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Client : General Mills

In market : 2022

Objectives of the initiative

General Mills continues to work on reducing the environmental impact of its packaging by developing innovative packaging solutions. These innovations go beyond just ensuring its packaging is recyclable or reusable and includes source reducing the amount of materials used. In 2022, General Mills worked with its R&D teams and vendors to further reduce the plastic used in its high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles for YOP Drinkable Yogurt 200 mL products.

Challenges

The changes to YOP could create a potential impact to the consumer experience. General Mills teams tested the new lightweight bottle’s ability to run on its manufacturing line, while ensuring the impact to consumers would be negligible. Additionally, General Mills has robust Food, Safety and Quality (FSQ) protocols to maintain high quality products for consumer; ensuring consumer experience comes first.

Benefits

The reduction in plastic usage resulted in a lower cost to manufacture the product. Additionally, the lower use of plastics reduces the overall environmental impact.

General Mills is now investigating solutions to maximize the recyclability potential of the packaging.

Optimization actions

General Mills worked with its vendor to further optimize its YOP Drinkable Yogurt 200 mL bottles. General Mills was able to reduce the plastic bottle weight from 14.8g to 14.3g; a 3.4% plastic weight reduction.

  • In direct consultation with General Mills suppliers
  • In-house development