Browsing by Author "Krauter, Victoria"
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- Company views of consumers regarding sustainable packagingPublication . Herbes, Carsten; Mielinger, Ellen; Krauter, Victoria; Arranz, Elena; Hurtado, Rosa María Cámara; Marcos, Begonya; Poças, Fátima; Maya, Salvador Ruiz de; Weinrich, RamonaIn the transition towards more sustainable food packaging, food companies play a key role: they decide what type of packaging to use in their production. Past research posits that corporate decision making on sustainable packaging is driven by perceived consumer demand, making it important to understand how companies see consumers, a topic largely neglected in the literature. Our study aims at uncovering how food packaging professionals see consumer demand for sustainable packaging. We performed qualitative interviews with packaging professionals from food companies in Germany, Austria, Spain, and Portugal; we then performed qualitative content analysis on the responses. The results show that half of our interviewees think that sustainability in packaging does not matter to consumers. Further, pertaining to the packaging life cycle, packaging professionals believe that consumers pay more attention to attributes related to raw materials, i.e. the beginning of the packaging life cycle, preferring paper and rejecting plastics. Interviewees demonstrate scant awareness of consumer research which shows that bio-based materials, biodegradability and recycled materials matter to consumers. Our interviewees frequently criticized consumers, presenting what we identify as narratives of disempowerment whereby responsibility for sustainable packaging is not theirs. First, they perceive consumers as an obstacle. Second, they describe their own position as not very powerful vis-à-vis packaging manufacturers and retailers. And third, they are often unsure about consumer attitudes, knowledge or behavior. This assignment of responsibility for packaging decisions to retailers and consumers emerges as a strong barrier to the expansion of sustainable packaging. Analyzing the perceptions that companies have of consumers may help in better aligning consumer attitudes and behaviors and company strategies for sustainable packaging.
- Decision-making processes on sustainable packaging options in the European food sectorPublication . Weinrich, Ramona; Mielinger, Ellen; Krauter, Victoria; Arranz, Elena; Hurtado, Rosa Maria Camara; Marcos, Begonya; Poças, Fátima; Maya, Salvador Ruiz de; Herbes, CarstenFood packaging improves shelf life and allows longer transportation distances in global food supply chains, but it is also responsible for huge volumes of waste. The transition to sustainable packaging by food companies has often been slow and inconsistent. How decisions on (sustainable) packaging are made within companies in the food sector remains mostly opaque to research. To explore the decision-making process and identify barriers for cleaner, more resource efficient food packaging, we carried out 17 interviews in four European countries across different food sectors using the theoretical decision-making process of Nutt (1984) as an analytical framework. Through qualitative content analysis, we found that decision-making processes often lack structure and extend over long stretches of time. Frequently, they are initiated in response to packaging material manufacturers or suppliers. Switching to more sustainable packaging often implies costly investments into new machinery. Economic sustainability takes precedence over ecological sustainability. We recommend companies move to life-cycle cost models for packaging decisions, commit to mono- and other recyclable materials, and establish structured decision-making processes with clear cut-off criteria so as to streamline implementation decisions. Our results further support a call for progressive legislation towards a circular economy in the packaging sector.
- Sustainable food packaging: an updated definition following a holistic approachPublication . Dörnyei, Krisztina Rita; Uysal-Unalan, Ilke; Krauter, Victoria; Weinrich, Ramona; Incarnato, Loredana; Karlovits, Igor; Colelli, Giancarlo; Chrysochou, Polymeros; Fenech, Margaret Camilleri; Pettersen, Marit Kvalvåg; Arranz, Elena; Marcos, Begonya; Frigerio, Valeria; Apicella, Annalisa; Yildirim, Selçuk; Poças, Fátima; Dekker, Matthijs; Johanna, Lahti; Coma, Véronique; Corredig, MilenaFood packaging solutions need to be redesigned to be more sustainable, but determining which solution is ‘more optimal’ is a very difficult task when considering the entire food product value chain. Previous papers paved the way toward a sustainable food packaging definition, but it is far from being commonly accepted or well usable in the broad food systems domain, which further results in uninformed choices for sustainable food packaging made by all stakeholders in the value chain: producers, distributors, practitioners and consumers. Therefore, this work aims first at giving a state-of-the-art overview of sustainable food packaging terms (38 similar terms were identified and grouped into four clusters: Sustainable, Circular, Bio and Other sustainable packaging) and definitions using systematic (narrative) review analysis and ‘controlled expert opinion feedback’ methodology. Second, it aims to offer an updated definition for sustainable food packaging, which is also specific to food packaging and be simple, coherent, easily understandable, and communicable to everybody. The applied holistic approach intends to include all aspects of the food-packaging unit, to consider food safety and packaging functionality, while taking into account different disciplines and challenges related to food packaging along the supply chain. Being a balancing act, a sustainable food packaging may not be a perfect solution, but contextual, suboptimal and in need of constant validation.