By Katie Spring, Communications Manager
When the name “Cabot” is mentioned, most people think of cheese.
For the 105-year-old award-winning cheese company, that’s how it should be. But lately, Cabot Creamery Cooperative is making headlines for something else: packaging.
Cabot is transitioning their 8-ounce cheese bars to a 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) packaging.
As Certified B Corp, Cabot’s commitment to caring for the environment encompasses the entire cycle of cheesemaking – from farm fields to store shelves – and cheese packaging plays a substantial role in their work to increase sustainability across the dairy supply chain. The shift to 30% PCR film comes from Cabot’s research into sustainable packaging, funded by a $323,875 Dairy Product Packaging Innovation Grant from the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center.
Over the course of two years, Cabot worked with packaging manufacturer TC Transcontinental Packaging to test three types of film: post-consumer recycled (PCR), recycle-ready, and compostable. Their goal was to reduce the use of virgin plastic in dairy packaging. They also needed the cheese wrapped in the film to maintain flavor, shelf life, and meet food safety requirements.
Trial runs took into account how each film performed on Cabot’s packaging equipment, including speed and sealing efficacy.
Cabot set aside samples of cheese in each film to evaluate shelf-life and conduct in-house sensory testing. They also shipped samples to TC Transcontinental Packaging and the Center for Dairy Research for additional analysis. The remaining cheese samples were shipped from Vermont to Connecticut to see how the packaging would hold up on the road.
The recycle-ready film ran into challenges on the packaging equipment. Requiring a slower rate, the film couldn’t be run efficiently, and attempts at a higher speed resulted in improper seals. The compostable film saw similar issues. Though it was able to run at the correct speed, its stiffer structure led to cracking, again disrupting the seal. While the compostable option isn’t ready for commercial use, TC Transcontinental Packaging is continuing to research and develop this option for potential future use.
Despite these challenges, Cabot found the PCR film to run well on all of their packaging equipment, seal properly, maintain product quality, and hold up to shipping and handling. The trials were so successful that Cabot is fully transitioning all 8-ounce bars of cheese over to this new film in late 2024.
This packaging change will lead to a 23% decrease in fossil fuel emissions, and a 19% decrease in water usage.
Grant projects like this not only make a difference for a single company, but also have ripple effects across the dairy industry and the environment at large. Cabot’s collaborator, TC Transcontinental Packaging, is one of the largest flexible packaging companies in North America. Their research into food-grade packaging that increases recycled content and decreases virgin plastic means other food manufacturers will have expanded options to choose from.
As Cabot wraps up this grant project and moves their new packaging into the world, the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is offering a new round of grant funding for more dairy processors to access.
The Innovation in Dairy Processing & Packaging Grant is open now through October 31.
Eligible dairy businesses in our 11-state Northeast region can apply for $75,000 to $350,000 for projects that address packaging initiatives, novel processing solutions, and/or increased collaboration. Find the full eligibility guidelines and Request for Applications on the Innovation in Dairy Processing & Packaging Grant page.
