and if we can capture sales from a source we weren’t even counting on, then it may not be a case of selling ice to Eskimos, but rather a case of selling a relevant product into a competitive environment.

In any case, let’s hope these early orders and initial interest in this new product line are just the tip of the iceberg.

Marketing, Packaging

I subscribe to a lot of packaging publications, and also monitor a lot of boating industry blogs and newsfeeds. Usually, the content of each has no overlap, but several times this month I’ve chuckled at the quirky things that have caught the attention of writers in both circles.

First, was a report by a team of international scientists that plastic packaging that ends up in the ocean is breaking down into poisonous chemical compounds at a faster rate than scientists thought it could. The gist of the headlines in both packaging and boating publications was that “plastic is biodegrading faster than we thought — and that’s a bad thing.” They cited styrofoam as a major offender, as well as a number of plastic products that are leaching Bisphenol A (BPA) into the oceans, and breaking down at temperatures as low as 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next, was the attention paid to the announcement by the governing body of competitive swimming, FINA, regarding its decision to ban the 100% polyurethane swimwear that many (record-breaking) athletes wore at the recent World Championships. Apparently plastics professionals didn’t like the criticism of polyurethane, and boating enthusiasts don’t like the idea of technology alone determining the holders of world records.

The third — and most comical — flash of news came last week, when Missouri legislators inadvertendly banned polypropylene from Missouri waterways. The legislature had intended to ban polystyrene, which (as the scientists mentioned above would agree) is particularly bad for rivers, lakes and streams. Styrofoam used to float docks in Missouri was already subject to laws requiring it to be encapsulated, so as not to break down when it comes in contact with gasoline and other contaminants in the water. The new law intended to extend this ban to styrofoam coolers in canoes and pleasure boats, but in an effort to avoid the brand name, the law was incorrectly written to ban polypropylene (instead of polystyrene).

Packaging

As Marketing Director for a company that makes 100% recycled plastic bottles, I spend a lot of time speaking with consumer products companies who are weighing the pros and cons of “going green.” Most of these companies realize recycled packaging will cost them about 10% more than their current packaging, but many of them can’t get past the fact that recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET, recycle code #1) tends to be slightly discolored and can even have occlusions — visible black flecks — in the normally clear resin.

Fortunately, for those companies, we can also offer 25% recycled PET, which looks unbelievably close to virgin PET. And, in my opinion, therein lies the problem.

I believe that if you’ve spent the time and money to source recycled packaging, then you should benefit from consumers’ good will toward responsible packagers. But if your plastic bottle looks too “perfect,” the average consumer won’t recognize your efforts unless you draw attention to them through prominent labeling or other deliberate marketing. And if your package is plastic, it takes an extra effort to overcome negative perceptions about any form of plastic packaging.

I’m not alone in realizing that plastic has more hurdles to jump than a lot of other packaging materials, and this week I came across an excellent blog post by Dennis Salazar of Packaging Digest that expounds on this. His post is too comprehensive and written far to well for me to try to summarize it here, so I hope you’ll read it in its entirety. The most clever aspect of Dennis’ post is his coining of the phrase “eco obvious,” which is a phrase I was immediately drawn to. And, it’s a phrase I’m planning to use with consumer packaged goods companies as they struggle with the (minor) imperfections of 100% recycled plastic. My goal will be to convince them that not only are they making a bigger environmental difference when they use 100% PCR (post-consumer resin), but they are also making a much more believable statement to consumers.

So, while I applaud companies such as Williams-Sonoma and Huish who have made a financial and environmental commitment to 25% recycled content packaging, I hope even more companies such as Lush Cosmetics embrace the slightly gray and occasionally spotted 100% post-consumer PET bottles that obviously demonstrate a commitment to the viability of recycled resins.

Marketing, Packaging, Sustainable Packaging

A few months ago, I indulged myself by recounting a direct mail project that was almost perfectly executed, with the exception of a few stray pieces that for various (legitimate) reasons had to be reserved for the following day. And on that day, the executive who was managing the account (but certainly not helping with its mundane fulfillment) was outwardly critical of a single mail piece with a crooked mailing label. “Did they ALL go out that way?” he condescended to the person who had helped ensure the success of the project.

I was recounting the story only because I had just personally managed a “critical” direct mail project that was highly personalized and had a zero tolerance for error. Last week, I delegated an important, but not critical, project to a mailing house, but gave them very explicit written instructions about how to allocate the samples we provided to ensure that each customer got exactly four of the five various decorated bottles mentioned in the accompanying literature.

This week, on Wednesday, I got an email from the project manager apologizing for her oversight, but admitting that she had not read my instructions, so that instead of 500 people each getting four samples of decorated plastic bottles, 300 people got five samples, and 200 were only going to get three. She was pretty sure that she knew which customers got shorted, but it was frustrating to know that our well-laid plans were not executed as intended.

Any time you spend money on a customer mailing, it’s important. But luckily, none of the materials in the mailing specified whether someone should expect to receive four bottles, five bottles, or three bottles — it merely said “we are sending you a sampling of our favorites.” In this down economy, I’m sure our customers will appreciate the fact that we are still taking time to provide them with samples of new items they can use to win business in a very competitive industry. And of the 200 companies that only get three bottles, no one will know they’ve been gypped out of a sample (unless of course they read this blog).

