Regional supermarket chain Wegmans plans to start using reusable plastic containers for shipping its case-ready meat products. Switching from one-way corrugated cardboard boxes promises to increase supply chain efficiencies, eliminate packaging waste, and lower transportation costs.
Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Wegmans has around 100 stores total in states across the northeast. The chain reports that increasing the use of renewable plant-based material, mineral fillers, and post-consumer recycled plastic in their packaging has avoided the use of more than 6 million pounds of virgin fossil-based plastic since 2016.
Recently Wegmans began working with Rochester-based reusable packaging and supply chain solutions company Tosca. The grocery retailer is transitioning to reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for case-ready meat, a change that’s expected to prevent more than 1 million pounds of corrugated cardboard from entering the supply stream.
Unlike corrugated boxes, each reusable plastic container can be packed, shipped, stocked, washed, and returned more than 100 times, Tosca says.
“RPCs allow for higher stacking and improved cube utilization. This means more product per pallet, more product per truck, and fewer trucks on the road,” according to Tosca. In addition to greater supply chain and transportation efficiencies, the reusables can reduce packaging waste and cut the shrink rate, lowering costs for grocery stores.
Reusables have been shown to reduce shrink by 1%, a Tosca case study from 2019 says. That means a top 50 retailer selling 20 million pounds of USDA Choice case-ready beef at $5.86 per pound annually would save 200,000 pounds using RPCs — a potential cost savings of $1.17 million.
Switching to RPCs eliminates significant packaging waste and helps Wegmans reach its packaging goals, said Jason Wadsworth, the grocery chain’s category merchant, packaging and sustainability. Other American retailers that have moved from corrugated to reusable plastic containers for perishable food include Food Lion and Kroger.
Inside stores, Wegmans says it has stopped using foam packaging where alternatives exist. The company has a partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Sustainable Packaging to look for meat trays that can perform as well as the foam ones, and protect the food throughout the supply chain.
