Our purpose: We commit to making food safe and available, everywhere and we promise to protect what’s good: food, people and the planet.
It is the reason we exist. It is what drives our business decisions. It is why we come to work every day.
At Tetra Pak, we firmly believe that being able to access safe and nutritious food should be considered a right, not a privilege. But how do you package a litre of milk, transport it to where it’s needed most, and know that when it’s eventually opened, even months later, it is safe and tasty to drink? That’s the challenge we solve with our customers every day. The ‘how’ is a little technical however...
We pioneered aseptic technology, which allows us to package a commercially sterile food product so that it can last longer, be distributed further and stored without the need for refrigeration or preservatives. This innovative technology underpins our ability to get food and drink that is safe to consume to the remotest parts of the world where access to safe food cannot be taken for granted.
And this kind of technology has never been more in-need. By 2030, there will be 8.6 billion people in the world – all of whom will be relying on a healthy, nourishing and affordable diet to thrive. Our ability to make sure food and drink can reach the people who need it, while protecting its nutritional quality will only become ever more important.
But we can’t do this at the expense of our planet. While rising to the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, the world also urgently needs businesses to find new ways of operating that respond to the climate crisis, protecting and restoring the environment.
Our heritage of innovation and restless pursuit to secure access to safe, nutritious food for all still drives us. Today, we need to do that sustainably, finding new ways, with new partners, to help deliver the solutions our customers need, in a way that enables communities and the planet to flourish.
Collaborating across the globe to move food forward
Significant efforts have been made over the years in the global fight against hunger but progress more recently has slowed. Today, it is estimated that 690 million people live without access to safe, nutritious food – that’s more than double the population of the United States of America. Despite this, one-third of all food grown is lost or wasted. And all too often, the way food is cultivated, produced, processed, packaged, distributed and consumed is done in unsustainable ways.
Around the world more than enough food is produced to feed the global population. So, we want to play our part in helping to make sure, in the future, that this food reaches everyone who needs it, no matter where they live. But we cannot move the world’s food systems forward alone. That’s why we are committed to working together with our customers, global organisations, partners, suppliers and NGOs, as we commit to helping to shape a more secure – and a more equal – global food system.
Protecting food, people and our planet – developing the world’s most sustainable food package
Packaging is critical to global food delivery systems. Beyond ensuring products are safely transported, our technology means this is done in a way where the food stays safe, with the nutritional value and taste of the product inside protected. All while providing a shelf-life of many months.
It’s no secret, however, that packaging also has a real impact on our planet. It contributes to the depletion of finite resources, increases carbon emissions and adds to the waste piling up in landfills and in nature. Now, more than ever, we know that changing the way packaging is produced and used will be key to protecting our planet and the communities that live on it. That is why we have a bold ambition: to develop the world’s most sustainable food package – one that is made from responsibly sourced or recycled materials, is fully recyclable and carbon neutral.
Working with an ecosystem of innovation partners, from established global companies to small start-ups, alongside academics, engineers and scientists, we are determined to increase the renewable content in our packages. That means reducing and eventually removing the materials that are most harmful to the planet and producing a carton package made solely from plant-based materials. Our 25,000-strong global workforce is focused on delivering on this ambition because it is essential not only to our success as a business, but to the long-term prosperity of our planet and those that live on it.
