Pret were looking to reduce plastic from the platters used to package their fresh, hand delivered food. Partnering with Colpac, the teams developed platter bases using direct food contact inks, the first project of its kind in foodservice.

The previous iteration of Pret’s platter bases were made from paperboard and included a laminate coating to the interior to protect food contents. To support sustainability goals and improve pack recyclability, Colpac developed a solution that worked with direct food contact inks, instead of the plastic barrier.

Extensive tests were conducted to ensure the ink application and coatings met required safety standards and KIT (grease resistance) and COBB (water absorption) ratings. Pret also conducted in-house trials to meet demanding kitchen requirements, even using astringent ingredients such as lemon juice, avocado and mayonnaise. This due diligence, alongside utilising realistic printed kraft effect paperboard, achieved Pret’s high presentation standards and maintained pack functionality to suit Pret’s fast-paced kitchen environments and consumer preferences.

Simpler recycling was achieved through replacing fibreboard composite materials (amber in Recycling Assessment Methodology (RAM)) with uncoated paperboard (green in RAM) and direct food contact inks, resulting in 0% plastic content and recyclability through any paper re-pulping process. To enhance the platters even further, and to improve resource efficiency, the paperboard was optimised to a lighter, FSC^® certified board, proving sustainable sourcing and further reducing material usage.

Replacing plastic laminate with direct food contact inks is projected to save 1936kg* of plastic and 7471kg* of paperboard, equating to 9407kg* of packaging material savings/year.

The platter bases fit within the ‘paper or board’ category for the latest Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation, reducing material category fees by £240 per tonne. As a result of this, together with the additional lightweighting to use less paperboard, the projected EPR unit cost for Pret’s platter bases has been reduced by an impressive 55%.

“We have built a solid partnership with Colpac and we continue to be impressed with the team’s dedication to creating the best possible solutions to present our fresh food. The new platters look superb, and the premise of this project truly represents our pledges to make our packaging 100% recyclable and to eliminate all unnecessary single-use plastic.”

Simon Oxley, Global Head of Packaging at Pret

Consistent communication and thorough attention to detail from Colpac’s account management, quality, and production teams, resulted in this new packaging concept to be brought to the market in 2024. Following successful in-store trials, the packs are planned to be rolled out across additional Pret outlets worldwide.

*Weights are calculated on a usage rate of 6,000 bases per week 312,000 per annum – usage provided by Pret.

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