How brand owners can unlock new growth in shelf-stable food

Intensifying competition, retailer pressure and changing consumer expectations are reshaping how brands think about shelf-stable packaging. To revitalise mature categories and reach new consumers, brand owners need formats that signal innovation, support sustainability strategies and protect profitability. Tetra Recart offers a modern, paper‑based alternative that helps you refresh your portfolio, strengthen brand perception and open new routes to growth in shelf‑stable food.

Rethinking packaging is a smart move for your food brand: here’s why

When growth slows in mature categories, repeating the same offer in cans and jars is rarely enough. To revitalise your portfolio and reach new consumers, you need packaging that signals innovation, supports your sustainability agenda and protects profitability – and modern paper‑based cartons can do exactly that. 

Tetra Recart carton packages, corn, beans and fresh tomatoes on wooden cutting board

Revitalise mature categories

Revitalise mature categories

Use paper‑based cartons to rethink how your brand shows up in shelf‑stable aisles. The distinctive format opens space for fresh positioning, bolder design and new usage occasions, helping you inject life into categories that have long been dominated by cans and jars and feel increasingly commoditised. 

Family shopping groceries

Reach new and younger consumers

Reach new and younger consumers

Today’s consumers increasingly notice formats that feel convenient and more aligned with their values on sustainability. A modern, paper‑based design with easy opening and efficient storage can help you respond to these expectations and make your shelf‑stable range more relevant to shoppers. 

Holding Tetra Recart carton

Move your packaging strategy forward

Move your packaging strategy forward

Switching more of your range into modern, paper‑based cartons gives shoppers a new way to experience your brand on shelf and online, and can support the evolution of your packaging strategy. It also opens up new on‑pack and in‑store storytelling opportunities to engage retailers and shoppers as expectations rise.

Woman shopping, Tetra Recart carton packages

Create flexibility in how you supply

Create flexibility in how you supply

Paper‑based carton solutions can be implemented through your own lines, specialist co‑packers or a combination of both. This gives you options to test new concepts, scale successful launches and use the same platform across multiple products, supporting a stronger business case for investment and long‑term growth.

Five ways Tetra Recart drives your brand’s performance

Tetra Recart is built around the same priorities that shape your brand strategy – unlocking growth, advancing your packaging strategy, protecting quality, standing out with consumers and improving total value‑chain economics. These five value areas show how a switch from cans and jars can support your brand’s long‑term performance.

1. Growth potential: unlock markets and occasions

1. Growth potential: unlock markets and occasions

Tetra Recart enables new pack sizes, formats and usage occasions in shelf‑stable food, helping you revitalise mature categories and enter spaces where cans and jars struggle. A differentiated, paper‑based format can open doors with retailers, support price‑pack architectures and make it easier to extend your brand into adjacent segments.

2. Sustainability leadership: cut impact, optimise value chain

2. Sustainability leadership: cut impact, optimise value chain

Tetra Recart is made from up to 71% paper-based content, and independent lifecycle assessments show that, under defined conditions, it can have a lower carbon footprint than comparable canned products1. Its robustness can help reduce product damage and waste along the value chain, while its efficient shape supports optimised storage and transport.

3. Quality and consumer trust: protects what’s good

3. Quality and consumer trust: protects what’s good

Tetra Recart uses proven retort technology comparable to cans and jars, so shelf life is determined by your recipe rather than the package format. Combined with Tetra Pak’s food and process expertise, this helps you secure consistent quality and safety, maintaining trust when you move established products into a new pack.

4. Consumer appeal: modern look, real convenience

4. Consumer appeal: modern look, real convenience

The rectangular carton offers strong on‑shelf billboarding and a modern, less “industrial” look than metal cans. Easy opening, pouring, storage and flattening after use improve everyday convenience, helping your brand connect with consumers who value practicality have changing expecations on food packaging.

5. Cost management: improve value, not just price

5. Cost management: improve value, not just price

Tetra Recart drives value by improving more than just the packaging material cost. Flat, lightweight cartons support better pallet and truck utilisation2, while efficient in‑store handling and reduced damage on shelf can lower logistics and waste‑related costs3, helping you protect margins while investing in innovation and activation for your brand.