Extra, Extra! Packaging and Food In The News | October 2020

Cultivated hot list of videos, articles and other great resources that we enjoyed over the month.

Sustainable Packaging Innovation: Apeel

Brilliantly inspired by mother nature and supported with grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Apeel is a sustainable packaging concept that takes the concept of skin on fruits like oranges, and uses plant derives coatings and sprays it onto produce to extend the freshness.

Extending the freshness of produce is an hot button item right now, with over half of current produce items never being consumed. 

Click Here to Learn More about Apeel and Where to Find Their Produce Near You

Infographic: Visualizing the Economics of Coffee

A different visual take on the coffee industry from what we shared back in August, this graphic breaks down the costs incurred at every level of the production of your #PSL.

While the growth of the beans for your single cup of coffee only costs about $0.07 USD, or if you're like me, about $0.28 by noon (I have a problem...) each player along the entire supply chain needs their piece of the pie before it makes it to the consumers' mugs.

Check out this collaborative graphic piece from Visual Capitalist on the economics of the coffee supply chain.

Research: New process turns paper manufacturing waste into valuable chemicals

While paper packaging material is often associated in the market with sustainable and "green" initiatives and products, like most processes, there is still room for improvement for the carbon footprint of the actual manufacturing process of paper. 

To nerd out for a moment, when a tree is processed and pulped for paper, a common method of pulping is known as the "Kraft method". It uses a combination of chemicals to wash the pulp and results in nearly pure cellulose fibers. A byproduct of the process is lignin, which often is just burned for heat recovery, but this releases CO2 into the atmosphere. 

Scientists have recently discovered a method that uses this lignin to create the building blocks for a popular textile- nylon. There's a lot more science involved, but this is an exciting innovation of the paper packaging industry.  

Put on your safety goggles and head to Ames Laboratory to Learn More about this innovation in paper packaging manufacturing.

Gadgets: Chili-shaped device tells you just how spicy your food is. Christmas Idea?

While similar technology does already exist that can analyze the capsaicin (the chemical responsible for "spicy" sensation) found in food, the current tools are very bulky and really only ideal for lab settings. 

It's surprisingly accurate, detecting as low as 0.37 μM of capsaicin in samples.  

How long until Android and Apple make this the next smartphone feature? 🤔

Check Out the Report on the America Chemical Society's Website

Report: Confectionery giant shares downgauged packaging

As part of their "pack light and pack right" packaging strategy, a common confectionery giant has estimated that they have avoided the use of 65,000 tonnes of packaging material since the strategy inception in 2013. 

Freight is a huge line item for most companies that don't sell direct to consumers (or occasionally even if they do) and calculated out, this initiative has cut their freight usage by 15%- packing and shipping the same amount of candies.

Learn more about how this confectionary company has cut 65,000 tonnes of packaging.

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