When a product is created by combining innovation, market knowledge, respect for the environment and the community, it best expresses an idea of sustainability that determines the very way of doing business. This is the case of Contital: the commercial director, Pasquale Pollice, talks about taking care of the aspects that impact industrial activity and its take-away food packaging.
Environmental issues are becoming increasingly important for buyers and consumers, who are strongly interested in production processes and the impact that these can have on the surrounding area. It is therefore not surprising that sustainability is a highly relevant trend for the entire packaging sector.
Driven by the clear intention of customers to prefer sustainable disposable products, various industrial companies now identify this element as a driving and competitive factor in their policy.
Among these, Contital , a company that has been involved in food packaging for over thirty years, and has long been committed to constantly reducing the impacts of its business and its products on the environment.
Pasquale Pollice, Contital Commercial Director , however, also explains to us how attention to sustainability must go hand in hand with the needs of a reference market, in which food delivery is now a consolidated method of consumption, which involves the growing demand for disposable containers.
What are the trends in sustainable food packaging sales in the world of food delivery?
In recent years we have witnessed a strong growth in sales volumes of containers suitable for takeaway and delivery and this trend does not seem destined to change in the short/medium term. Increasingly, the required packaging must not only preserve the food from an organoleptic and hygienic point of view, but must also be aesthetically presentable and above all sustainable. Attractive, functional and green have now become the watchwords of disposable food products.
What are your best performing references?
Our range of Smoothwall aluminum trays represents the ideal solution for food delivery and ready meals. Available in both bare and lacquered versions (white/terracotta), our containers are extra rigid and particularly practical as they can be resealed with specific lids made of recyclable material, or heat-sealable with special films for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). In addition to having a pleasant design, lacquered Smoothwalls also guarantee maximum preservation of acid-based products for a long period.
The line, which includes numerous formats and is produced in different sizes, also includes the Eclipse range of black and gold lacquered aluminum trays: characterized by an elegant design designed for haute cuisine, they are 100 percent sustainable and were created for the delivery of exclusive dishes.
Ranges designed specifically for food delivery, therefore, but have you also reviewed the product lines that have been part of your production for years from an eco-design perspective?
In addition to the Smoothwall range, our Wrinklewall line with lid is also widely used by takeaway restaurants. These containers, in fact, are ideal for takeaways, restaurants and catering, offering formats suitable for all needs. By virtue of this, we have revised the design of some of the most requested containers, guaranteeing greater resistance with the same thickness. The new mold allows us to offer the market the most used models with a more advanced and high-performance version, without negative impacts on the environment.
Your containers are made of aluminum, the company’s core business. What advantages does this material offer in the food delivery and packaging sector in general?
Aluminum has various properties, not found in all other materials, which make it ideal for multiple applications. It is the only material that allows food to be transported, heated, consumed or refrigerated in the same container. It is also 100 percent and infinitely recyclable; this means that a high percentage of all the aluminum ever produced is still in circulation and will be able to remain there forever thanks to its use in many sectors, from construction to transport; not only in the packaging, therefore…
Fortunately, over the years, awareness of these advantages has also been increasing and has produced significant sales volumes, given that aluminum containers are now particularly requested both by professional catering, for the various reference sectors – food delivery, take away -, and by consumers, who consider this material a sustainable alternative to the many others on the market.
Not just food delivery, therefore, given that aluminum packaging can represent a sustainable solution to be used in other areas too…
Practicality, safety and sustainability are the basis of the packaging solutions also requested by large-scale retail chains, which are focusing heavily on internal gastronomy departments. “Ready to cook” dishes are prepared daily for consumers who, in addition to shopping, also frequent supermarkets to purchase already cooked first or second courses. Thanks to the different lids with which they can be closed, both the containers of the Smoothwall and Wrinklewall lines can be used for dishes ready to be heated or cooked. And since they are made of aluminium, all product lines are completely recyclable, guaranteeing both large-scale retail trade and consumers efficient and environmentally friendly packaging solutions.