CEREALTO SIRO LAUNCHES A PLASTIC-FREE PASTA PACKAGING MADE FROM 100% RECYCLABLE PAPER.

• Cerealto Siro has taken a further step in its sustainable packaging development plan with a new solution: a plastic-free pasta pack with glue-based closure systems designed specifically for food contact.
• This plastic-free pasta pack is now available on the shelves in Central Europe.
• The Company reinforces its commitment to the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in line with a sustainability strategy to contribute to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the 2030 Agenda.

Cerealto Siro Foods continues to advance in its sustainable packaging development plan and has presented a new innovation, in collaboration with its R+D+i centre, I+dea, to respond to the growing demand from consumers with the aim of eliminating plastics from food product packaging.

Cerealto Siro has presented a disruptive innovation that will allow retailers to eliminate plastic from their pasta shelves. Thus, the company has developed a pasta packaging made of 100% paper. This new type of plastic-free packaging uses only water-based inks and includes a closure system made with adhesives suitable for contact with food that allows consumers to recycle it in the paper container. It is also certified by the PEFC Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes.
“With this disruptive innovation in packaging, we have managed to reduce the amount of plastic on pasta shelves. We are pioneers in the use of 100% paper, both in long and short pasta. We have worked non-stop in difficult months due to the pandemic, considering that regardless of the exceptional situation we are living in, sustainability will be a key for the future development of the pasta category. In addition to being strongly demanded by consumers, being more and more sustainable is part of our Company’s responsibility. This new packaging is already available in supermarkets in Central Europe (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary) in a total of 17 organic pasta references. We are getting a lot of interest in other markets and we plan to continue this “green” conversion at a high pace” says Marco Ferraroni, Global Category Director of Cerealto Siro Foods Pasta.

With this own innovation in packaging, Cerealto Siro Foods achieves a new milestone to reduce plastics in food packaging, one of the main demands of European consumers, and a challenge for the industry at international level, as part of its commitment to the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in line with its sustainability strategy to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the 2030 Agenda.

The Group, committed to reducing the ecological footprint of its operations and in its commitment to lead the transition to the circular economy in the agri-food sector, achieved in 2019 the Zero Landfill declaration in all its plants in Spain and Portugal, fulfilled two years ago its commitment for 2030 to reduce its carbon emissions by between 15% and 20%, and has continued to reduce its CO2 footprint from 0.14 tonnes in 2018 to 0.11 per tonne produced in 2019. From the Biogas plant in Venta de Baños de Tuero, its partner in environmental management, the waste from Cerealto Siro Foods, and other companies, is managed to generate natural gas to supply the Company’s pasta factory located in the same town, which has reduced its gas consumption by 20%; as well as organic fertiliser with high added value for the fields where the raw material for food production is grown. In addition, 100% of the electricity consumption of its plants in Spain comes from renewable sources and it focuses part of its investment in innovation on the development of sustainable, compostable and recyclable packaging.

About CEREALTO SIRO FOODS

CEREALTO SIRO FOODS, born from the integration of Siro and Cerealto, is a multinational family company that manufactures food products, with a strategy focused on the manufacture of cereal-derived food products for Retail and B2B customers, with high doses of innovation and high development potential in multiple markets.

The Group has a consolidated turnover of more than 577 MM €, currently has a team of more than 4,500 people and a production of 374,000 tonnes per year, in 15 production centres located in Spain, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom and Mexico, as well as sales offices in the USA.

With a planned investment of 128 million euros until 2025, its business model is focused on the consumer, innovation in products and processes and operational excellence. It is also a benchmark in the integration of people at risk of social exclusion, who represent more than 11% of the workforce, and in the implementation of the circular economy in the agri-food industry.