News

The BBC's report on how the rocketing price of oil is forcing up packaging costs and therefore the price of food has caused a stir on www.packagingnews.co.uk this week.

The film features Adam Barnett, marketing manager for Linpac, who argues that a 12% price rise that his company is about to announce, forced on the firm by the soaring cost of oil, highlights an issue affecting the whole industry.

Keren McCarron wrote on www.packagingnews.co.uk: "There is no doubt that over the last year we have seen sharp increases in fuel prices, which have resulted in higher costs for packaging and transportation.

"Food and drink manufacturers have in many cases been able to absorb these price increases, however if current trends continue this will not be sustainable and will inevitably carry implications for consumer prices."

She added that Food and Drink Federation members are already working on ways to reduce the amount of packaging they use as an environmental priority, balanced against the needs of product protection and food safety.

And Mrs Housewife wrote that packaging and packaging design has continued to work hard at innovation, lightweighting, recycling and overall minimisation.

"The plastic bottles for milk are a great example; Easy to use, they have a handle, 100% recyclable and more importantly they are recycled, re-sealable and above all fit for purpose, they are used by the whole family with ease. Then along comes the milk bag! A bag, a jug, a corrugated transport tray and a set of instructions that the BBC's own Technical correspondent couldn't understand. It would put people off buying milk. And having tried this "new" bag of milk it does leave a considerable amount of milk in the bag after use, you can't get it all out. That's more food waste isn't it and that is the area we should all be focussed on, not just packaging!?"

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