But to me, the person responsible for planning the mailing and explaining it quite clearly to a subcontractor, I must admit there was a slight temptation to ask, “Did they ALL go out that way?”

Marketing, Packaging

This is an interesting week for sustainable packaging professionals: It’s the week that Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club invite their preferred “green” packaging manufacturers to Northwest Arkansas to show Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club buyers and suppliers all of the newest options for making their packaging more environmentally responsible. It’s a unique format for a trade show, in that Wal-Mart invites not just the exhibitors, but also all the attendees, and I have literally overhead Wal-Mart buyers tell the attendees (comprised of their supplier companies): “You need to be working with the manufacturers in this room.” As one of the manufacturers in the room, that’s a reassuring statement to overhear.

The 2009 Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Expo consists of two 8-hour days of seminars and trade show activities, followed by a half-day of Sustainable Value Network meetings to review and discuss the Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard. There are approximately 165 booths at the Expo this year, and local news stations say 1,500 Wal-Mart / Sam’s Club representatives will walk the show over the 2-day Expo.

While the Wal-Mart Scorecard has received a lot of media attention since it was introduced three years ago, the Sustainable Expo is still a mystery to many mainstream packaging companies. In fact, you might say this is the packaging industry’s best-kept secret, partly because it’s “By Invitation Only,” and also because many of the details (such as: have I been accepted into the Expo?, and if so, what is my booth number?) are not revealed until the week or two before we convene on Bentonville.

Traffic at the show is definitely down this year, however the “Sustainability IQ” of the buyers walking the show seems to be more sophisticated than in years past. At previous shows, buyers asked a lot of questions about pie-in-the-sky sustainable solutions they had heard of or researched (such as plant-based bioresins or “biodegradable” additives), but this year, buyers seem more focused on more efficient shipping solutions, source reduction and recycled-content packaging. This shows a positive shift in their expectations, and makes it more likely that the manufacturers in the Expo can deliver the cost-neutral packaging solutions that Wal-Mart and Sam’s require.

It’s interesting to see what elements of the packaging cycle are included in Wal-Mart’s Sustainable Network; it’s equally interesting to see the companies and product segments that are conspicuously absent from the Expo this year (most notably the “oxo-degradable” additive companies that claim their additives make HDPE and PET biodegradable in landfill conditions).

When I get home later this week, I’ll definitely be doing my homework to see what might have happened to the companies that were at the Expo last year, but no-shows this year. Did their green solutions fall prey to the current economy, or did their technologies not pass the new “greenwashing” standards that Wal-Mart is fully enforcing this year?

What I do know for sure: When you see the sophistication of Wal-Mart’s sustainable initiatives, I’m glad our company is one of the manufacturers invited to be in that room.

Packaging, Sustainable Packaging

I was talking to a parent at my son’s basketball practice Wednesday night, and he mentioned that he’s given up $4 coffees and started buying bags of 8 O’Clock Coffee so he can make his own coffee each morning. I like that brand a lot as well, and it made me wonder if other people my age recognize this brand and even prefer it to trendier brands like Starbucks.

So, I was really intrigued when I got an email the very next day from Packaging Digest magazine about 8 O’Clock Coffee’s very public package redesign to celebrate its 150th anniversary. The coffee company has narrowed its redesign down to two very hip and attractive packages, and now it’s letting consumers pick which of the two designs to launch. In addition to being able to cast votes once a day through March 15, each vote earns the consumer a shot at $5,000 worth of groceries or one of another 150 prizes.

What a great way to keep the brand top-of-mind — every day! — during a time period when many forlorn baby boomers are rethinking the daily trip to the coffee shop and perhaps looking for a satisfying home brew. Even though the rules say “No purchase necessary,” I think 8 O’Clock Coffee is going to find sales percolate this spring.

Marketing, Packaging

My 8-year old asked me yesterday to make sure I would let him know when it would be the right day to make New Year’s Resolutions. His heart sank when I told him the previous day was the normal day for pronouncing such resolutions, but he perked up a bit when I told him it was never too late to make a change for the better. He decided on two goals for 2009: first, to do a better job of using all his brain power to make even better Lego designs than he had made in 2008, and second, to help our planet get greener. We decided to tackle this second one together, and one step we’re taking is to stop using plastic grocery bags in favor of the reusable fabric ones.

I have a couple fabric bags that I bought at Trader Joe’s thinking that I would use them again, but so far I’ve never been successful in remembering to bring them back with me. (Never mind that my 2008 New Year’s Resolution was to work really hard to remember things better…. maybe I can recycle that resolution for 2009 as well.) According to the checkout people at my normal grocery store, they don’t care what store’s logo is on the reusable bags — they are happy to put my groceries in any bag that helps reduce plastic bag waste.

In the average week, we bring home about 11 bags of groceries, so we have the potential to eliminate the accumulation of 572 plastic bags in landfills eachyear. In terms of the plastic and energy used to make those bags, it’s just a drop in the bucket for sure. But what if every family at Alex’s grade school did the same thing? That would probably be 150,000 bags a year. If every family in the whole school district did it, we’re probably talking a million bags — just from people who shop in my neighborhood!

With so many cities and retailers banning plastic bags, establishing this good habit now is probably only accepting the inevitable a bit early. But it’s one way Alex and I can work together to help reduce waste in 2009 — all we have to do is remember to bring the bags with us when we shop.

Sustainable Packaging