Winning Albertsons’ Bakery Box Bid Is a Piece of Cake for 100% Recycled Paperboard
In a national bid for Albertsons’ bakery boxes’ supplier contract, the supplier that provided 100% recycled paperboard for the packaging wins.
About Albertsons Albertsons, Inc. was founded in 1939 when Joe Albertson opened a small grocery store in Boise, Idaho. The company has since expanded to become the second largest nationally operating food and drug retail chain, with more than 2,300 stores in 31 states.
From the start, Albertsons’ valued an innovative, high-quality and customer-friendly approach to the business. Part of the company’s value of quality stems from their dedication to giving back to the communities they serve. Today, Albertsons not only leads numerous hunger and relief, volunteer and youth and education programs, but they also greatly emphasize environmental responsibility. High among these environmental concerns are energy conservation, waste reduction, and recycling of a variety of materials.
Packaging Challenge
In 2002, Albertsons went through a paperboard bidding process for its national supplier contract on bakery and donut boxes, which package Albertsons’ famous bakery items. The challenge was to find a paperboard supplier that gave the bakery boxes a consistent appearance and a grease-barrier coating to prevent the appearance of fingerprints from handling. At the same time, one of Albertsons’ major concerns was to begin using environmentally-friendly packaging.
A Recycled Solution
Rock-Tenn, Newark Paperboard Mills, and Evco Research LLC worked with Albertsons to develop a unique and environmental-friendly coated paperboard to address their in-story bakery products’ packaging needs. The coating is a fully recyclable coating that replaces wax or poly and is grease resistant. As an extra measure, Albertsons requested that the bakery boxes be marked with an environmental statement.
100% Results
Today, Albertsons bakery and donut boxes are made with 100% recycled paperboard and are 100% recyclable, including the special plastic window film. Albertsons is completely satisfied with the new packaging, finding that 100% recycled paperboard does not compromise quality. Packaging in 100% recycled paperboard allows for printing on both sides and includes a coating that provides protection from fingerprints. Even the paperboard’s glossy, consistent appearance has exceeded Albertsons’ expectations.
Albertsons is proud of their newly designed 100% recycled paperboard bakery boxes. These boxes have served as a standard for other Albertsons products. In fact, since the new bakery boxes were first used, the company has continued to make a shift away from wax-coated containers and toward many improvements in sustainable packaging. In addition, Albertsons was one of the first retailer licensees of 100% recycled paperboard and they currently include the symbol on all private label products that use 100% recycled paperboard.
November 2005