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How a PP-based packaging solution combines sustainability, product protection, and convenience for modern snack concepts
The snack market is growing rapidly. Whether on the go, at the office, during sports, or at home, ready-to-eat products have long been a regular part of everyday life for many consumers. At the same time, expectations for manufacturers and brands are increasing: In addition to convenience and product protection, sustainability, resource efficiency, and recyclability are becoming increasingly important. A joint project by SÜDPACK and Rudolf und Robert Houdek GmbH shows how modern packaging solutions can be adapted to the needs of today and tomorrow.
30/07/2026 
6 min. Snack boom is changing packaging requirements
Why stand-up pouches are so compelling for snack products
Sustainable snack packaging instead of composite material
CarbonLite® Doypack PurePP: Future-ready packaging for meat snacks
Successful collaboration as the key to project success
High barrier and sustainable printing combined
The market for snacks and convenience products continues to grow worldwide. At the same time, consumer behavior is changing. More and more people are reaching for small, ready-to-eat meals between meals, while traditional breaks and fixed mealtimes are becoming less important.
For manufacturers, this trend opens up new growth potential. At the same time, retailers and consumers have rising expectations of the packaging used. Solutions are needed that:
- offer maximum convenience,
- ensure product protection,
- create attractive presentation options at the point of sale,
- save material, and
- meet the requirements of the circular economy.
Especially in snack-to-go packaging, all of these factors must be successfully combined.
For the Kabanos snacks, the choice fell on a recyclable stand-up pouch for snacks with an integrated viewing window and Euro hole.
The packaging concept offers several advantages: The pouches can be displayed both standing and hanging, ensuring high visibility on the shelf. At the same time, the integrated tear notch makes them convenient to handle on the go — an important factor for modern packaging for ready-to-go snacks.
There is also a high level of consumer acceptance. Stand-up pouches are familiar from many product categories and combine convenience with a premium product presentation.
For Houdek, it was clear from the outset that a conventional doypack made from hard-to-recycle composite structures would not align with the company’s sustainability goals.
For years, the family-owned company has pursued the goal of continuously optimizing packaging materials, reducing packaging weights, and gradually improving recyclability.
We want to continuously increase the proportion of recyclable materials while reducing packaging weight. This allows us to conserve resources and avoid unnecessary packaging.
The results of this strategy are already visible: Targeted measures have enabled packaging intensity to be reduced continuously in recent years. Once the potential for material reduction had increasingly been exhausted, improving recyclability moved more clearly into focus.
For implementation, Houdek and SÜDPACK chose the CarbonLite® Doypack PurePP — a PP-based mono-material solution with a high level of recyclability.
The mono-PP structures used already meet the requirements that the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, will place on recyclable plastic packaging in the future.
At the same time, the solution offers the properties that are essential for a pouch packaging solution for meat snacks:
- high product safety,
- reliable aroma protection,
- long shelf life,
- attractive presentation through the viewing window,
- high machinability, and
- efficient material use.
This allows the packaging to combine sustainability and functionality in a single concept.
Developing a recyclable mono-material solution placed high demands on the material, machine parameters, and production processes.
Especially with stand-up pouches made from polypropylene, coordinating the film and packaging equipment is highly important. The material’s comparatively narrow sealing window requires particularly precise process control to ensure secure seals and high packaging quality.
The complexity of the existing packaging line was another factor. Because Houdek uses only one machine to produce the doypacks, extensive testing and sampling were required.
This phase in particular highlighted the value of the long-standing partnership between the two companies. Thanks to close collaboration between SÜDPACK’s application technology team, Houdek, and the machine manufacturers involved, the project was successfully implemented within just a few months.
In addition to recyclability, the packaging’s carbon footprint also plays an important role.
The Kabanos snacks are packaged in a high-barrier material that enables a shelf life of up to 80 days without refrigeration. At the same time, SÜDPACK’s sustainable printing technology, SPQ (Sustainable Print Quality), is used.
Standardized color processes help reduce ink and solvent consumption as well as film waste and energy use. In addition, the technology enables high print quality, excellent color brilliance, and precise register accuracy — important factors for both efficiency and brand presence.
The solution introduced not only provides the functionality required for premium convenience food packaging, but also supports the sustainable direction of the packaging portfolio. For Houdek, the project is therefore only the beginning: Additional product lines are also set to be converted to recyclable packaging solutions in the future.
Stand-up pouches have proven particularly effective for snack products. They combine attractive product presentation with high convenience, low material usage, and good product protection properties.
Stand-up pouches offer high shelf visibility, are easy to transport, and allow the product to be removed easily thanks to tear notches. They are also suitable for a wide range of snack categories.
As consumption of ready-to-eat and to-go products increases, so do requirements for product protection, shelf life, convenience, and sustainability. Packaging must meet all of these needs at the same time.
Recyclable mono-material solutions support the circular economy, improve the recyclability of packaging, and help companies meet regulatory requirements as well as their own sustainability goals.
Mono-PP structures combine high recyclability with good barrier properties, efficient processing, and a future-ready approach in view of upcoming regulatory requirements.
Note: Selected graphics used in this article were created with the support of generative AI.