Sustainable packaging contributions take the fear out of throwing away those candy wrappers.

Greetings Ghouls and Goblins,
 
Growing up overseas, the only Halloween I could enjoy was vicariously through US TV shows and movies as they made their way down under. I had to wait until my teen years to experience the wonder that is the Reese’s peanut butter cup… let’s just say I’ve made up for lost time since I’ve moved stateside. Nowadays, Halloween is celebrated much more widely and many products are now, thankfully, available in many other countries.
 
With the candy-lover’s holiday quickly approaching, there are some changes in the way consumers will be celebrating this year. Chocolate bars, the perennial favorite and mainstay of many Halloween hauls, is expected to now play second fiddle to gummy candies. One major factor driving this is cost: Global cocoa production is down 14% this year while cocoa prices have increased nearly 120%, driven by weather incidents and crop disease (Halloween candy prices look frightening due to cocoa concerns). Another reason behind this expected shift is a change in consumer preferences, with Millennials and Gen Z opting for more chewy, fruity, and sour treats in the non-chocolate category. (Halloween candy might out number chocolate for trick-or-treaters this year - The Washington Post)
 
All of that packaging involved with Halloween, often in small individual serving-size amounts, can mean a consumer is fearful of what to throw away and what to recycle. The industry is making progress in packaging sustainability so the scariest thing on Halloween can be the costumes and decorations. In one of our recent newsletters, BASF put a spotlight on some of our industry collaborations that are enabling our customers to move closer toward their goals (Edition 09-2024). Working with our customer, Seal Global (About - SealGlobal.Co), we have supported the transition away from non-recyclable substrates and coatings so that major brands can follow through on their sustainability commitments. Supported by BASF chemistry, one of the Seal Global products, KandyKote®, is a water-based barrier coating that can replace wax in confectionary applications and make wrappers recyclable. In 2023, SealGlobal.Co® won the Gold Pack Silver Award for this KandyKote technology and in July of this year, they won a Worldstar Global Award for the development of the new, more sustainable Fry’s frozen food packaging. We’re excited to keep working together to enable further industry transition in the future.

I hope you have a super spooky season full of Reese’s and candy corn,
 
-Simon
(Or as I will be known on Oct 31st, Buzz Lightyear)

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