I just joined this community and I wonder if others have noticed how biscuit manufactures have changed the packaging on Premium type biscuits. Previously Nabisco Premiums came in a box with just two foil wrapped packs. Now they put them in twelve individual plastic wrappers with only 4 biscuits per wrapper inside a larger plastic wrapper. What a waste of resources and a creator of excessive trash! Plus you have to cut them open with a scissors or else break half of them in the process.
I stopped buying Premiums from Coles because of this and started buying Prista Biscuits from Aldi 18 months ago where they still came with just two packs inside a 300g box. Lo and behold Aldi Pristas went to the 12 x individual wrapped packs also last year.
I noticed in both cases the biscuit brands were now made in China whereas before they were made in Malaysia where the excessive wrapping was not applied. Could we be just being pandered to the Asian market which loves excessive packaging or is there a real reason for this? It certainly is not to protect the biscuits from breakage as I get more broken ones inside the small packets than I ever did with the larger packets. I wrote to both Nabisco and Aldi about this and just got the standard form letter reply.
Iād boycott both but I like them too much to give them up.
Hi @jocko, welcome to the forum and for your contribution.
I think you may be on the money with this one.
Nabisco is part of a US multinational company (Snack Works) and it is possible that they are reducing the number of product processing lines to maximise their potential profits (noting it is easy to change a label on their products to a different language, but more difficult to change packaging types).
It is also likely that the Prista Biscuits from Aldi are also made on the Nabisco Chinese biscuit production line which means that like the Nabisco product, it is easier to run the one type of packaging in the plant rather than say two or more different lines.
It is a shame that companies increase the amount of packaging as much of the packaging becomes waste, with a percentage of this getting into the broader environment as fugitive waste.
A company like Nabisco has the budgets to āeducateā their Asian customers into being greener with less packagingā¦rather than all their customers having to accept their decision to increase packaging.
I would make a stand as not doing so allow them to think that their decision on excessive packaging is supported.
Maybe try contacting them to say that you plan to cease purchasing their product as they have unnecessarily increased the amount of packaging which is a significant concern to you and many other in Australia. They have their contact details on their website.
Welcome to the Forum I agree with your dismay about excessive packaging, but havenāt noticed the change, probably becaues we donāt buy those premium biscuits.
Now that China and other countries are refusing to take our refuse, we are having a crisis in Australia over what to do with our recyclable waste.
If excessive packaging was banned, then surely that would be a great first step? Would that not make the recycling waste problem more manageable?
Two reasons come to mind. One is protection, do these packets give any protection against crushing or breakage due to agitation? Biscuits are fairly fragile and as we shoppers are continually on the search for the perfect product, broken biscuits are not acceptable. If you think this isnāt the case look at all the slightly damaged packets left in the shelf or the slightly less attractive fruit left in the bottom of the bin.
The second is freshness. Perhaps the smaller packs are designed to be always fresh by giving you a single serving at a time. Does this mean the days of the biscuit barrel are numbered or that they are only ornamental when on trend but we cannot be bothered transfering the biscuits into the barrel? I am betting on this one. That some marketdroid reckons we will think more highly of their high priced offering if it is fresher.
In September I bought Nabisco Premium Original 100g 4 portion pack $0.79 on special at Foodworks. From memory they were cheaper (unit pricing) than the larger un-portioned box. The packaging is not recyclable, all with a āwaste paper binā symbol. There is no obvious Use-By date; the only date printed is 10 02 2010:01 F7. Which I read as 2010! However it could be 10/02/20. Made in China. Mondelez Australia Biscuits www.mondelezinternational.com.au
The wrapped small portion is used by parents assembling kidsā lunches. I see Mr Zās grand-kids getting a box full of wrappers with a little food in between and then mum chucking the lot (used & unused) into the bin to landfill because it is ātoo riskyā to put unused packs back in the lunch box. They get a lot because they donāt know what they want to eat. My mother carefully packed a wide variety of food, but matched our intake, so eat it or go hungry.
As for biscuit protection, I think the likes of Ryvita (cardboard box, inner wrapper) & Fantastic Rice Crackers (tray & plastic wrapper) - all recyclable - did a better job, and contained more product in a smaller space. They all keep the biscuits fresh, close the pack & keep in the biscuits container (large airtight box). You do need scissors (which I used for this photo) as there is no tear point. That would destroy more biscuits in school lunches and lead to more waste. I donāt normally buy these, but we were asked to provide these for a smoko.
Thanks for all the replies.
Yes, no doubt some marketing guru decided individual packs were belter for freshness and realized the average punter could not be bothered putting them in a container despite some highly airtight ones on the market.
I also think the fact that they probably use the same packaging equipment for Nabisco and Aldi biscuits in China we are stuck with this wasteful system. No one is going to invest in the capital equipment to do it differently.
As for breakage, I defy anyone to open 12 packs of 4 biscuits with their hands and not break at least one biscuit hence my use of scissors every time to decant them into an airtight container.
Sorry I didnāt keep an old box of Premiums to compare boxed vs wrapper packaging. I would not be the least surprise if the weight dropped also with the plastic wrapped ones.
I agree with your dismay about excessive packaging, but havenāt noticed the change, probably becaues we donāt buy those premium biscuits.
