Kraft Heinz Hosts Innovation Challenge for Sustainable Packaging

Kraft Heinz is seeking innovative solutions from start-ups developing sustainable flexible packaging solutions for food protection.

Three finalists will pitch live on stage at the Rethinking Materials Summit at the Hilton London Bankside May 13-14, reaching a global audience of materials stakeholders, with the winner being announced on stage at the summit. The winner will receive feedback and insight from Kraft Heinz’s Global Innovation team as well as an invitation to their facilities.

In this challenge, Kraft Heinz is seeking innovative solutions from start-ups that include flexible packaging “barriers” that protect food for extended shelf life, protecting against oxygen or moisture, for either flexible plastic or flexible paper applications. These high barrier solutions should be applicable to dry or aqueous food products with varying pH levels and oil content.

Barrier solutions of interest include a functional layer that can be laminated to other films, or materials that can be co-extruded with other resins to create a functional layer, or coatings that can be applied over metallization or on a substrate.

Kraft Heinz is most interested in companies that have proof of principle and prototypes.

• Maintain barrier integrity throughout packaging processes, distribution and shelf life (eg. resistance to cracking, pin-holing and delamination)
• Be applied using commercially available processes (eg. blown film, cast film, co-extrusion, lamination, roll coating processes, etc.)
• Priority will be given to solutions approved for direct food contact per FDA 21CFR/EFSA FCM, or capable of receiving clearance for food contact by 2026
• Must be compatible with the plastic recycling, paper recycling or industrial composting streams
• Target oxygen transmission rate (OTR) or water vapor transmission rate (WVTR)  – see table below

The competition will close on February 28. Find out more and apply online.