Daily CSR
Daily CSR

Daily CSR
Daily news about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability

Unveiling the Benefits of Shelf-Stable Milk: A Tetra Pak Initiative



11/01/2023


In 2022, we introduced a groundbreaking innovation that opens up new avenues for brands to interact and engage with consumers through food and beverage cartons. Tetra Pak® Custom Printing employs digital printing technology to produce smaller batches of carton packaging, offering greater flexibility to print a variety of designs compared to conventional carton printing. This allows marketers to be more nimble, inventive, and targeted with their packaging messages, providing brands with fresh ways to converse with consumers about their food choices.

We demonstrated these capabilities at the PACK EXPO in September 2022 by showcasing custom printed cartons specifically for that industry event. Each of our four carton designs highlighted a different Tetra Pak® equipment and contained messages tailored for the PACK EXPO audience.

Ensuring Milk Supply in Schools Tetra Pak is committed to ensuring that students have access to safe and nutritious milk through school meal programs. While the majority of schools still use traditional chilled milk, market dynamics are causing some schools to lose their local chilled milk supplier.

Some school districts use shelf-stable milk to guarantee supply, ease logistical issues, and reduce milk spoilage during holiday breaks or unexpected closures. The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) conducted a shelf-stable milk trial in early 2022 and observed projected cost savings, fewer weekly milk deliveries, and increased milk consumption. These results were consistent with those of other school districts that had previously conducted shelf-stable milk trials.

After the Dallas ISD trial, Tetra Pak was invited to present to the Urban School Food Alliance on the topic of shelf-stable milk for schools. The Urban School Food Alliance is a nonprofit organization founded by school food service professionals to cater to the unique needs of the country’s largest school districts. Tetra Pak continues to collaborate with school districts to find solutions for ensuring milk supply.

Enhancing Cheesemaking Through Technology and Expertise We’re collaborating with customers to enhance their cheesemaking process using our cutting-edge cheesemaking equipment, data, and extensive knowledge of cheese technology. Tetra Pak customers select a cheesemaking parameter that is important to them, such as higher yield or quality. Then, Tetra Pak’s cheese technology and data science teams use customer data, automation expertise, and artificial intelligence to achieve the desired result.

This means our customers can produce a higher yield or higher quality product using the same amount of milk, energy, and labor, thereby making cheesemaking more sustainable and reducing food waste.

Continuing our mission to enlighten consumers about the processing and packaging of shelf-stable milk, Tetra Pak sponsored an article titled, “Unrefrigerated Milk? How is that Possible?” This piece was featured in over 900 publications nationwide, informing consumers about the convenience, quality, and environmental advantages of shelf-stable milk.