Retailers: your shelf-stable range has more room to grow – with the right packaging

Discounters, cost-of-living pressure and changing expectations on packaging are reshaping how shoppers buy shelf-stable food – and how retailers compete. Relying on look-alike cans and jars makes it harder for private label to stand out, defend margins and build loyalty. To strengthen your offer, you need packaging that works harder on cost – from production through to transport and shelf – and that delivers the convenience consumers are actively looking for.

Tetra Recart offers a modern paper-based alternative that helps you refresh own-label ranges, compete on total cost of ownership and give shoppers a format they prefer.

The food retail shifts reshaping shelf-stable – and how to act first

From stagnant shelf-stable aisles to omnichannel expectations and the cost-of-living squeeze, food retailers face intense pressure on relevance and margins. This article explores the biggest shifts shaping grocery today – and how leading retailers are responding in practice.

The right packaging makes your private label harder to compete with

Private label now carries the weight of your price image, loyalty and sustainability promises – and traditional formats like cans and jars can only take you so far. To grow share and defend margin, you need paper-based carton packaging that helps your offer stand out on shelf, supports climate targets and works across good-better-best tiers.

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

Revitalise mature shelf-stable categories

Revitalise mature shelf-stable categories

Use paper-based cartons to rethink how your own-label shows up in long-established categories. The distinctive format opens space for fresh positioning, clearer tiering and new usage occasions, helping you inject life into ranges that have been dominated by similar-looking cans and jars.

Family shopping groceries

Attract new and younger shoppers

Attract new and younger shoppers

Shoppers – especially younger ones – look for convenient, easy-to-use formats that also reflect their values on sustainability. Modern paper-based cartons, with easy opening and efficient storage, make it easier to meet those expectations and bring new consumers into your private-label offer.

Stacked Tetra Recart carton packages

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 shoppers as expectations rise.

Tetra Recart cartons on pallet in warehouse

More flexibility in how you source and supply

More flexibility in how you source and supply

Paper-based cartons can be run on flexible, highly automated lines and are available through both your own factories and specialist co-packers. This gives you options to pilot new concepts, scale launches and run multiple products and sizes on the same platform, supporting greater resilience in your supply base.

Four ways Tetra Recart strengthens your private-label business

Tetra Recart is aligned with what matters most to your business as a private-label retailer – managing cost, delivering reliable quality, meeting tightening sustainability expectations and keeping your offer attractive to shoppers. See how moving beyond cans and jars can create value across your shelf-stable ranges

1. Cost management: improve value, not just price

1. Cost management: improve value, not just price

Tetra Recart helps you reduce cost beyond the packaging material itself. Flat, lightweight cartons mean you can fit significantly more filled units on a pallet compared with cans1, reducing transport costs per unit and the number of trucks on the road. Automation and fast size changeovers can cut labour and downtime. Together, this supports a more competitive total cost of ownership compared with traditional formats – helping you protect margin where it matters most

2. Sustainability: support your packaging goals

2. Sustainability: support your packaging goals

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 products2. Its robustness can help reduce product damage and waste along the value chain, while its efficient shape supports optimised storage and transport.

Quality: protect food and your reputation

Quality: protect food and your reputation

The Tetra Recart process uses proven retort technology comparable to cans and jars, so shelf life is determined by your recipe, not the package. Carton design and Tetra Pak’s process expertise support consistent heating, product integrity and line performance, helping you maintain the quality and safety your private-label reputation depends on.

Consumer appeal: modern look, real convenience

Consumer appeal: modern look, real convenience

The rectangular carton offers strong on-shelf billboard impact and a modern, less “industrial” look than metal cans. And consumers notice: 79% prefer Tetra Recart to traditional alternatives3. The format is easy to open without tools, recloseable, simple to store in a cupboard or fridge and easy to flatten after use – practical benefits that translate directly into shopper satisfaction and repeat purchase for your private-label range.