Kellanova pours three salty snacks into reduced plastic packaging

Cheez-It Snap’d, Cheez-It Puff’d, and Club Crisp now come in less plastic and corrugated.

Courtesy of Kellanova

Kellanova has announced three of its snack brands—Cheez-It Snap'd, Cheez-It Puff'd, and Club Crisps—have reduced the amount of plastic used in their packaging (compared to the same volume last year) while maintaining the same amount of food in each package. According to the company, the packaging designs were optimized, reducing the total material weight for these three foods by 672,000 pounds, reducing 124,000 pounds of plastic, and reducing 548,000 pounds of corrugated cardboard used for shipping cases (annually). This reduction of plastic is almost the same weight as 140,000 NFL footballs (a typical pigskin weighs approximately 14 ounces).

This innovative packaging design is in line with the Kellanova Better Days Promise commitment to work towards packaging that is 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable by the end of 2030. Additionally, as a signatory to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastics Economy Pledge, Kellanova has a goal to reduce virgin plastic by 5%.

Kellanova's framework to ensure packaging is innovative and sustainable involves four approaches:

Reduce packaging across the portfolio
Remove certain plastic items and packaging materials
Redesign packaging to be recyclable or compostable
Increase recycling

Janelle Meyers, chief sustainability officer, declares, "Kellanova (formerly Kellogg Company) envisions a day where the planet thrives. Three popular snack brands (Cheez-It Snap'd, Cheez-It Puff'd, and Club Crisps), have reduced the amount of plastic used in their packaging while maintaining the same amount of delicious food in each package."

David Lestage, vice president and chief R&D officer, says, "At just 12% of our total packaging footprint, Kellanova has one of the smallest plastic packaging footprints among peer companies. Yet we remain committed to working with new and existing partners, customers and other innovators to identify packaging solutions, such as the plastic reduction in Cheez-It Snap'd, Cheez-It Puff'd, and Club Crisps, that protect and enhance our foods, while caring for the planet."

Jenni Spinner is the chief editor of Snack Food and Wholesale with more than 25 years of experience in business-to-business communications. She has written extensively about food production, safety and packaging; pharmaceutical drug development; concrete and masonry construction; and more. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from the University of Illinois. Jenni can be reached at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.