Sainsbury's Goes Back to ‘Basics' by Ditching Cereal Boxes

This is the latest in a long line of packaging innovations that Sainsbury's has undertaken in an effort to reduce its environmental impact.

Sep 22 2010 --- Sainsbury's announces that its ‘basics' cereal range is to be stocked in bags rather than boxes. The supermarket launched basics Rice Pops in bags last year and will now convert the range by the end of the year.

Using bags rather than boxes for these cereals means 165 tonnes of packaging will be kept off Sainsbury's shelves every year. That's the same weight as 4.1m slices of toast, 165,000 litres of orange juice or 4m croissants.

Stuart Lendrum, Sainsbury's head of packaging, said: "Cereal boxes are an iconic item on UK breakfast tables, but by ending our use of boxes for basics, we can save a huge amount of cardboard and thereby reduce the carbon footprint of the weekly shop.

"Feedback from customers on our basics Rice Pops, which have been sold in bags for the past year, has been really positive. This is why we decided to convert the whole range."

Fruit and Fibre will now be the final line to lose its box in December. Sainsbury's basics Cornflakes converted to bags in May, while basics Muesli, Hot Oat Cereal and Rice Pops have always been sold in bags. The only exception to the range change is the basics Breakfast Wholewheat Biscuits, which require a box in order to prevent damage to the product.

Stuart added: "Not using the boxes, takes us some way towards meeting our target to cut packaging by a third by 2015.

"It will also reduce our packaging costs, enabling us to keep these cereals at such low prices. As such, customers' wallets win, and the environment wins too."

This is the latest in a long line of packaging innovations that Sainsbury's has undertaken in an effort to reduce its environmental impact. Earlier this year, the supermarket announced that it was ending its use of tin cans for its basics chopped tomatoes (the top selling basics line), in favour of cartons.  And this week they won the 'Environmental retailer of the year' at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) awards, for our packaging initiatives which include moving basics wine into PET bottles.