IT’S always nice when someone else see and recognises the potential in your products – and so it was great to see Sirane shortlisted for an award at the Sustainable Food Awards, as one of the three finalists for the Sustainable Packaging Awards organised by Ecovia Intelligence and held alongside a sustainable foods conference.
The Earthpouch – a plastic-free packaging pouch which is both recyclable and compostable – is a great product, and one that’s generating a real buzz at the moment. Perhaps buzz might be a bit of a cliche, but I think that’s fair – we’re getting a lot of inquiries at the moment, and interestingly a lot of the inquiries are from companies genuinely excited to have found such a product; companies that want to go plastic-free but haven’t known where to start; companies that acknowledge that things have got to change, and are wanting to be there at the start.
Unfortunately we didn’t win, but just being shortlisted alongside the other two finalists – Coop Switzerland’s Multi-Bag and Eosta’s Natural Branding – was a great result for Sirane. And the team that attended the awards in Amsterdam last week reported lost of positive praise for the product from other attendees, and some great networking opportunities.
The Earthpouch is a genuine industry first. It is made from a paper with a 100% plastic free heat-sealable coating which is then formed into a preformed stand-up pouch which provides total food security for dry and moist food products. From its launch earlier this year, we’ve now got a number of companies using this pouch – and a number more launching soon.
Going plastic-free is something a lot of companies, small and large, and looking at (anecdotally, it does seem to be the smaller companies driving the market, and prepared to switch). Where to start can be difficult, and Sirane’s a good starting point. Not only do we already have a range of products ready to go, but our development team’s capabilities coupled with our knowledge of materials means we can quite possibly find a solution.
The Earthpouch is just one of a range of compostable/recyclable products and packaging solutions Sirane has developed over the years – and it has been placed in our Earth Packaging range: compostable; recyclable and sustainable.
We’re already working on enhancing and expanding the Earthpouch range, including higher-barrier pouches, ovenable versions and more – the Earthpouch is not just a product, it’s the start of a range of plastic-free products. It’s exciting times in the packaging industry, so watch this space….
MARK LINGARD, MARKETING MANAGER
