Maestro Packaging Revamp: Less Plastic, More Sustainability

Schär’s most-loved bread now uses around one third less plastic in its new packaging.

Thanks to major investment in planning, research and testing, our team has managed to reduce the amount of plastic packaging by more than one third. This significant reduction was made possible by removing the tray. This allowed us to reduce the overall size of the pack, achieving a total plastic reduction of 38%.

Within Schär’s offering, the Maestro bread range is one of the most popular among consumers and accounts for as much as 16% of total turnover. As a result, the changes made to the packaging will have a substantial impact on our environmental footprint, reducing overall plastic consumption by 15% per year (data based on 2023 sales forecasts).

Our dedicated team had to overcome technical challenges to ensure that the Maestro loaf you know and love maintained the same high quality. First, the team had to find the right packaging partner — an important step given Schär’s strict safety and quality standards. It was essential to produce a packaging film that was 100% sealed while also being fast and efficient during production to guarantee maximum freshness.

Furthermore, since Schär does not use alcohol or preservatives, developing the new packaging film was a complex challenge. Once the team had developed the new dimensions, the film had to undergo extensive trials and testing to ensure the same safety, quality and freshness.

In addition to reducing plastic, the packaging adaptation improves logistics efficiency. Thanks to the smaller pack size, we can transport 30% more loaves in a single journey. This means we now need fewer lorries to transport our Maestro loaves around the world, reducing our carbon footprint — around 778 lorries and 580,737 km saved per year, based on 2023 sales forecasts.