Overview

Part of the journey towards sustainable packaging is understanding not only its end-of-life impact, but its origins as well. Opal has long been a proponent of working with our customers to identify the benefits of switching from imported bleached white board to brown corrugated packaging.  

Mondelez worked with Opal to switch to a brown board shelf-ready packaging solution for Cadbury Favourites’ shippers.

Opportunity

Utilising brown board is one of the easiest ways to let consumers know that your brand cares about the planet. Brown corrugate has an inherent aesthetic connection to nature, conveying messages of being raw and unprocessed. But did you know that Opal’s locally made brown board not only streamlines your supply chain, but is also more affordable than imported bleached white board?

Mondelez worked with Opal to produce a brown board packaging solution for its Cadbury Favourites shippers without compromising the brand’s shelf presence. The switch provided notable savings in packaging costs, while also improving lead times through local sourcing.

Execution

An ambitious project with significant print and graphic design challenges, Opal successfully transitioned Cadbury Favourites from bleached white board to brown. Opal’s design and print engineering efforts meant the recognisable Cadbury purple and Cadbury Favourites branding maintained its strong presence on supermarket shelves.  

The switch provided ongoing benefits when compared to the original bleached white solution, and meant an estimated reduction in freight related CO2e emissions of ~23 per cent, and avoided using ~182 tonnes of white board which requires the additional process of bleaching.  

Opal’s design efficiencies also reduced the overall amount of board used resulting in cost efficiencies while also contributing to Mondelez’s focus on reducing the environmental footprint of their packaging. 

Outcome

Together with Mondelez, Opal has set the gold standard for brand and colour reproduction on brown board in Australia. Switching to brown board no longer means compromising your brand. It means ticking the right boxes and enhancing it.