Roberts Mega Thick White

Source: Roberts

The pack will be available exclusively in selected Tesco stores across the north-west and Midlands

Roberts has put its core range of loaves in a recyclable paper bag – claiming a first in everyday wrapped bread.

The brand is set to roll out the sustainable packaging for Thick Soft White, Mega-Thick Soft White, Medium Soft White and Classic Wholemeal (rsp: £1.15/800g). It will be available exclusively from 12 June in selected Tesco stores across the north-west and Midlands.

The pack is made from sustainably sourced paper with a “very thin” polypropylene coating. It ensures the same shelf-life as polyethylene and waxed paper packaging commonly used by bakery suppliers. It is fully recyclable at home, and features the ‘widely-recycled’ mark from The On-Pack Recycling Label scheme.

The new bag’s rollout would mean 20% of Roberts’ annual volumes were on their way to being plastic-free, said the business, which has already introduced functional Digestion Boost and artisanal Bloomer loaves in the eco-friendly pack.

It marks the latest step towards Roberts’ ambition to reduce the 10,700 tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic packaging that Kantar estimates UK bakeries produce each year. The brand wanted to offer plastic-free packaging across all its SKUs “as soon as we can” said managing director Stuart Spencer-Calnan.

“Retailers are under increased pressure from consumers to reduce the amount of packaging they use. And we also know that shoppers want to recycle, but that it’s sometimes complicated to do so. We’ve responded by producing a bag that is really easy to dispose of responsibly.”

The launch will be supported by a multi-channel marketing push.