Sheffa Foods Doing Everything To Play Its Part On World Environment Day

This Sunday, June 5th, is known as World Environment Day (WED) and was created by the United Nations General Assembly to encourage worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.  Since it began in 1974, it has become widely celebrated in over 100 countries as a global platform for public outreach.  Above all, WED serves as “the people’s day” for doing something to take care of the Earth or become an agent of change. 

One brand looking to do its part is Sheffa Foods out of New York.  Their newest project, Better for the Planet (BFTP), was created to introduce eco-friendly packaging for their line of healthier snacks.  Their goal is to help revolutionize the food industry with 100% compostable packaging made of bio-based raw materials.  This new packaging, made by TIPA, a clean-tech startup, is designed to break down and fully return to nature. 

Sheffa is currently raising money on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform to bring to market their coffee-house inspired Granola Bars in 3 flavors in this new packaging.  Also choosing to partner with 1% for the Planet, which connects consumers, businesses and non-profits, 

Sheffa is on their way proving that small companies can have a big impact and change the way we think about packaging and sustainability. 

Three "Do Not Miss" Conferences For Innovation In Processing, Packaging & Sustainability

From Istanbul, Turkey, through New Orleans, LA and Chicago, IL, if your interest lies in innovation from a processing, packaging or sustainability perspective, these are three conferences that are a "Do Not Miss" this summer.

Global Dairy Congress, 17-18 June, Istanbul, Turkey

The Global Dairy Congress, now in its 8th year, is a two day event incorporating market briefings, conference sessions and FoodBev Media’s annual World Dairy Innovation Awards to be presented at the gala dinner. The Congress will cover a range of key themes for the global dairy industry and provide excellent networking opportunities for industry leaders, suppliers, customers and analysts.

The theme for 2014 is Breaking new ground. The dairy industry has always been convinced of milk’s inherent goodness, but now consumers want even more in products, from pleasure and convenience, to excitement and innovation, alongside value, health and sustainability. The conference aims to open up discussion on meeting the challenge today of breaking new ground for tomorrow.

The event will cover the full range of market developments including global and regional trends, consumer concerns over health and the environment, as well as key areas of innovation.

I will be speaking on the afternoon of the first day on How dairy can deliver against consumers' sustainability expectations. My presentation will cover research that identifies what consumers sustainability expectations are for dairy, and how brand owners can deliver on these - through innovation throughout the value chain, from processing through to packaging and distribution.

When it comes to sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint for liquid dairy products, extended shelf life (ESL) features high on the list of ways to reduce energy consumption as this request from a processor in India on the Linkedin Global Dairy Innovation Networking Group illustrates: 

"We are a dairy start-up in India with a keen focus on providing fresh (un-pasteurized) milk to consumers through a temperature controlled supply chain. In the process the biggest challenge we face is preserving the freshness and taste of milk throughout the supply chain. The options that we have to chill the milk are quite energy intensive and at times inefficient. We would appreciate your suggestions for us to add efficiency and effectiveness to the entire process."

IFT Annual Meeting, 21-24 June, New Orleans, LA

More than 18,000 of the world’s top food science and technology professionals, representing the most prominent organizations in the global food sector, will be in New Orleans to learn about the most recent product, ingredient, and technology developments, and their potential business impact, as well as to identify trends that will shape the industry.

The IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo brings together professionals involved in both the science and the business of food — experts in R&D, product development, and QA/QC, as well as executive management, marketing, procurement, sales, and more — from industry, academia, and government.

I will be the moderator as well as a speaker for a session on Ultraviolet light for food plant safety and ESL applications on June 24.

The session description reads as follows: 

Tom Gallagher, CEO of DMI

"According to Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc., in the coming years, there will be hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in plant infrastructure renewal, often focused on new extended shelf-life (ESL) and aseptic plant capabilities that will bring the right products to consumers. In order for this to happen there needs to be an understanding traditional as well as novel and emerging technologies, e.g. ultraviolet (UV), and also the interrelationships between product processing and sanitary and environmental factors. This session will feature presentations from a research and manufacturing perspective focusing on the role that UV technology can play, with the end result being a comprehensive overview on how to leverage UV applications for quality, food safety as well as shelf life across product categories."

Global Food &Beverage Packaging Summit, 16-17 July, Chicago, IL

This year's event offers an enhanced program with two tracks to bring attendees strategies for marketing and brand differentiation plus technical intelligence to enhance production and engineering. Speakers from top brand owners and packaging companies include Kraft, Pepsico, Target and Tetra Pak.

I will be the Chairperson for the event and will also moderate a panel discussion on July 16 on, "Designing when the package is your only medium." Panelists will include Janet Eaton, Vice President of Strategy & Insight at Kaleidoscope Brand Strategy, Sneha Shah, Global Technical Director for Avery Dennison and Terry Schwartz, Director of Global Design for the Campbell Soup Company.

