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Glenisk Organic Yogurt Drinks

Our children have gone doolalley crazy about the new Glenisk yogurt drinks; creamy dreamy bottles of organic loveliness. The only problem is that they scoff so many, and then we have a load of smart little plastic bottles left. We asked Vincent Cleary for his thoughts on the glass vs plastic debate.

Dear Sally,

Great to hear that your children like the new drinks. Our innovations have been lauded for introducing more & more "conventional" consumers to Organic exposure. To paraphrase someone or other this is known as the "step" approach. Whereby, you present the Consumer something different in an acceptable format and then slowly tweak the product in the desired direction.

Glass I'm afraid isn't all that it's cracked up to be (pardon the pun). Apparently, to recycle glass back into Food-Usage the electricity demand required is so great (in order to sterilise) that it outstrips any gain over plastic.

Secondly, the Chemical Agents used in the sterilisation process require further processing and are deemed a by-product of the process.

Thirdly, Glass is significantly heavier, cumbersome and dangerous (yes indeed, the Food Safety Authority and others would gladly tell you of the dangers associated with handling glass in a Food Facility - it tends to break!) - these all carry cost implications insofar as that food miles are increased because less can be carried, etc.

We use HDPE which has being given a Recyclable Grade 2 status. We are now using a predominately one colour process - which means that when Ireland reaches German standards of recycling, our White (which was different colours during start-up trials) bottle will be permitted along with the clear-plastic recycle bin. I personally believe that plastics can enjoy a longer life in recycling than glass, as the only real current usage for recycled glass is road-filling and limited usage at that too. Whereas recycled plastic could have limitless uses if done correctly.

Anyway Sally, the debate continues...

Kindest regards,
Vincent,
Glenisk.
vincent@glenisk.com

Become a Cheesemaker

Anne and Luc van Kampen are selling the right to make their gorgeous, award-winning farmhouse goats cheeses, Mine Gabhar and Croghan. The success of the cheeses is such that the van Kampen's need to wind back after two decades of making two of the most distinctive and critically regarded cheeses in Ireland.

Purchasers get the right to make the cheeses along with the recipes, the customer base and consultancy from the van Kampen's. Find out more on their site at http://croghan.netfirms.com which outlines the various aspects of the sale, which could include the farm and herd along with the intellectual property.