Lamb Weston to use potato, corn starch in packaging

Driving toward a goal of using more sustainable materials in packaging, two Lamb Weston Alexia brand products will use corn and potato starch in their packaging beginning this month.

The packaging is partially made of potato starches, a byproduct of producing french fries, and will be identified with a label on the front of the package indicating it is partially made from plants. Research by GlobalData (March 2021) indicates more than three in 10 U.S. consumers believe environmentally friendly packaging material is a key driver of a purchase.

Lamb Weston’s Alexia’s Organic Sweet Potato Fries and Alexia’s Organic Yukon Select Puffs will feature a special seal, identifying the plant-based packaging. Lamb Weston’s packaging team spent two years collaborating to create a durable, sustainable packaging alternative and continue working to expand their sustainable packing efforts.

“Sustainability is a pillar of our packaging innovation strategy. By combining efforts with teams across the business we were able to create something innovative that will not only help reduce our carbon footprint, but also continue to deliver to our customers,” said Deb Dihel, vice president of innovation, through a press release.

According to American Packaging Corporation, the environmental impact annually of using a packaging substitute for the Alexia Organic Potato equates to:

• 14,700 miles driven
• 252 trash bags in landfill
• 750,000 phones charged
• 98 trees over 10 years
• 14 barrels of oil