Mars bars undergo paper packaging trials in UK

The innovation is being trialled at 500 Tesco stores nationwide, starting this week, for a limited time, a spokesperson for the confectionery giant said.

The move is part of the company’s initiative to explore different types of packaging and said it would use the feedback to inform future packaging pilots.

Big brands have recently come under pressure from consumers and campaigners to find alternatives to plastic and help the environment. In January this year, Nestlé announced a trial run in Australia to use paper packaging for the KitKat chocolate wafer snack.

It followed Nestlé’s other brand, Quality Street’s move to ditch its traditional foil and plastic wrappers for recyclable paper in the run-up to Christmas.

Mars said it is investing a significant amount to on different types of packaging and meet its goal of reducing the use of virgin plastics by a quarter in the short-term, while also increasing its use of recycled plastic in its packaging.

Richard Sutherland-Moore, a packaging expert at Mars Wrigley UK’s research and development centre, told media: “For Mars bar, the challenge was to find the right paper packaging solution with an adequate level of barrier properties to protect the chocolate whilst guaranteeing the food safety, quality and integrity of the product to prevent food waste​.”