DS Smith and MULTIVAC launch ECO Bowl for fresh foods

MULTIVAC and DS Smith designed and produced the ECO Bowl – an innovative solution for fresh foods in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) based on corrugated cardboard. The companies’ strategic partnership ensures maximum scalability of the ECO Bowl solution to customers in food production and retail industries across Europe. ECO Bowl is a fully recyclable corrugated cardboard tray covered with a plastic skin film and lid film that reduces plastic by up to 85% versus a traditional tray.

To eliminate excess packaging and with one in two Europeans sorting and recycling more than they did five years ago, ECO Bowl’s plastic skin and lid film can be easily removed for disposal, leaving the corrugated tray for recycling. The ECO Bowl allows for easy and effective implementation for customers – it is designed to run on MULTIVAC thermoforming packaging machines and tray sealers and can guarantee equal shelf life when compared with conventional modified atmosphere packaging for fresh food, or even improve it.

ECO Bowl has already been tested in the market with amidori. The German producer of plant-based meat alternatives chose ECO Bowl and successfully implemented the solution at the end of 2019.

Marc Chiron, Sales, Marketing & Innovation Director Packaging at DS Smith, commented: “We’re thrilled to see the success amidori is having with ECO Bowl and this is a great example of the benefits that customers can reap when they choose to implement this new generation of packaging innovations into their supply chains. The innovation behind ECO Bowl demonstrates the strides DS Smith is taking to encourage greater sustainability within the retail landscape, and through our partnership with MULTIVAC, we are committed to driving the circular economy at greater scale.”

Bernd Lasslop, Vice President Partner Products & Consumables at MULTIVAC commented: “We are constantly working on innovative solutions to reduce the quantity of packaging materials and on packaging concepts that meet the current requirements in terms of resource efficiency and recyclability. ECO Bowl is yet another example of these efforts.”