Processors look for sustainable packages for dairy foods, beverages

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important to consumers who expect the products they buy to be produced and packaged in an environmentally responsible way.

Speaking at the 2013 International Dairy Show in Chicago in November last year, EcoFocus Worldwide CEO Linda Gilbert said, “We know that dairy shoppers are rethinking their shopping decisions and making changes and choices that reflect a lifestyle commitment to being environmentally friendly.”

Cary Frye, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for the International Dairy Foods Association, said that sustainability is playing a big role in the evolution of the dairy sector. “We’re seeing that in packaging, with lighter packaging and more efficient packaging."

The Infini bottle from the UK’s Nampak Plastics exemplifies the kind of lighter and more efficient packaging to
which Frye was referring. The company was awarded the Waste Minimization Award in 2013 and received the
accolade of “Green Product of the Year” at last year’s British Engineering Excellence Awards. In making this award, the judges stated, “The reduction in material used in the Infini bottle is very impressive and will have a significant environmental impact.”

When it comes to making a slimmer milk package, there are generally three ways that this can be done. Read more in the February issue of Dairy Foods, or download a copy here.

Summer Of Sustainability As International Industry Conferences Convene In Chicago

This July could be called the summer of sustainability in Chicago as two major international industry conferences shine the spotlight on sustainability, from ingredients and processing through to packaging.

Sustainability has become an important part of the business for both food manufacturers and ingredients’ suppliers. With an increasing population, reduced land for cultivation and consumers looking for cleaner labels, the challenges faced by the sector are huge. Businesses with sustainability credentials are favored due to this increased awareness with their customers, and consumers.

The IFT International Food Nanoscience Conference takes place from July 12 – 13 at the Hilton Chicago. An 8:30am session on Saturday July 13 entitled, “Emerging Applications for Food System Sustainability” includes my presentation entitled, “UVC Shows Potential for Improving the Quality and Safety of Liquid Dairy Products,” along with presentations by Rajender Varma of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Annette McCarthy and Timothy Duncan of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Susann Bellmann of the TNO and Lacy Simon of the Louisiana State University.

A panel discussion as a part of the scientific sessions at the IFT Annual Meeting + Food Expo which takes place at McCormick Place in Chicago from July 13 – 16, is focused on identifying what steps to sustainability are being taken by industry at the present, and what is being done to lead discussions for future sustainable methods to help advance our lives from the farm to the brands we like.

Entitled “On-going efforts by the industry on sustainable practices, and effect on our lives from farm to table,” the panel discussion takes place on Sunday July 14 at 10:30am, and includes presentations by Sudarshan Nadathur and Scott Harris of Givaudan, Cristian Barcan of BASF as well as myself.

I will be focusing on discussing opportunities for energy reduction in milk processing and packaging, and how smart on-line tools are encouraging identification and adoption of energy management best practices in milk processing plants. This presentation has been highlighted by the U.S. Dairy Export Council as one of six dairy related presentations at IFT13.

Produced by Packaging Digest, in association with Plastics Today, The Global Food and Beverage Packaging Summit takes place from July 17 – 18 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, with notable presenters including Denise Lefebvre and Bill Eaton of Pepsico, Mike Okoroafor of H.J. Heinz, Ken Kernes of Procurian, Patrick Finlay of Pepsico / Lipton Partnerships, Jane Chase of the Schwan Food Company, Dennis Young of the MSU School of Packaging and Brendon Gember of the Centre for Sustainability Excellence.

I will be moderating a panel on the first day of the Summit entitled, “Is sustainability in packaging delivering on the goals?” Panelists will include Jim Hanna of the Starbucks Coffee Company, Megan Daum of the Can Manufacturers Institute and Colin Taylor of Uniloy Milacron.

Following the panel, I will also be making a presentation entitled, “Designing for sustainability – Dairy industry case study shows how to get the most product to the consumer with the lowest carbon footprint,” which will include examples from around the world of dairy processors using new materials that lower the carbon footprint of milk packaging.

A video of me speaking with Lisa McTigue Pierce, executive editor of Packaging Digest, at the 2013 Global Food & Beverage Packaging Summit, about some surprising results from a dairy industry life-cycle analysis study, which I covered in my presentation on Day 1 at the conference.

Processors see the big picture in packaging

If product is spoiled or damaged, then it doesn’t matter how “green” or sustainable the packaging is. Dairy processors are moving beyond waste and recyclability and taking a holistic view of product packages. 

While cost is the top factor driving the packaging industry today, sustainability concerns will dominate packaging industry work in 10 years in both Europe and North America, according to a recent study conducted by Packaging World magazine and DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. Consumers also care increasingly about the environment, and they expect the products they buy to be produced in an environmentally responsible way. Milk is no exception.

Processors see the big picture in packaging 2013 02-18 Dairy Foods from Gail Barnes