‘On a mission to help planet one block of cheese at a time!’

CHEESE packing firm Ornua Foods UK has announced a significant step forward in its quest to reduce the amount of plastic it uses in its packaging.

The Leek-based firm has launched the ‘Megablock’ – an innovative new packaging solution which will save 40 per cent of plastic per pack of Pilgrims Choice cheese and an estimated 83 tonnes of plastic annually.

From the end of September, Pilgrims Choice wil migrate to the new, more eco-friendly pack format ahead of a £3million marketing campaign.

Mike Harper, Ornua Foods UK’S marketing director said: “We set ourselves the challenge of creating a format that enabled us to pack the same amount of cheese, using less plastic, whilst improving the experience of consumers.

In short, we wanted a packaging solution that was ‘Less Plastic

More Fantastic’ and we the Megablock delivers on this.

“We’re on a mission to help the planet one block of cheese at a time, but we recognise the need to do more so we will be implementing further plastic reduction solutions across the Pilgrims Choice range in 2021.”

Supermarket-giant Tesco is also adopting the new pack format for its own-label cheddar ranges supplied by Ornua Foods – a move which will save a further 95 tonnes of plastic.

James Bull, head of packaging at Tesco, said: “We have plans to remove all non-recyclable and excess packaging from our business and are working with a number of brands to achieve this.

“It’s great to see Ornua cut down on the amount of plastic being used in our stores and we encourage other brands to do the same.” believe