Wildfire smoke in New York City. Frequent extreme weather events. Marine plastic pollution. Shrinking ice glaciers. Rising sea levels. These are just a few of the indicators that we are in the midst of a climate emergency.
As an individual, it’s easy to look at these conditions and feel helpless. As an organization, it’s imperative that we don’t let that happen.
The fact is, to even begin to reverse the damage that’s been done, it’s up to companies and governments to make big changes in the way they operate. Here at All Friends (and our parent company Leahy-IFP), we are committed to being part of that solution, to finding ways to operate in a way that won’t further harm our planet.
A Better Package for a Better Beverage
That’s why, when we decided to launch All Friends, we did it with an eye on sustainability. We had to figure out what mattered to our consumers, what mattered to us, and what we could manage to do effectively right away.
We knew sustainable packaging was important to consumers. In fact, the importance of sustainable packaging is the one thing the largest number of people can agree on. Across all generations, 73% combined said in a *recent report that sustainable packaging is very or somewhat important.
As a company, we also had sustainable packaging at the top of our list. We’ve long been partners with SIG, so it was the natural place for us to start. We were excited to package All Friends in their most sustainable packaging possible. An added benefit– when we used the most sustainable packaging, that could have a ripple effect to other aspects of creating the brand.
More than just recyclable
Using the Sig aseptic carton has an obvious benefit– it’s recyclable– but there are others that the end user might not see.
For one, it allows us to reduce our carbon footprint in a few ways.
- The cartons ship flat and are assembled at the point of production. That means we can get hundreds of thousands more on one truck than plastic or glass bottles. More cartons in the truck, means fewer deliveries of cartons to our facilities and fewer trucks on the road.
- When we ship it to our customers, it’s in a concentrated form. Our customers get 128oz of product versus 32oz, which is 4x the amount of product per package than if it was ready to drink. More product per shipment equals fewer shipments to customers, and again, fewer trucks on the road.
- If we’d opted for something like a multilayer PET bottle (which is common in foodservice beverages), **we’d be emitting far more CO2 into the atmosphere. Per case of All Friends sold, we save nearly 650 g of carbon emissions.
What’s inside the carton matters
Of course the most obvious thing that’s inside an All Friends carton is our functional beverage refresher. As we’ve mentioned before, they are delicious and flexible and profitable.
But there’s also some hidden sustainable elements there. Aluminum is necessary for aroma and light protection, but it’s made with the best aluminum possible. The aluminum in our All Friends packaging foil is ASI-certified, which means we meet stringent standards for the responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminum.
The paperboard packaging is also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. That means it uses more than 90% forest-based, renewable raw materials. It’s the most sustainable choice for any beverage.
There are lots of other benefits to using aseptic processing in general. Our parent company wrote about it over here on its blog. Check it out to learn more about the aseptic process.
The Start of a Sustainable Journey
Full disclosure: this is just the beginning of our journey to being a more sustainable company. Though the All Friends brand is new, Leahy-IFP has been around for nearly 70 years. We’re investing time and resources into making progress toward running a more sustainable business across all our brands.
We still have work to do, but it’s work we are all excited to take on. It’s going to take a lot of folks working together to reverse the climate crisis we find ourselves in. Rather than losing hope that it can be done, we’re aiming to be part of the solution. Follow along with us as we continue to find more ways to do so.
*First Insight study via Forbes
**SIG sustainability
