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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Strengthen your brand portfolio with Tetra Recart

Use Tetra Recart to rethink how your brands show up in shelf‑stable food – on the shelf, in digital channels and in the pantry. By combining our consumer and category insights with recipe support and packaging design expertise, we help you turn ideas into distinctive, ready‑to‑launch concepts with clear business cases. 

Turn insight into distinctive concepts

Translate trends in health, convenience and sustainability into new propositions, formats and usage occasions for your brands. Work with our Customer Innovation Centre experts to define concepts, roles and value propositions that fit your brand architecture and category strategy.

Different tomato products in Tetra Recart cartons, FDC kitchen

Prove recipes and formats with lower risk

Collaborate with our Food Development Centre or borrow one of our mobile test units to trial your recipes – or adapted formulations – in Tetra Recart under realistic processing and retorting conditions. This gives you decision‑ready data on quality, taste and performance before you commit to full-scale launches.

Build stronger shelf and digital presence

Leverage flat panels and multiple printable faces to showcase ingredients, nutrition and usage ideas with clear branding. Consistent designs across packs create a strong billboard effect, while distinctive carton graphics can help shoppers quickly find and choose your products online.

Build an efficient supply set-up with Tetra Recart

Bringing your brand into Tetra Recart does not mean starting from scratch. Working with Tetra Pak and specialist co‑packers, you can configure a supply set‑up – own lines, co‑packing partnerships or a mix of both – that delivers stable operations, competitive total cost of ownership and the flexibility to support future growth.

Tetra Pak expert and customer with tablet

Choose your route: own line, co-packer or both

You can introduce Tetra Recart through dedicated lines in your own factories, through experienced co‑packers, or by combining both to balance risk and speed. We help you evaluate volumes, category mix and investment horizons so you can decide where to start, and how to scale, while keeping service levels and cost under control.

Match line capability to brand and category mix

Tetra Recart lines can be configured for high‑volume core SKUs or for broader ranges with frequent changeovers. For large, stable volumes, the Tetra Pak® R1 line delivers fully automated, high‑speed filling of selected pack sizes, while the Tetra Pak® R2 line runs the full Tetra Recart size span to support mixed portfolios and agile production across brands and categories.

Female service engineer with tablet at production site

Secure smooth start-up and reliable performance

From trials and validation to commissioning and operator training, our specialists support you and your co‑packing partners in getting Tetra Recart lines running smoothly. Our know‑how in retorted food, filling and line design helps you stabilise performance, protect product quality and optimise running costs as volumes grow.

Find your ideal Tetra Recart co-packer

Switching from cans to cartons is easier with the right partner. Tetra Pak uses its global network and deep market knowledge to match brand owners with co‑packers that fit their product, quality, capacity and location needs – and supports both sides all the way until products are on shelf. Access the full story to see how our matchmaking works in practice.

Operators at distribution line

Is your brand’s packaging ready for what’s next?

Consumer expectations, retailer requirements and sustainability regulations don’t stand still – and neither can your packaging choices. Choosing Tetra Recart gives you a platform that can evolve with your brand’s portfolio, while our services support ongoing improvements in efficiency, resilience and environmental performance.

Fresh vegetables and fruit, Tetra Pak Services offerings

Stay agile as recipes, ranges and channels evolve

As you introduce new recipes, pack sizes and channel‑specific formats, Tetra Recart lines and co‑packing partners can be adapted without major disruption. Our experts support recipe adjustments, format changes and capacity ramp‑ups, helping you keep launches on track and maintain service levels. With Tetra Pak® Advanced Agreements and tailored service packages, you stabilise performance, share risk and keep your Tetra Recart supply aligned with your brand’s evolving needs.

Food products in Tetra Recart carton packages

Advance your sustainability roadmap and manage risk

With independently assessed lifecycle performance, a high share of responsibly sourced materials and efficient logistics, Tetra Recart supports progress against your packaging sustainability targets over time. Combined with tailored service agreements and performance programmes, it helps you reduce waste and emissions, manage operational risk and demonstrate ongoing improvement to retailers, investors and consumers.

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1. Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of  Tetra Pak® carton packages and alternative packaging systems for beverages and liquid food on the European market, 2020

2. 12% more 390ml packages, and up to 50% more 100ml packages on each pallet and truck. Based on internal simulations comparing Tetra Recart to cans and jars of equivalent sizes.

3. Tetra Pak competitive insights