Paper straws are annoying: Capri-Sun returns to plastic straws
27.8.2024
Translation: machine translated
The paper tube should be removed from the Capri Sun pouch, at least in Switzerland. It annoys customers, says the boss of the cult fruit juice. Instead, the pouch is to become more sustainable.
Bags, fruit juice, lots of sugar and of course: the tube. All of this has been part and parcel of Capri Sun for decades. And yet even a cult drink has to move with the times. For seven years now, the children's fruit juice from Germany has been called Capri-Sun. And the straw has also been adapted. Instead of the plastic straw, which has been banned in the EU since 2021, a paper straw is now attached to the pouch.
But the idea of waste or not - they annoy customers. The paper tubes quickly become soft and transfer the paper flavour to the drink. "This annoys many customers," says Roland Weenig to the Sonntagszeitung, which visited the Capri Sun boss at his headquarters in Baar ZG, Switzerland.
He is therefore not clutching at environmentally conscious straws: the paper tubes are to go. "We are working towards using a recyclable plastic tube again, at least in Switzerland, where, unlike in the EU, the ban does not apply." And doing the same as the competition on supermarket shelves: Migros and Coop sell cheaper own-brand Capri Sun alternatives - with plastic tubes.
Bags for plastic waste instead of household rubbish
Capri-Sun also wants to return to the plastic original in neighbouring countries. To achieve this, Weenig wants to obtain an exemption from the EU Commission. He is convinced: "The ban on plastic tubes is well-intentioned, but in our case it makes no sense at all."
On the topic of sustainability, he starts somewhere else: with the aluminium bag. The aim is to make them recyclable in future. Since the beginning of the year, Capri-Sun has introduced a 330-millilitre drinking bag in Switzerland and other European countries that is made exclusively from polypropylene (PP) plastic. The classic pouch size, 200 millilitres, is also soon to be converted from aluminium to recyclable mono-material. However, if the packaging continues to end up in customers' household rubbish bins instead of in separate plastic waste, this sustainability endeavour will still only be well-intentioned.
Wherever possible, the sugar content remains high
The issue of sugar remains a perennial favourite at Capri-Sun. For years, the fruit juice manufacturer has been publicly criticised for its high sugar content - especially because the product is explicitly aimed at children. Capri-Sun has bowed to the pressure here: on the one hand with a Zero variant.
On the other hand, the 12 grams of sugar have been reduced to between 8.1 and 4.4 grams, depending on the country and the law. In Switzerland, the maximum content of 8.1 grams per 100 millilitres remains; there are still no specifications here.
It's a shame that Capri-Sun is being demonised because of this, says Weenig. "Why should only drinks be almost sugar-free, but not chocolate or ice cream?" But this is the crux of the matter: Sweet drinks are considered particularly unhealthy because a lot of sugar is consumed unconsciously and in a very short space of time.
Header image: Shutterstock/Jose Hernandez Camera 51
Katja Fischer
Senior Editor
Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chMom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.