Peak nostalgia is digging into a gooey bowl of mac and cheese on a school night. Crowd favorite Annie's (owned by General Mills) has made the experience even more satisfying and convenient thanks to its award-winning microwavable mac and cheese cup that's industrially compostable.
The eco-friendly design recently won the 2023 Best in Show award at the prestigious AmeriStar awards, which are put on by the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP). According to the IoPP, Annie's compostable cup "revolutionizes single-use packaging with technical innovation."
What's the deal with this compostable cup?
After launching its compostable mac and cheese cup in 2021, Annie's helped put consumers in the driver's seat by continuing to evolve its packaging based on their feedback, as the award announcement noted. The result is the holy grail of sustainable food packaging: a single-use cup that is compostable and keeps your mac and cheese warmer for longer.
Not to mention, the compostable cup also reduces carbon pollution associated with the packaging by nearly 50%, according to the IoPP.
Bonus: There's no need to worry that soggy or flimsy packaging might fall apart while you're mid-bite. Annie's implemented a renewable spray that protects against water and prevents mealtimes from getting too greasy. (So say goodbye to worries about toxic "forever chemicals.")
Why is this development encouraging?
Annie's groundbreaking packaging solution isn't just convenient — it's a significant step toward reducing harmful single-use plastic waste and heat-trapping pollution.
Many of us spend our days on the go. But in the search for fast, low-effort solutions, society has generated a bigger problem: vast amounts of single-use waste — much of it plastic that takes tens to hundreds of years to break down. It's also typically made from dirty fuels such as motor oil and gasoline.
According to the U.N. Environment Programme, about 36% of the plastic waste generated annually is produced for packaging purposes. And instead of being recycled, around 85% of that ends up in landfills or as litter (not only polluting our recreational areas but also frequently harming wildlife).
All of that makes Annie's compostable mac and cheese cup a win for both the planet and hungry shoppers. Plus, it helps push Annie's parent company, General Mills, a step closer to its goal of having 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by the end of the decade.
What is Annie's (and General Mills') overall sustainability plan?
Annie's has had its finger on the pulse of eco-friendly practices since it started over 20 years ago — for example, by partnering with farmers who use regenerative practices (which protect soil health and improve food quality) and introducing dairy-free versions of its mac and cheese in 2015.
Sustainable wins for Annie's also help General Mills, which acquired the mac and cheese "bunny of approval" in 2014.
As a food manufacturing giant, General Mills is supporting sustainable farming initiatives as well, and it's working to revolutionize its packaging practices for its other popular brands to reach 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2030. For example, all its Betty Crocker baking mixes now come in completely recyclable packaging.
And for shoppers, General Mills has made it easier to keep packaging out of the trash by adding scannable codes that provide information on how to best recycle their items.
Bottom line: General Mills and Annie's are proving with their award-winning compostable mac and cheese cups that eco-friendly packaging can be just as convenient as the plastics that many of us have become accustomed to — without the nastiness of plastic packages.
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