Tetra Pak has celebrated its 50th anniversary, quite a feat for a company that failed to show a profit for 20 years, says Mary Carmichael
Origami skills do not usually feature among the criteria for impacting on the fmcg arena, but Swedish packaging firm Tetra Pak has given paper-folding a pretty high profile on grocery fixtures over the years, and its impact is visible through the 200 million cartons distributed daily across 165 countries.
The family-owned company recently celebrated its 50th anniversary  a good record for an enterprise that failed to show a profit for its first 20 years. It is now a business that boasts net sales of E7.6bn a year.
Consumers know the public face of the plastic-coated paper cartons but Tetra Pak's business is based on supplying other companies with equipment to do it themselves. It provides machines that enable manufacturers to process their own products and make and seal their own Tetra containers, as well as distribution equipment such as tray packers and film wrappers.
At the same time, the company is also at the forefront of packaging research and development. There are 11 systems on its packaging smorgasbord and these produce seven types of paper cartons, as well as plastic bottles.
The design of the original Tetra Classic tetrahedron  still widely used throughout the developing world  was inspired by the sausage-making methods of founder Ruben Rausing's wife and the first machine supplied in 1952. Over the year, other designs have evolved.
A few designs have not stayed the course  the horseshoe-shaped Tetra King for example lasted only 10 years  but in the main, only the technology around them has changed.
Food packaging may have taken hundreds of years to evolve from its leaves, skulls and skins origins, to pottery, glass and metal cans but 20th century technology  sterilisation, UHT treatment and the introduction of plastics  moved it on a pace.
However, it was the development of aseptic technology  which enables products to be processed, stored and distributed without refrigeration  in 1969, that proved Tetra Pak's major breakthrough. Two thirds of the company's packs are now aseptic.
It allowed Tetra Pak to stretch its packaging talents from the mainstay of milk and juice to include other products such as wine. In the past decade it has even gone beyond liquid and now around 60 new products per year  including ice cream and cheese  find their way into its wares.
"We're not looking to go into every sector of the food industry because that would dilute us," says CEO Nick Schreiber. "We want ones where we can bring some value to the party."
A new carton-based processing and packaging system for heat treated food  Tetra Recart  has made its UK debut around Nestlé urina petfood and Tetra Pak predicts that this method will become more common than canning. Dry goods, ready meals, microwavable products and hot and cold vending machine packs also offer big opportunities, while growth in foodservice heralds a trend towards larger containers and smaller portion packs.
Recent developments include a venture with Swedish company Bio Gaia which developed the probiotic' LifeTop Straw which, when juice or dairy products are sucked through it, produces an ingredient that turns the drink into a functional product.
And there's more to come. Stand by for intelligent' packaging. It will be able to let consumers know if contents have been exposed to the wrong temperature for example, or react with a special fridge barcode reader which gives tips on the best way to use the products.
{{ANALYSIS }}
Origami skills do not usually feature among the criteria for impacting on the fmcg arena, but Swedish packaging firm Tetra Pak has given paper-folding a pretty high profile on grocery fixtures over the years, and its impact is visible through the 200 million cartons distributed daily across 165 countries.
The family-owned company recently celebrated its 50th anniversary  a good record for an enterprise that failed to show a profit for its first 20 years. It is now a business that boasts net sales of E7.6bn a year.
Consumers know the public face of the plastic-coated paper cartons but Tetra Pak's business is based on supplying other companies with equipment to do it themselves. It provides machines that enable manufacturers to process their own products and make and seal their own Tetra containers, as well as distribution equipment such as tray packers and film wrappers.
At the same time, the company is also at the forefront of packaging research and development. There are 11 systems on its packaging smorgasbord and these produce seven types of paper cartons, as well as plastic bottles.
The design of the original Tetra Classic tetrahedron  still widely used throughout the developing world  was inspired by the sausage-making methods of founder Ruben Rausing's wife and the first machine supplied in 1952. Over the year, other designs have evolved.
A few designs have not stayed the course  the horseshoe-shaped Tetra King for example lasted only 10 years  but in the main, only the technology around them has changed.
Food packaging may have taken hundreds of years to evolve from its leaves, skulls and skins origins, to pottery, glass and metal cans but 20th century technology  sterilisation, UHT treatment and the introduction of plastics  moved it on a pace.
However, it was the development of aseptic technology  which enables products to be processed, stored and distributed without refrigeration  in 1969, that proved Tetra Pak's major breakthrough. Two thirds of the company's packs are now aseptic.
It allowed Tetra Pak to stretch its packaging talents from the mainstay of milk and juice to include other products such as wine. In the past decade it has even gone beyond liquid and now around 60 new products per year  including ice cream and cheese  find their way into its wares.
"We're not looking to go into every sector of the food industry because that would dilute us," says CEO Nick Schreiber. "We want ones where we can bring some value to the party."
A new carton-based processing and packaging system for heat treated food  Tetra Recart  has made its UK debut around Nestlé urina petfood and Tetra Pak predicts that this method will become more common than canning. Dry goods, ready meals, microwavable products and hot and cold vending machine packs also offer big opportunities, while growth in foodservice heralds a trend towards larger containers and smaller portion packs.
Recent developments include a venture with Swedish company Bio Gaia which developed the probiotic' LifeTop Straw which, when juice or dairy products are sucked through it, produces an ingredient that turns the drink into a functional product.
And there's more to come. Stand by for intelligent' packaging. It will be able to let consumers know if contents have been exposed to the wrong temperature for example, or react with a special fridge barcode reader which gives tips on the best way to use the products.
{{ANALYSIS }}
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