Tetra Pak Totally Explained

Everything about Tetra Pak totally explained

Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic. The company is part of the Tetra Laval group which also includes Sidel – who specialise in PET bottles – and DeLaval, a producer of dairy farming machinery and food processing equipment.
Ruben Rausing's sons Hans Rausing and Gad Rausing ran Tetra Pak from 1954 until 1985, taking the company from a seven-person concern to one of Sweden's largest corporations. Before his death in 1983, Ruben Rausing was Sweden's richest person.

Overview

Tetra Pak's innovation is in the area of aseptic processing liquid food packaging which, when combined with Ultra-high-temperature processing (UHT), allows liquid food to be packaged and stored under room temperature conditions for up to a year. This allows for perishable goods to be saved and distributed over greater distances without the need for a cool chain.

Products

Tetra Pak's first product was a paper carton used for storing and transporting milk. The first product was a pyramid shaped package, today called "Tetra Classic". Rausing had been working on the design since 1943, and by 1950 had perfected techniques for making his cartons fully airtight, using a system of plastic and aluminium coated paperboard combined with an aseptic filling system. These initial cartons were tetrahedrons, leading to the company's name, derived from "four" in Greek languages Greek. first Tetra Classic package was launched in 1953, and in 1963 the company introduced Tetra Brik, a rectangular carton. Later, Tetra Pak launched other packaging formats such as Tetra Wedge (wedge shaped) and Tetra Fino (Pouch shaped). Tetra Pak also produced other non aseptic packaging systems – including Tetra Rex (gable top), Tetra Top (Paper and plastic moulded in one) and the now discontinued Tetra King. Recent innovations have seen the introduction of laminated paper boxes for vegetables as an alternative to tinned goods. It is claimed that this new product, Tetra Recart, allows for more subtle processing of vegetables than canning permits.

Business and competition

Until recently the company held a monopoly in China, with no alternative suppliers available to Tetra Pak, however in mid 2000, the Tetra Pak monopoly was broken. Other companies producing comparable aseptic beverage carton packagings are SIG with its proprietary Combibloc technology, Tralin Pak with its Tralin Brick Aseptic materials, and Elopak with Pure-Pak. Milliken manufactures a similar packaging system in the US.
Early in 2004 there were reports that the Tanzi family, the owners of the Italian dairy food company Parmalat had benefited from some improper activities. Investigators said the company’s former chief financial officer reported that Parmalat’s packaging supplier, Tetra Pak, had paid the Tanzis millions in kickbacks. Prosecutors said Tanzi admitted shifting some $620 million from Parmalat to his family’s travel businesses. Tetra Pak denied any wrong-doing. It claimed that Parmalat, as a major customer for many years, benefited from marketing support and discounts on packaging material. The discounts to Parmalat, it said, are similar to those that benefit other large customers.

Further Information

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