Food spread company Flora has announced the launch of the world’s first plastic-free paper tub in the UK for the first time. From 17 April 2024, shoppers can buy their favourite Flora Plant products in plastic-free, recyclable tubs – exclusively in 386 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK. 

The move represents a major step in food company Upfield’s global ambition to reduce plastic across its portfolio by 80% by 2030.

The new tubs – made from compressed wet paper fibres – are completely oil and waterproof. Unlike many paper packaging solutions, the tub does not come with a plastic liner, meaning that shoppers can conveniently recycle it along with other paper and cardboard household waste, once wiped clean of any residue. This is part of Upfield’s aim to make it easy for consumers to make sustainable swaps. 

Their arrival on UK shelves comes after four years of dedicated innovation by Upfield’s leading food scientists and product & packaging experts, in collaboration with Footprint, MCC and Pagès Group. They have already been successfully rolled out in Austria. 

The new packaging will initially be available for the brand’s Flora Plant B+tter Spreadable product. Launched in 2023, Flora Plant is made with natural ingredients and 100% plant-based, dairy free and palm oil free. It has 73%¹ less climate impact than dairy butter, with the same delicious taste and versatility across cooking, baking and spreading that Flora fans know and love.

Ian Hepburn, Marketing Director – UK at Upfield, said: “Flora has been a staple of British kitchen cupboards for over six decades thanks to our commitment to constantly listen to our customers and evolve our products in tune with their demands.

“We know that UK shoppers want products that have less climate impact but are unsure how to do this easily. We launched Flora Plant [in 2023] and now we’ve gone one step further by bringing world-first packaging innovation to UK supermarket shelves, helping shoppers to make simple sustainable swaps. 

“Moving away from plastic has always been an ambition for everyone at Upfield. Today’s roll-out of our paper tub is a result of four years of dedicated innovation from our brilliant product & packaging experts. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved and will keep moving towards our goal to replac up to two billion plastic tubs by 2030,” he concluded.

References

1. Life Cycle Assessment tool (developed by Quantis) comparing Flora and dairy butter in the UK (2023). See https://www.flora.com/en-gb/ourimpact.