May 5, 2022
Post Consumer Brands Commits to Designing for 100% Recyclable Cereal Packaging By 2025
Packaging Sustainability is top of mind for Shelby Grayes, a packaging engineer on the Post Consumer Brands® research & development (R&D) team. “In 2019 and 2020, we focused on reducing the amount of packaging we need for our products,” she said, “Packaging R&D successfully reduced plastic film usage in our cereal bags by more than one million pounds.”
Now the R&D team has shifted their focused to recyclability. “Currently, about 90% of the packaging materials, by weight, that we use in our manufacturing plants are made from recycled content or renewable resources and can be recycled by consumers,” Grayes said, “And we are committed to designing for 100% recyclable cereal and product packaging by 2025.”
Post Consumer Brands is also a part of several sustainability organizations. Read more about our enterprise-wide Environmental, Social & Governance commitments on Post Holdings’ website.
National Packaging Design Day is May 7th, so we are spotlighting not only sustainability, but all aspects and considerations of the packaging process, including our manufacturing technology and packaging trends.
Advancing the Packaging Process
Packaging technology and innovation has progressed significantly over the years. Post manufacturing plant teams are continuously identifying solutions to create a more efficient packaging process.
Hilary Stocker started on the Campbell Mill packing floor 30 years ago. “It was an all hand-pack station then,” he said, “You made the box manually, put the bags in, and pushed it down the line.” Today, Stocker manages a mostly automated process. There is still plenty of work required to load in the materials and troubleshoot, but it looks quite a bit different than it did in 1990. Discover our current packaging process.
Innovation in Packaging Design
Cereal consumers are a major driver of our packaging design. In 1966, we introduced a novel packaging format: cereal without the box. Shoppers were looking for better value and needed for more economical cereal choices led us to this landmark design. Today, there are almost 40 varieties of bagged Malt-O-Meal® cereals in all your favorite flavors.
The original Malt-O-Meal cereal bags were the first of its kind in 1966.
“Some of the trends we are seeing in packaging right now, are new product innovations, convenience or on-the-go formats, and sustainable plastics,” said Grayes. Fruity and Cocoa PEBBLES™ Crisps’ recent launch is an example of packaging innovation in a convenient format. For the first time, consumers can enjoy PEBBLES cereal as an on-the-go snack in a pouch vs. the traditional box and plastic bag.
PEBBLES Crisps are just one example of many recent packaging innovations.
THE FLINTSTONES and all related characters and elements © & ™ Hanna-Barbera. (s22)
This is the only the beginning of an exciting packaging journey for Post R&D, marketing, and manufacturing teams. There will always be changing needs and new challenges, but Post Packaging R&D is always up for a challenge.
See how Post is working to improve packaging sustainability in this article.
