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It is safe to say that even before the emergence of the COVID crisis, the boom in the food delivery market has led to tremendous changes in the way the entire food service industry operates. Packaging is not unaffected, and these changes encourage design rethinking—mainly in the areas of functionality and sustainability.

So, how does Just Eat, one of the market leaders, hope to respond to these considerations? We talked with Robin Clark, Director of Sustainability, to find out.

First of all, can you tell us about Just Eat's overall packaging sustainability concept?

Just Eat Takeaway.com is committed to creating a more sustainable future for the food delivery industry, using our influence and expertise to help our restaurant partners adopt more environmentally friendly products and practices. We know that the environmental and social footprint of our business goes far beyond our own operations, and we have unparalleled opportunities to influence others in the vibrant and diverse food delivery industry.

Improving the packaging used to deliver food to homes is a great way to minimize the environmental impact of our operations, even if it is an indirect part of our supply chain that is not under our direct control. Our goal is to reduce the use of plastic packaging in the food distribution industry, and reduce the use of all types of packaging, while reducing the carbon footprint.

Take-out/food delivery is usually related to excessive packaging and littering. Why do you think this is, and is Just Eat taking any measures to address this perception?

We at Just Eat Takeaway.com have taken several positive steps to promote our online transformation-removing single-use plastic from our restaurant online store, and pioneering the use of plastic substitutes such as seaweed with British startup Notpla.

We are also very happy to conduct some reusable trials in Europe: in Berlin, we work with REBOWL, a reusable deposit system, in the Netherlands, we work with PackBack, and in the United Kingdom, we work with ClubZero. These trials are set up to learn more about the reuse habits of consumers and restaurant partners. This feedback will help partners build the best options for the future.

In terms of Just Eat’s overall packaging strategy, how high is the priority of sustainability compared to other issues such as protection and functionality? How do these different considerations work together?

First of all, I think it’s best to elaborate on what sustainability means in our business. At Just Eat Takeaway.com, sustainability refers to conducting business activities in a responsible manner, reducing our environmental impact, and having a positive impact on stakeholders and communities.

We cover measurement, disclosure, and reporting in our responsible business report, which is explained. Although we only sell very small amounts of packaging directly to our partners, we can help drive innovation. Obviously, any new product must first provide functionality, and then we must find a more sustainable method.  

In recent years, you and Notpla have conducted several packaging innovation experiments. Can you tell us about them, any experience you have gained from the process, and any plans you have to extend these solutions?

We are working with sustainable packaging innovators to develop solutions that are commercially viable and scalable. One example is our partnership with the start-up company Notpla, with whom we tried out seaweed sauce bags in the UK and developed a recyclable and compostable seaweed-lined takeaway container for restaurants.

Since 2018, we have collaborated on four pilot projects, including a government-supported seaweed bag trial (we also work with Unilever), and a seaweed food box trial in the UK. After the pilot, 90% of restaurants and 96% of Just Eaters said they were satisfied with the packaging. Crucially, 83% of consumers who use this kind of packaging say that the use of sustainable packaging in restaurants affects their choice of restaurants. The container will soon be available in our online stores in the UK and the Netherlands, and we are busy making plans for global expansion.

We are discussing in detail the feasibility of packaging reuse in the food delivery industry. We are piloting programs in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany to investigate and overcome some of the challenges of reusing takeaway food packaging.

In September, Just Eat announced a partnership with CLUBZERO to try out reusable packaging. Can you talk about this experiment and unleash its potential?

In London, we cooperated with CLUBZERØ and started trialling a very convenient packaging return system in September this year. The trial will help evaluate how best to promote the service more widely so that with the support of customers and restaurant partners, we can continue to solve the problem of plastic pollution throughout the industry. 

The food delivery industry faces many major challenges in terms of reuse, such as infrequent contact between customers and restaurants. It is great to be able to learn with our partners how we can overcome these problems.

CLUBZERØ's reusable food boxes reduce carbon dioxide by up to 50% compared to plastic coated boxes and are completely recyclable. 

As a brand, if you can send information to the packaging industry on the topic of packaging sustainability, what do you hope it is?

We need more innovation, and we need legislation to promote new business models. Not surprisingly, Germany is leading reuse when restaurants must provide a system.

Victoria Hattersley spoke with Steve Sena, vice president of business development at Truvant, a packaging service provider, to find out.

Philippe Gallard, Global Innovation Director of Nestlé Water, discussed the trends and latest developments from recyclability and reusability to different packaging materials.

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