Marks & Spencer has become the first UK retailer to adopt paper packaging on its garlic butter baguettes, helping to remove 5.5 million units of plastic.
The new FSC-approved packaging, which M&S confirmed can be easily recycled as paper at home, has been implemented on both its single and twin garlic butter baguette lines. Single baguettes are the retailer’s bestseller among its garlic bread range, shifting 4.3 million units per year.
M&S has identified reduction of plastic packaging as one of the key issues that its customers care strongly about. In February, M&S introduced new recyclable paper packaging for all sandwiches and toasties served at its 300-plus cafés across the UK. Waitrose followed suit just a few days later, rolling out recyclable packaging for its food-to-go range.
M&S also became the first national retailer to introduce a fully recyclable paper fibre coffee cup and lid earlier this year, as well as switching to paper bags for its bananas and cardboard solutions for vine tomatoes, mushrooms, and tropical fruit.
At the end of 2023, the retailer announced that it had met its 2023/24 target to remove 75 million units of plastic four months earlier than planned. The business has committed to remove one billion units by 2027, as part of its Plan A roadmap to net zero by 2040.
“It’s a good step forward to remove 5.5m units from our supply chain and we continue to work with our suppliers to find innovative new materials, processes, and equipment so we can make change at scale,” commented Lucinda Langton, head of sustainability at M&S Food. “These changes mean our customers can trust that the M&S quality products they love are made, sourced, and packaged with care.”
Food waste is also an area that M&S has been tackling with its frozen garlic bread initiative among the solutions.
The initiative, which was introduced in 2020, sees unsold in-store bakery loaves each day filled with garlic butter and frozen to extend their shelf life by 40 days. It has proved highly popular with more than 1.4 million items sold last year. Priced from £1 each, customers can choose from the likes of garlic baguette or boule, San Francisco sourdough garlic bread, and West Country cheddar & red Leicester garlic cob. It was recently expanded to 60 new locations to now be in operation at 450 stores.
No comments yet