The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) proved once again that it is committed to the New Zealand Food and Beverage industries by taking a lead role in running quality training and education programs as a part of FoodTech Packtech, which was held in Auckland last week.

Over the three days the AIP provided much needed education and discussions on key issues that are challenging the food and beverage industries including Fighting Food Waste, Save Food & Sustainable Packaging Design, the issues within end-of-life recycling facilities and a better understanding of lifecycle analysis. What was clear is that the conversation has only just begun, and the industry has many unanswered questions. It is evident that there must be a truly collaborative approach across Government, Industry and Academia to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and outcomes.

AIP's 'Role of Packaging in Minimising Food Waste' training course 

The AIP had a full house for the new half-day training course on the Role of Packaging in Minimising Food Waste with attendees from Frucor, Fonterra, Danone, Confoil, Multivac,Goodman Fielder, Stratex, NCI Packaging, FreshPork, Snell Packaging and Totally Wrapt Packaging. The course provided participants with an introduction to the seriousness of food waste in Australia and New Zealand and how we can all make a difference as team members of the product-packaging design process to this issue.

It also covered packaging design criteria for Best-Practice Save Food Packaging Design developments that should be considered. With hands-on and practical case studies participants were able to learn how designing packaging to save food actually saves food. Attendees then had the opportunity to visit the AIP stand to see the latest round of Save Food Packaging and Sustainable Packaging Design winners and their innovations.

AIP's seminar on fighting food waste, saving food, and sustainable packaging design

It was standing room only at the two-hour seminar with 10 speakers covering a broad range of topics including Fighting Food Waste, the new Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, Save Food and Sustainable Packaging Design, what packaging does – not what packaging is, the Australasian Recycling Label and the PREP Tool. Speakers included Deborah Manning, Chief Executive Officer, KiwiHarvest, Scott Porter, NZ Sales Manager, Sealed Air Corporation, Don Railton, Operations Compliance Manager, Fresh Group, Apoorv Mehrotra, Account Manager, Oji Fibre Solutions, Ben Rennell, Founder, Feed My Furbaby.

The seminar was run by the AIP, in conjunction with key NZ industry association Packaging New Zealand and was the most well-attended at the show.

AIP exhibition stand showcases PIDA award winners 

The AIP had a joint stand with Packaging New Zealand that showcased all the 2018 Packaging Innovation & Design Award winners for both Australia and New Zealand and the WorldStar Packaging Awards. The Save Food Packaging & Sustainable Packaging Design winners were well-received with a number of the 2018 winners being New Zealand companies who also spoke at the seminar. The exhibition stand achieved heavy foot-traffic during the three days.

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) looks forward to being a partner of FoodTech PackTech 2020.