Califia Farms rolls out 100% rPET bottles in North

America
The California plant-based beverages brand is still seeking recycled content
solutions for caps and sleeve labels.

Published Feb. 29, 2024

Maria RachalEditor

Permission granted by Califia Farms

Dive Brief:

• Califia Farms, which makes plant-based beverages, is transitioning its bottles in

the U.S. and Canada to 100% recycled PET. The company previously set goals to
achieve 100% recyclable packaging and use 100% rPET in its bottles by 2030.
• The company has not yet found a cap or sleeve solution made with recycled resins
“that meets all of our internal requirements,” said Ella Rosenbloom, vice
president of sustainability, in an emailed statement. Califia Farms is hoping for
more innovation in the industry “so that one day this can be possible for us.”
• The California-based brand did not disclose which manufacturer is supplying the
bottles, but said it sources recycled material from some of the largest rPET
producers in the U.S. “We have been working closely with our suppliers on the
question of continued availability, especially critical to us because of our
conversion to 100% rPET,” Rosenbloom said.

Dive Insight:

Developing bottles made entirely from recycled plastics has been an attractive target
for brands looking to reduce virgin plastic use in line with corporate goals and to
give consumers a firsthand touchpoint to those sustainability initiatives. Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, Fiji Water and Nestlé Waters are some of the beverage labels that have rolled
out 100% rPET bottles on certain products in specific geographies.

Some brands worry about an adequate rPET supply to support these transitions
going forward and are seeking solutions. At the same time, some reclaimers say
demand for recycled materials has grown slower than expected. For Califia Farms,
long-term contracts and deep relationships make the company “confident that our
demand requirements will be met,” Rosenbloom said.

The North American bottle conversion has already happened for Califia Farms,
whose product offerings include oat milk, almond milk and coffee creamers. The
company still plans to refresh the packaging with QR codes leading to information
for consumers about the rPET transition.

“By moving to 100% rPET for our iconic curvy bottle, we’re taking a major step in
reducing our reliance on virgin plastic and advancing the principles of a circular
economy,” CEO Dave Ritterbush said in a press release Tuesday.

Califia Farms estimates that efforts to lightweight its packaging — including bottles,
caps and labels — between 2019 and 2023 collectively avoided the production of 4
million pounds of plastic. According to the company’s 2022 sustainability report,
packaging accounts for 33% of its scope 3 emissions.

That year, Califia Farms had projects to change the caps on multiple products to
smaller versions and began working with a co-manufacturer to lightweight its
bottles. Also in 2022, Califia Farms updated its labels. The PET shrink film sleeves
allow the bottles to be sorted into the proper stream at recycling facilities.
In 2023 the company completed the conversion of all of its shrink sleeves to have
washable inks, Rosenbloom said.

“During the recycling process, the inks release from the label, creating a clean
stream of clear PET flakes. When this is achieved, our label can then be recycled
with the bottle flake, boosting recycling yield and diverting packaging waste from
landfills,” the company wrote in the 2022 report. “This means no need to remove
labels from our bottles before tossing in your recycling bin.”

Aside from plastic bottles, the company has also sold barista blend beverages in
Tetra Pak cartons. The 2022 report said the cartons were more than 70%
paperboard by weight and the the cap and carton coating were made from
sugarcane.