Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, together with Valley partners Nestlé and Tetra Pak, brought together 60+ Swiss and European partners at a nationwide event in Bern this week. The joint project is designed to shine a light on some of the most promising approaches in sustainable packaging materials and drive further innovation through new collaborations.

Commenting on the event, Christina Senn-Jakobsen, chief executive officer of Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, says, "This event showcased the incredible potential of collaborative innovation. The challenges around sustainable packaging cannot be solved in silos. Collaboration between startups, established multinationals, research institutions and governmental bodies is crucial."

Rob Hoitink, Nestlé's R&D Global Packaging lead says, "Innovation is key to delivering our ambition of getting to 100% recyclable or reusable packaging. Today’s event highlights the vital importance of R&D collaboration across the ecosystem to accelerate the development and implementation of new solutions.”

Gustavo Barros, director of R&D Partnerships at Tetra Pak, adds, "Collaboration with our customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders has been central to our sustainability journey. Our dedication to sustainability constantly drives us to explore new materials and technologies. Today, we’ve connected with several innovators whose research can help us take another step forward. We look forward to continuing these conversations."

The Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley team will publish a report summarizing the key insights and learnings from the event to be made public.