Category: News

At Alexir Partnership, sustainability isn’t layered on at the end. It’s part of the foundation of each project we enter and shapes how we design, source, test and manufacture packaging.

Sustainable design is complex. It requires balancing functionality, recyclability, food safety, legislation and commercial viability. It demands technical knowledge, responsiveness and the confidence to challenge existing norms. But where there’s a will, we’ll find the way.

Considerations for sustainable packaging design

Designing sustainable food packaging comes with real technical constraints.

Reducing plastic

Cuan, our Technical Sales Manager explains:
“The biggest challenge is the plastic content in the products. We try as far as possible to limit or reduce the amount of plastic, while still keeping it a functional pack.”

In many food applications, particularly modified atmosphere packaging, plastic plays a critical role in maintaining shelf life and preventing gas leakage. Reducing plastic content cannot compromise product integrity.

Legislation also shifts quickly. “Previously the plastic content could be under 10% to be considered kerbside recyclable. But they’re soon to reduce it to below 5%,” Cuan explains.

A single regulatory change can alter the recyclability status of a format. Sustainable packaging design therefore has to be agile and forward-thinking.

Product visibility

Visibility is another key consideration where retailers and consumers often want to see the product. But larger windows increase plastic usage. Our teams regularly advise on reducing window size and increasing recycled content, but where windows are essential, we’re constantly watching and testing advancements in organic materials that could one day replace plastic altogether.

We know that our clients are on the constant look out for sustainable solutions, with high-volume searches on search engines for sustainability including:

• Plastic free packaging
• Paper food packaging alternative
• Compostable packaging UK
• Biodegradable food trays
• Cardboard instead of plastic packaging

Our aim is to deliver on each of these points. We’re making great inroads…

Halopack: reducing plastic without sacrificing performance

Alexir is Halopack’s sole UK partner and we’ve worked with Halopack since 2015, holding a close relationship with the global Halopack network.
Halopack offers a huge sustainability win for brands. As Cuan summarises:

“It’s 90% recyclable, so once you remove the film, the bigger part of the packaging just goes straight through the recycling process.”

Regulatory changes in sustainable packaging

Recyclability depends not only on material composition but also on regulatory thresholds. The upcoming changes reducing the plastic content limit from 10% to 5% will present new challenges, particularly for ovenable packs, where film can bond to board at high temperatures.

Rather than retreat, we’re currently working directly with film producers to reduce plastic content further while maintaining modified atmosphere functionality. This includes testing on a current project that has reduced plastic content below 5% while retaining performance.

Innovation is strengthened through collaboration. Through the Halopack global portal, technical learnings and trial data are shared internationally.

“We actually have an online portal where we share information, we can share our learnings and hear about successes from around the world that we can replicate.”

This shared innovation network ensures UK clients benefit from global insight while contributing to wider industry progress.

StackPack: expanding sustainable formats into snacking

StackPack is another card-based product. It was originally developed for the fresh produce market and we’ve worked with this format for the release of breakthrough products such as Boombites, a hybrid of the grape entering the ‘superfood’ market.

We’re working with brands to deliver this innovation into the wider snacking market, replacing more plastic-intensive alternatives with carton formats. This includes partnering with Marks & Spencer as they advance their own sustainability goals, and supporting Tesco in transitioning snacking sausage rolls and pork products into cartons, helping to remove plastic from the market.

With the right partners, sustainable packaging formats can scale beyond niche applications into mainstream retail categories.

Moving away from forever material

Reducing plastic is only part of the equation. Replacing it responsibly is equally important.
Alexir is actively seeking alternatives to long-lasting synthetic materials. One current development involves a starch-based coating created with an innovative supplier.
This coating:

• Is applied during the print processActs as a moisture and grease barrier
• Contains no plastic
• Is fully recyclable and dissolvable

As Cuan explains:
“It’s almost like an ink – it’s a coating that just seals and there’s no plastic whatsoever. It’s 100% recyclable.”
And because sustainable innovation must perform technically as well as environmentally, all materials are independently tested for compliance with food contact regulations including EC 1935/2004 and EU 10/2011.

From concept to credible prototype

One thing that sets Alexir Partnership apart when it comes to sustainable packaging design is our ability to deliver fully branded prototype packs within a week. Where once clients were presented with unprinted board mock-ups, Alexir now produces fully branded prototype packs in as little as seven days. These prototypes reflect the final in-store appearance and allow brands to assess structure, branding and format in realistic conditions.

“We can basically give you a finished looking product within the week… it’s what you will see in-store.”

