In a bold move to elevate the visual identity of Italian sparkling wines, Gentlebrand has unveiled an elegant new bottle design for Brilla Still, a premium line developed for Argea one of Italy’s most prominent wine groups. This innovative packaging reflects both timeless luxury and modern brand positioning, offering a refined presence on the shelf and a richer experience in the glass.

The London Marathon is rightly celebrated for endurance, fundraising, and community spirit. It has also made progress on reducing event waste. But one growing sustainability blind spot that receives far less attention is running gel packaging.

With around 60,000 runners expected to take part in the 2026 London Marathon, and an estimated 72% using energy gels, as many as 432,000 hydration gel sachets could be used during the race.

“Now that we use Pulp Ultra®, everything about how we produce our meals and everything about the child's experience in school is completely different and worlds apart from where we were prior to working with Sabert.”

Sabert Corporation Europe has delivered a unique solution for children’s ready-meals for Irish school meals provider, Carambola.

Tracking freshness from inside the packaging

BlakBear’s technology uses miniature sensors placed inside food packaging to monitor freshness in real time. These sensors measure gases released as food spoils, such as volatile compounds like ammonia, as well as temperature. The data is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth and RFID, and displayed on a web dashboard or API. By correlating spoilage gases with bacterial growth and odour, BlakBear’s AI delivers real-time microbiology insights and shelf-life forecasts.

Under the terms of the agreement, Soteria will acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of Imaflex for CAD $2.35 per share in cash, representing total equity value of approximately CAD $123 million. Upon completion of the transaction, Imaflex will become a privately held company.

In a bold stride toward packaging sustainability, Coveris has launched BarrierFresh MAP, a game changing board based tray solution designed for the meat, fish, and poultry (MFP) sector. This innovative packaging reduces plastic content by up to 90%, all while preserving shelf-life, product protection, and full recyclability.

About 30% of plastics consumed are made to last forever but are discarded after a single use. Researchers at Virginia Tech are working to change that with a new approach that could make environmentally responsible packaging more practical at scale.

A team in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials developed a water-based process to create multilayer bioplastic films that are both high-performing and easier to manufacture. The method avoids toxic solvents and matches current industrial production speeds, making it viable for real-world use.