Organic Snacks & Trail Mixes
We start with all Organic foods—fruit, nuts & seeds. We know that growing the ingredients for our snacks using Organic practices really matters - for the environmental impacts, like clean water, soil health, soil erosion; Organic standards also do not allow the use of pesticides, synthetic substances or genetically modified organisms. All of this makes food products are better tasting, more nutritious, and don't leave behind or contain toxic chemicals, leaving the land on the farm and surrounding areas better for the future. We then choose foods that taste great, satisfy our hunger and provide the calories and nutrition we need. We’re having so much fun “playing with our food” that we also created combinations or trail mixes that provide variety and options.
At Hummingbird, we are both a manufacturer and a wholesale distributor. We have always offered our products in bulk for our customers (natural food stores, co-ops, groceries, other food manufacturers) so that they can provide bulk bins where everyone can buy as much as they need and use their own containers. Buying from the bulk bins can eliminate the need for end-user packaging. From an eco-ethics standpoint, this really cleans things up and helps meet our goal.
Convenience Packaging - This is where the challenge comes in
Having fun, eating delicious food that is good for us and aiming to have a super low ecological and environmental impact... This is quite a challenge when it comes to grab n’ go convenience.
We really want to offer our snacks in grab and go packages, but we realize that to keep it environmentally low-impact, and what’s inside fresh, is a tall order. While packaging waste is an issue, food waste is actually one of the biggest problems in our food system. If packaging doesn’t maintain freshness, food becomes inedible and all the steps along the food chain are wasted. With our snack bags, we want folks to see these Organic snacks and be drawn to them, enjoy them immensely and want more! That’s when we hope folks will learn that they can get them in the bulk aisle of their grocery store too. So how do we reduce the impact of the packaging for these 6 oz bags? What are our options?
Compostable or Biodegradable - We haven't been able to find a source for a compostable pouch that is truly compostable at home. There are some that claim to be compostable in industrial or commercial composters, but in our testing, these don't keep the snacks fresh and don't actually get composted in practice, due to the lack of industrial composters.
Post Consumer Recycled Plastic (PCR)- We've reviewed these and they can keep the snacks fresh. We've found stand up pouches that are made from 100% PCR. The down side, they are not recyclable and you can't see through the plastic at all. We think people like to see the snacks that they are buying.
Recyclable Plastic - In theory, this would be a descent option, but in practice these plastic packages are not getting returned properly and therefore not getting recycled consistently.
Reusable Glass - This works well for our larger bulk containers; simply cleaning and refilling glass containers saves 90% of the energy required to recycle the glass. We already clean and reuse many of our containers as part of our Container Return/Reuse Program. Glass fragility and weight make small on-the-go glass containers a poor choice for convenience packaging - but good for larger bulk packaging that stays home in our pantries.
Where We Stand
For now, we have settled on an undyed kraft paper pouch with a 6 mil KPET/PE laminate that keeps the snacks fresh. One of its strengths is that it is not primarily plastic. The pouches are sturdy and light enough to be taken on adventures, in a backpack, pocket or on the road and hold up.
We are looking for better options. If you have ideas, please contact us. We have high hopes that many of you will try our snacks and plan to purchase via the bulk bins for future adventures.