This capability is powered by the integration of creative, pre-press, print and co-packing expertise within the business and enables brands to trial sustainable packaging formats quickly and refine before scaling.

Proven in practice

Our Itsu case study demonstrates how structural redesign can deliver both environmental and commercial benefits. It is a clear example of how creative packaging engineering and sustainable thinking work together.

View Case Study

Want to explore what’s possible?

If you’re looking to reduce plastic content, trial plant-based coatings or develop carton-based alternatives, we’re ready to support you.
Our integrated creative and manufacturing capabilities allow us to design, test and develop sustainable packaging solutions that perform in the real world. Contact us to discuss what is possible.

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For a long time, the packaging and co-packing sector has looked and acted much the same – conservative and constrained. But over the last five years, Alexir Partnership has been evolving… 

Becoming employee-owned in 2019 was a defining moment that reshaped not just the ownership structure, but the mindset of the business. Alongside that shift came a clear five-year strategy: to establish Alexir as one of the UK’s leading independent players, offering a genuinely end-to-end service from design to delivery.

Stepping into a class of our own

In this time, we have changed fundamentally in ownership, ambition, capability, and culture. The earlier version of the business was primarily known for cartons and co-packing. Alexir today is much broader, more joined up and deeply collaborative, with the capabilities of creative development, sourcing, manufacturing, co-packing and delivery all within one slick establishment.

So in 2025 we embarked on an ambitious rebrand, not to reinvent for the sake of it, but to align and showcase our unique proposition – a brand that has set and achieved bold ambitions, strengthened our capabilities and elevated to a class of our own in the sector. 

We wanted the new brand to:

• Align how Alexir looks with how it works
• Align perception with reality
• Give customers, partners and prospective collaborators a clearer view of what Alexir really is today and where it is heading next.

The result is a vibrant visual and messaging approach that redefines Alexir Partnership’s place in the sector, while better supporting clients’ needs through clearer communication across all digital and physical platforms.

Jeremy Keable, Alexir Partnership Managing Director explains: 

“The rebrand marks the beginning of Alexir’s next phase, finally reflecting its true capabilities. For years, Alexir’s reputation has been strong, but narrow: known as a “packaging company”, or a “co-packer”. But the reality now is much greater. Alexir works with brands and retailers facing complex commercial challenges: category expansion, new product formats, fixture disruption, and operational constraints that cannot be solved by shaving pennies off packaging costs”. 

“We are the experts trusted by some of the biggest brands in the world to deliver high quality, innovative and reliable solutions. The new brand reflects the scale of thinking, the commercial problem solving, or the partnership approach that defines how Alexir works day-to-day”.

“Our Partnership Values extend beyond our colleagues, to our Customers.  We look to develop a lasting Partnership with our Customers, by understanding their business needs and working together to develop their products.  In doing so we strive to give you high service levels and support so you can focus on your business and its growth”.

 “Alexir is a special place to work, and a special Business to work with”.

Delivering confidence, clarity, and credibility before first contact

In a market where buying journeys now start online, often late at night, long before a first conversation, that gap mattered.

Today’s buyers do not pick up the phone to ask what you do. They research, they explore, and they assess credibility before contact. The way you show up online matters just as much as how you show up on the shelf.

The new Alexir brand is a full identity across digital and physical assets designed to meet that reality head on: a new website designed around our clients’ needs, stronger articulation of services, and a bold visual identity that signals the innovation, confidence and competence that comes with decades in the field.

It is a brand that says:

• We understand complex problems.
• We work across disciplines.
• We are serious about outcomes, and enjoyable to work with too.

Defined by our difference

Alexir did not set out to look different for the sake of it. The truth is, the partnership is different – it’s completely unique in structure, in culture, and in how it partners with clients. The new brand, both visually and in narrative, reflects that in a number of ways.

From the outset, the creative direction was shaped by one simple idea: ‘Stand Out’. Not as a slogan designed to grab attention, but as a reflection of what Alexir is – a unique and bold player in a market that can otherwise be defined as beige. Stand out also signifies what Alexir does every day – helping brands stand out on shelf, in category, and in increasingly competitive markets.

Proud to stand out

This brand overhaul refresh is a revolution, not to become something new, but to be seen properly – as a business that has evolved, matured, and earned the right to stand confidently in its space, as a partner that brings together creativity, capability and commercial nouse, and as a team that takes its work seriously, without taking itself too seriously.

So now we present the Alexir Partnership of today – proud to Stand Out.