Pringles has announced that in partnership with Tesco, it is set to trial a new tube made of recycled paper which is widely recyclable.
The trial will take place in a small number of the grocer’s stores across East Anglia in the UK from 9 September.
Invented by organic chemist and food storage technician, Fredric John Baur, the famous Pringles can has been a defining feature of the product since it was launched in 1967 in the USA.
The current tube is made up of a combination of foil, paper board, metal and plastic meaning it can be difficult to recycle through the existing household recycling system set-up, Kellogg explained.
The company noted that the make-up of the new-look can means people will be able to pop this in their home recycling bins.
Two Different Lids
The paper cans will be trialled with two different lids, a paper lid and a plastic lids, which both can also be recycled.
Speaking about the pilot, Miranda Prins, Pringles vice-president, said: “We are eager to play our part and reduce our impact on the planet. And, Pringles fans expect that of us too."
"So, we’ve worked hard to come up with this new can which is widely recyclable and keeps our chips fresh and tasty and protects them from breaking up – which helps to reduce food waste," she added.
Kellogg, the company which owns Pringles said that it has taken almost 12 months to create the new tube.
It has been specially designed to protect its iconic hyperbolic paraboloid shaped crisp, maintain long shelf life while ensuring the crisps remain crunchy and be widely recyclable, the company explained.
If successful, the company said that it could roll out the new look packaging across Europe.
The new paper Pringles tube test in the UK follows a similar trial of a recyclable steel can in Italy at the end of last year, the company said.
“The important thing for us now is getting the trial up and running with Tesco and collecting all the data and consumer feedback," said Prins.
"At this stage it is too early to say whether we’ll roll out this new paper tube, however, the information we collect will help us understand if people like it and if it works on the supermarket shelf and at home. This trial will help us create the Pringles can of the future,” she added.
Tesco Trial
According to Kellogg, the Tesco based trial of the new paper can will last for six weeks.
In-depth studies will be conducted to help Pringles understand the reaction of shoppers – including high-tech eye tracking analysis to show how people visually react to the new packaging on shelf, it added.
Sarah Bradbury, Tesco Group quality director, said: “We are working at speed with our suppliers to remove packaging where we can, reduce what we cannot remove, to reuse more and to make sure the packaging we do use is recyclable."
"This work is achieving real change for our customers and our environment. It’s vital that all products become recyclable as quickly as possible and we’re delighted that Pringles are trialling its new tube exclusively with us; and we look forward to further progress,” she added.
Also this year, Pringles has reduced salt by 10% and saturated fat by 12% in seven of its flavours.
© 2020 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
