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Coca-Cola’s Cloeann Durham details the beverage giant’s sustainability initiatives at

ISBT’s annual BevTech meeting.

PHOTO BY AARON HAND

One leg of the initiative focuses on the design of the bottle. Coca-Cola has a goal to make 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030. The label is a big piece of that discussion, Durham commented, because not all labels are recyclable. To date, 90% of the company’s packaging is recyclable globally, and it uses 23% recycled material. About 30 markets o er at least one brand in 100% recycled PET packaging, and four markets use 100% recycled PET for their entire plastic packaging portfolio, she added.

The company also has a new reuse goal for its brand: By 2030, the aim is to have at least 25% of its beverages worldwide by volume sold in refillable or returnable glass or plastic bottles or in fountain dispensers with reusable packaging.

Another leg of this initiative is focused on the recycling e orts themselves. Much of this hinges on educating consumers about how to recycle— not an easy task when the situation in the U.S., for example, is so fluid across the 50 states. “I go from one city to the next, within 5 miles of each other, and the recycling campaign is so vividly di erent,” Durham commented.

By 2030, Coca-Cola has a goal to collect and recycle a bottle or can for each one it sells. So far, 61% of the equivalent cans or bottles that the company introduced into the market in 2021 were refilled, collected, or recycled.

Well aware of how climate changes directly impact its operations around the world, Coca-Cola aims to reduce absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 25% by 2030. This is where science-based targeting really comes into play, and there’s been a big shift in how industry now talks about its climate goals, Durham said. “To be really e ective, we have to measure di erently,” she said. “Science based targeting really has to open you up to a vast new metric. It requires so many pieces from all of your partners.”

Watch highlights from ISBT’s latest BevTech conference.

Protecting water resources

Just as Coca-Cola aims to reduce its carbon footprint, it’s also working to reduce its water footprint. This is a big deal for a company whose products are so largely based on water. The 2030 Water Security Strategy focuses on increasing water security through a context-based approach to water replenishment, advocacy for smart water policies, and responsible water use through all operations and the supply chain.

A huge part of this is improved agricultural management because 92% of Coca-Cola’s blue water use—the surface and groundwater consumed as a result of producing the produce—comes from within its agriculture supply chain. Working to grow a more sustainable supply chain, 58% of Coca-Cola’s priority ingredients volume was sourced sustainably in 2021. The ultimate goal is 100%.

“We need to make sure we’re not negatively a ecting the system,” Durham said. “We’re on a path to be 100%. I feel positive about that, but the conversations need to be ongoing.”

The industry is fighting an uphill battle against previous complacency. “We are so behind, folks. We’ve had opportunities to innovate, and we didn’t take them because it didn’t seem necessary,” she said. “We need to make sure we get ahead of those issues so we’re not negatively impacting sustainability.”

Coca-Cola is working on these initiatives together with its nearly 225 bottling partners in more than 200 countries and territories. Though the beverage giant has vast resources available to it for these kinds of sustainability e orts, and tackling such global issues might seem overwhelming to many, Durham urged audience members to think di erently. “Don’t pay so much attention to the numbers, but how you participate,” she said, adding, “We’re all driving the industry. How do we do that together?”

CPG Cobot Use Expected to at Least Double in Next Five Years

THE BARRIER BETWEEN ROBOT AND COBOT

has continued to blur over time, especially as cobots become more versatile in their overall application and increase their weight tolerances. Some vendors are even exploring dual-mode robots capable of switching between an unguarded cobot mode and a more traditional heavy industrial mode. This blending of capabilities is blurring the line between robots and cobots, with the potential for some robotic deployments to fulfill both roles, according to the PMMI Business Intelligence report, 2022 Robots and Cobots: An Automated Future.

Processing operations

Cobots have seen their role in processing steadily expand as IP69k construction standards, artificial intelligence (AI), and enhanced robot vision systems become more common and a ordable. Adoption in processing has also accelerated as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, particularly in the food industry. In the past few years, robotic capabilities in primary packaging have expanded significantly. With the advent of tactile sensors, AI-supported vision, and innovative end-of-arm tooling, cobots are finding new roles in primary packaging and expanding their reach into new manufacturing markets. An ongoing challenge for manufacturers will be understanding these new capabilities and how to apply them. Cobots are playing a key role in improving the e ciency of secondary packaging operations. From secondary packaging material handling to visual inspection, robots are driving new levels of e ciency and speed that help manufacturers manage production costs and increase throughput.

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Food Safety, Sustainability, Convenience Lead Pet Food Efforts

AARON HAND | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

THE U.S. PET FOOD MARKET is expected to triple in size to $275 billion by 2030. Though the sheer size of the market has pet food manufacturers scrambling to keep up with demand— pushed to automate and innovate amid supply chain and labor di culties—they are also reacting to a change in the way consumers are caring for their pets. With pets being treated as increasingly important members of the family, demand is rising for higher-quality pet foods.

Aiming to get a better handle on how pet food manufacturers are reacting to a growing and changing market, CRB gathered responses from more than 300 pet food industry leaders. What they found was that manufacturers are investing increasingly in sustainability, food safety, and innovations from a variety of angles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed the pet food industry in the slightest, according to survey respondents. Consistent with the trends in pet adoption, three-quarters of those surveyed said that the pandemic has increased their intended capital equipment investment. They’re upgrading packaging systems, installing more automation, and rethinking processing to improve e ciencies, quality, and food safety.

There are plenty of challenges—supply chain, inflation, labor availability, aging equipment, inefficiencies, and more—but manufacturers are intent on meeting the changing market head on. “We are calling it their ambitious agenda because there’s a lot going on in this space,” says Tony Moses, director of product innovation at CRB. “And we don’t feel like producers are willing to compromise.”

When CRB asked pet food manufacturers which product attributes mattered most to their customer retention strategies, the answer was: All of them. Nutrition, taste, sustainability, consistency, ingredients, selling price, value, packaging convenience, appearance, and texture—they’re all vital to attracting and retaining customers.

Key business drivers

When CRB asked industry leaders to rank their top business drivers, the assumption based on anecdotal evidence was that the humanization of pet food would rank high, along with issues around sustainability or regulations. Ranked as the top business driver, instead, were expectations for manufacturing practices and workplace environment.

“We think that that one is so high up because it captures some of that labor availability [which was No. 3 on the list],” Moses says. “We’re seeing anecdotally from some of our clients that expectations for breakrooms have changed, natural light in process areas, even just making sure everything’s clean and that it’s not an unpleasant place to work in is more and more top of mind.”

Coming in at No. 2 were increased pet ownership and therefore product demand. “That’s something that resonates well with what we’re seeing across the industry,” Moses notes. “Humanization was No. 4, so it’s up there, but it’s not the top driver in terms of overall business.”

Trailing not too far behind were inflation pressures, sustainability, and supply chain constraints. The bottom end of the list—indicating they were of little concern—included access to capital and regulations. The low concern for access to capital is “positive for this industry,” Moses says, “especially since it’s in expansion mode.”

Innovation drivers

Product innovation drivers were also somewhat of a surprise. The expectation was that they would reflect the business drivers. Instead, innovation drivers leaned heavily toward features that would resonate with consumer values, including sustainability at No. 1, followed by product consistency, cleaner labels, and considering pets as family. “This is why we’re saying producers are trying to have it all,” Moses says. “They have a lot of chal-