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ofi wins SIES School of Packaging Star Award 2026
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Tuesday, 24 March, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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ofi (olam food ingredients), a global leader offering naturally good food and beverage ingredients and solutions, wins in the beverage category with a recyclable mono-material polyethylene (PE) laminate pouch developed for the European market for cocoa-based beverages. The award recognises a packaging solution that helps beverage manufacturers and private label brands meet their sustainability goals while protecting product quality – supporting the way it delivers value-added ingredients and customer solutions at scale.
For customers developing beverages and finished products, packaging performance is fundamental to product performance. This pouch format is designed and developed to preserve taste and freshness, and with changing consumer expectations in mind, helping brands bring differentiated beverages to market.
The award was presented during the ceremony at the Indian Packaging Summit 2026, in Mumbai. With over 200 entries received across all categories, the SIES School of Packaging (SOP) Star Awards recognises companies in the Indian packaging sector for packaging excellence in development, innovation, creativity and sustainability.
Developed for cocoa-based beverages, the pouch replaces the traditional multilayer, non-recyclable laminates with a structure that is recyclable within existing European PE recycling streams. The pouch achieves high recyclability as independently verified by cyclos-HTP Institute, a leading institute specialising in the assessment and certification of packaging recyclability.
The pouch combines developments in material science and packaging engineering to improve recyclability while maintaining functionality. It uses a carefully formulated PE based laminate with a controlled Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH) barrier layer, providing essential protection against moisture and oxygen – critical for cocoa-based products – while maintaining compatibility with standard recyclability streams and thresholds. A PE reclosable zipper helps ensure the entire packaging solution remains mono material, avoiding components that would otherwise disrupt recycling processes.
Additional sustainability benefits include: Clear, on-pack mono PE resin identification for correct sorting at recycling facilities. This increases the likelihood that the pouch is correctly recycled and reduces the chance of packaging being sent to landfill or incineration. The PE re-closable zipper helps maintain product freshness after opening and reduces likelihood of food waste at the consumer level.
Valentine de Parisot, ofi business development manager for Private Label in Europe, said, “This recyclable mono-material pouch demonstrates how thoughtful development and design can support circularity without compromising product protection or quality – helping food and beverage manufacturers and retailers deliver cocoa-based beverages and other private label products in recyclable formats, while strengthening sustainability credentials with a practical, scalable solution.”
Aniruddh Gavane, ofi senior manager packaging – Centre of Expertise, said, Material efficiency was also central to packaging development. The pouch's thickness and geometry were optimised to reduce total material use while maintaining strength, shelf presence, and pack stability. Its flatpack format improves pallet utilisation and reduces transport volumes, with the potential to contribute to lower logistics related emissions across the supply chain.”
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