Quality Street makes major change to tubs again despite customer backlash
Last year, more than 200,000 paper tubs were issued to select Tesco stores, carrying around 150 tonnes of the Quality Street sweets in total
Nestle has made a big change to its Quality Street tubs for the second year running.
The chocolate maker has confirmed its Quality Street chocolates will once again be sold in paper tubs. It comes as part of wider plans by Nestle to make all of its packaging recyclable by 2025.
Nestle first introduced the eco-friendly, eight-sided paper tubs last year, with shoppers divided by the change.
One shopper said last year: "Please bring back tins! They were so multipurpose." While others were in favour of the new design, with one person saying: "This is a great idea."
Shoppers will be able to purchase the paper Quality Street tubs in selected Tesco stores from this October. The plastic tubs will also still be available to purchase.
A Nestle spokesperson told The Sun: “We’re delighted to confirm that Quality Street is bringing back paper tubs in selected Tesco stores this Christmas.
“The brand continues to evaluate the tub’s popularity with shoppers, maintaining a view on innovative ways to improve the sustainability of its packaging.”
Last year, more than 200,000 paper tubs were issued to select Tesco stores, carrying around 150 tonnes of the Quality Street sweets in total.
At the time, Nestle said the paper tub still has a luxury design and feel, as it is embellished with gold foil. The tub also has a re-close feature, and once empty, households can throw it into their recycling bin.
Quality Street replaced its colourful plastic wrappers with recyclable paper ones in 2022.
Jemma Handley, Senior Brand Manager for Quality Street, said last year: “A lot of care and hard work has gone into the trial and we’re proud to be the first major manufacturer to trial a paper tub at Christmas.
“The beautiful design has been devised specifically for a paper product and we love how it looks, and of course, shoppers can expect the same great tasting Quality Street sweets that they know and love inside.
“We know there are some Quality Street fans who, controversially, like to put their wrappers back in the tub once they’ve eaten them - with the paper tub, they can put the paper wrappers back for a good reason - it can go straight into the recycling.”
Cheryl Allen, Head of Sustainability – Confectionery Europe at Nestle, said last year: “The Quality Street paper tub is an exciting innovation that we’re really proud of here at Nestle Confectionery.
“We’re committed to making our packaging more sustainable, keeping in mind the changing needs of shoppers and advancements in technology.
“Of course, with all potential packaging changes, we want to get it right, so this trial will bring us valuable information to inform our next steps as we keep pushing to reduce our use of virgin plastic.”
