Smarties announces bold new packaging change
A major change has been announced for one of Nestlé's most popular lines of chocolate.
The brand revealed on Tuesday that its iconic Smarties product was undergoing a change to the way it's packaged.
The chocolate is soon to come packaged in recyclable paper bags worldwide in a move that will result in about 250 million plastic packs being removed from circulation every year.
Once rolled out, Smarties will be the first global confectionery product entirely sold in recyclable paper packaging, according to parent company Nestlé Oceania.
“Shifting Smarties packaging to recyclable paper is an important step in realising Nestlé’s ambition to reduce our use of virgin plastics by a third by 2025," Nestlé General Manager Confectionery Chris O’Donnell said.
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"Developing safe and convenient paper-based solutions for Smarties has required pioneering new materials and testing by Nestlé packaging experts at both our Confectionery R&D Centre in the UK and the Nestlé Institute of Packaging Sciences in Switzerland."
Paper used in new package sourced sustainably
The brand said the paper used in the new packaging, which included coated paper, paper labels, and carton board, was all sourced sustainably.
All new packaging will also feature the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL), a labelling initiative designed by Planet Ark and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).
Mr O’Donnell said adopting new packaging required an overhaul in manufacturing and handling processes.
"We also had to invest in upgrading all the factories that make Smarties. The paper packaging requires careful handling, so we needed to adapt our manufacturing lines to allow for the new formats," he said.
The Nestlé factory at Campbellfield in Melbourne has upgraded its manufacturing process and invested in new equipment, including a new wrapper machine.
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