Iconic Aussie food set to undergo big change: 'Major step forward'

It’s time to say goodbye to an iconic Aussie invention that revolutionised putting sauce on pies. MasterFoods’ Squeeze-on was rolled out in 1990, but the tiny plastic dispensers have been hard to recycle and they’re frequently littered.

Now the company has announced it's taking a “major step forward” by trialling a paper version. The new invention cost a staggering $3 million and five years of research to complete.

While there is slightly less sauce in the new packets, MasterFoods has reassured customers that design improvements mean the amount of sauce expelled on pies, chips and sausage rolls won’t change.

“Because in the original version, quite a bit of residual sauce would be left in the pack’s plastic “crinkles”. In the new pack, the sauce glides out more smoothly meaning there is around four per cent less food waste,” MasterFoods told Yahoo News through a public relations firm.

Along with reducing plastic and food waste, there are several other advantages to the new sauce packet — it is made with FSC-certified paper, meaning endangered species habitat isn’t being destroyed to produce it. And the company has indicated it wants to incorporate recycled materials after it scales up the packaging beyond a trial in 2025. Importantly, they’re also being made in Australia.

Can the tiny sauce packets actually be recycled?

A big part of the MasterFoods advertising campaign is that the new sauce packets can be recycled in kerbside bins.

MasterFoods was guided in its design by the peak industry body Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). But one major recycling organisation, which did not wish to be named, told Yahoo they could be hard to recycle because of their size. It predicted they would likely be sorted in with crushed glass, contaminating the load and then be directed to landfill.

MasterFoods said the new packs have been designed to meet the minimum size standard set by APCO, therefore permitting it to use the Australian Recycling Logo (ARL). The labelling will direct customers to place used sauce packets into their kerbside recycling bin, and then MasterFoods will monitor how they actually fare at waste facilities during the trial phase of the rollout.

It is unclear whether MasterFoods directly consulted with waste disposal companies during the design period, but it told Yahoo it does plan to do so during the trial period.

“As part of the trial, we will be working with recycling organisations to understand how well this product flows through the recycling infrastructure… The purpose of the trial is to validate the assumptions on how the pack will perform throughout the entire value chain,” it said.

World struggles to sever its addiction to plastic

MasterFoods’ parent company Mars is one of Australia’s biggest suppliers of pet foods, chewing gums and of course chocolates. In 2023 the company announced it would trial paper wrappers on some of its popular brands like Snickers and Milky Way, as part of its plan to use science-based actions to tackle the climate crisis.

The company uses around 8,000 tonnes of plastic a year. Hoping to reduce its impact on the environment, the company had set high-reaching sustainability targets for 2025, but conceded in August that while “good progress” had been made, it was “unlikely to fully meet them”.

Phasing out plastics is something companies should be commended for, but several have found actually fulfilling their goals impossible. Last month Toohey’s revealed to Yahoo News that it won’t be meeting its goal to phase out single-use plastic by the end of 2025.

The same has proved true for world leaders taking part in United Nations talks aimed at reducing plastics use. While 175 nations voted in 2022 to create a global treaty, negotiations have proven slow. A fifth round of talks will begin in Busan, Korea, on November 25.

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