Yarrah Organic Petfood launches fully recyclable packaging

Harderwijk, 25 March 2021 – Yarrah Organic Petfood is the first producer of organic dog and cat food in the Netherlands to introduce recyclable packaging. As of April, all kibble packaging will consist of mono-plastic, making the bags completely recyclable. In addition, Yarrah improved its recipes to ensure that the food meets the animal’s needs even better.

Yarrah is one of the first players in the pet food industry to make the switch to recyclable bags. The new bags for both Yarrah brands, Yarrah and DANO, will be in stores in April. “Millions of polluting bags are incinerated all over the world every year”, according to Bas van Tongeren, Yarrah Organic Petfood’s CEO. “We’ve already minimised our environmental footprint with our fully organic products, but the packaging plays its part as well. The adoption of material that can be repurposed in new plastic products, furthers the sustainability of our assortment.”

Monoplastic

Yarrah made a deliberate choice to pack its kibble in mono PE; plastic that consists of one type, which makes it completely recyclable. Van Tongeren explains: “We explored all options in our quest for improved packaging. Monoplastic is the very best choice for us. Sustainability tends to be associated with paper, but paper comes with problems of its own. One example is that it would still need a plastic coating on the inside, dramatically reducing its reusability. We also decided against biodegradable plastic because it doesn’t always decompose completely and tends to contaminate the compost heap with microplastics. It’s great to know that waste processors are able to melt down our bags and give them a second life.”

Challenge

Yarrah now uses sustainable packaging for almost all of its products. The only packaging that isn’t yet fully recyclable, is that of the meal pouches. “We are fully committed to developing circular meal pouches with a long shelf life. We don’t want to launch sustainable pouches that expire more quickly. That would only generate more waste because consumers will be throwing out more of the product. Finding a solution to this conundrum is a great challenge, but we will find a way. There’s no doubt about it!”

Recipes

In close collaboration with scientists and based on the latest health insights, Yarrah enhanced the recipes of twelve of its products in addition to improving the packaging. The protein and fat content has been optimised and production has begun. Van Tongeren: “The health of dogs and cats is our primary concern. Because our products are pure and free of pesticides, they pack a high nutritional value and, quite importantly, a great taste!”

About Yarrah

Yarrah was founded in 1992 by pioneers in honest, pure pet food. And successfully so, because Yarrah is now the largest organic dog and cat food producer in Europe. For both of its brands, Yarrah and DANO, the producer exclusively works with farmers and cattle breeders who want to make the world a better place. Because Yarrah’s quality manager visits all of the suppliers personally, Yarrah can safely say that the animals had a good life and products are truly 100% organic. Yarrah is the first (organic) pet food brand with three stars awarded by the Better Life quality label, and carries a B-Corp certification on top of that. The producer meets strict requirements in terms of the environment, trade and social development. The Yarrah and DANO brands are available at resellers in nineteen European countries.