Refills could create visible differences for consumers

Continued pressure on packaging weights in the new round of the Courtauld Commitment could see brand owners and retailers making greater use of refill systems, according to industry experts.

For retailers which have already implemented weight reductions, it will become increasingly difficult to shave additional grams off their packaging. And yet, despite a new focus on carbon footprint, expectation of further weight reductions is likely to continue, not least on the part of consumers.

Helen Hughes, client director for sustainability at brand consultancy Design Bridge, says: "Consumers are, in some areas, looking for more iconic shifts in how products and packs are presented in-store, so that they can physically see that change is underway. This is high-risk territory, which is as much about behavioural change on the part of the consumer as it is about the supply chain."

Earlier this summer, the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) published a report on the opportunities for food and non-food refill packaging. In food applications, the UK lags behind areas such as Australasia and Scandinavia where products such as jams and instant coffee are often sold in lighter or flexible refill packs.

According to Mark Barthel, special adviser at WRAP, refills for instant coffee represent a particularly interesting opportunity, given the premium associations of flexibles in the ground coffee category. Nescafé is among the brands which are already using laminated pouches in Latin America.

Encouraging shifts in consumer behaviour would be challenging, the report admits. But it estimates that retailers could save up to £60,000 per million units through using flexible coffee refills. The savings would derive from materials, logistics and packaging recovery note costs.

"If parent packs are being sold alongside lower-cost refills, the challenge is about how you merchandise these different units in store and what the incentive is for the category manager to sell the refill," says Hughes at Design Bridge, who was herself previously a senior project manager at WRAP.