Closing the Loop on Packaging in Food & Beverage

The challenge

A food and beverage supplier delivered to a national retail network in single-use cardboard and plastic packaging. Retail customers were pressing for less packaging waste, and disposal at stores added cost and handling time for everyone involved.

The approach

The supply chain team worked with retail customers, a packaging pool provider and its own distribution centres to design a returnable crate system. Crate specifications were chosen to protect produce, fit existing vehicles and store shelving, and stack efficiently when empty.

The reverse flow received as much attention as the outbound one. Collection of empties was built into existing delivery routes, cleaning and inspection were arranged at central points, and crate tracking was agreed with each retail partner so that losses could be traced and addressed.

What changed

Returnable packaging replaced single-use packaging across the network, reducing waste at stores and simplifying handling on the shop floor. Product protection held up well in transit, and the shared system strengthened working relationships with retail partners who had the same sustainability goals.

Lessons for practitioners

A closed loop succeeds or fails on the return journey. Design collection, cleaning and accountability for lost assets with partners from the start, and use existing flows wherever possible so the loop does not add new transport of its own.