Kickstart: A premium for better packaging

Will consumers already facing inflation during their grocery shopping be willing to also pay more for sustainable packaging?

A study from Trivium Packaging says most of them will.

In Trivium's 2023 Buying Green Report, 82 percent of people polled said they would be willing to pay more for products sold in sustainable packaging, a 4 percent increase from 2022 and 8 percent from 2021. For Gen Z shoppers, the response is higher, with 90 percent willing to pay a premium.

Trivium didn't get into specifics about what type of packaging would be considered sustainable (the company specializes in aluminum packaging), but in Trivium's survey of 9,000 people in North America, South America and Europe for the report, the company found that 63 percent said they were less likely to buy products with packaging considered harmful to the environment.

In addition, 71 percent said they already use reusable and refillable packaging — such as bulk food options — and 80 percent were interested in buying refillable products. As PN's Steve Toloken wrote earlier this week, the White House also has a keen interest in reusable packaging in the U.S. market.

One barrier to consumers choosing a more sustainable package beyond money, though, may be communication. Trivium noted in the report that 59 percent of those surveyed look for information on the label about recycling, but 46 percent said the biggest barrier to buying that product is unclear labeling related to sustainability.

The design and molding of a very key reusable container used by thousands of Pizza Hut restaurants, meanwhile, led to Kentucky-based injection molder Pioneer Plastics Inc. winning the restaurant chain's Supplier of the Year award.

PN's Bridget Janis writes that Pioneer is a longtime supplier to Pizza Hut and was approached by the company to create a bin to hold pizza dough. The specialized containers needed to fit into 5,400 locations nationwide, be able to contain enough dough to hit Pizza Hut efficiency numbers and still fit into dishwashers.

Production began in November 2022 and ended early this year with more than 137,000 custom bins molded.

Ravago Americas is bringing its forklift rodeo back into the ring after a long pandemic delay.

A forklift rodeo, as you might expect, involves testing the skills of forklift operators. (And no, I'd never heard of it either until PN's Hollee Keller pointed it out to me.) For the competition, operators must weave their way through an intricate course — going forward, in reverse and while fully loaded — without hitting a cone.

Operators also have to successfully maneuver a basketball into the hoop and bowl from their forklifts. You can find video here of a competition from Pitt Community College for other examples.

Ravago's Plainfield, Ill., facility has held the company title since 2019, but a new nationwide contest began in February with a championship set for Sept. 21 in Baytown, Texas.