Naturaw is a Yorkshire-based company specialising in ethical, raw pet food. The company has established itself as a leader in responsible sourcing, using high welfare, British meat, and has set itself apart in the pet food market by prioritising sustainability throughout its operations. It is known for partnering on major environmental initiatives and actively supporting reforestation projects, and by collaborating with Parkside it has made sure that its packaging aligns with its ambitious company sustainability goals.
In 2021 Naturaw sought to transition away from its existing packaging design for its range of ethically sourced dog food – a plastic tray with a loose-fitting rigid lid – towards a more sustainable solution. It approached Parkside after being impressed by the company’s superior product capability and sustainability credentials and tasked it with creating a new sealed tray range that better matched its environmental goals.
The challenge
Naturaw’s previous packaging was designed for high barrier functionality, helping to protect the petfood contents and prevent early spoilage. Replacing the solid lid with a compostable film introduced new challenges as compostable films often have inferior moisture and oxygen barrier performance compared with conventional plastic polymer solutions such as PET or PP. In particular, it was essential that the new design offered excellent barrier resistance to grease, oils, and moisture, which are common properties of raw pet foods. Achieving a reliable, peelable seal between film and tray presented a similar challenge, due to the lower melting point associated with compostable materials.
Further challenges emerged around machinability and the actual packing and filling process. Compostable films are often more brittle or stretchy than traditional plastics, complicating high-speed automated sealing lines. Achieving consistent seals without breakage, curling, or shrinkage is a complex adjustment to the packing process. The pack also needed to be easy for consumers to open and dispose, ensuring the bio film would not stick, split, or degrade prematurely during storage and handling.
The Parkside solution
Parkside’s solution for Naturaw involves a comprehensive, bespoke compostable packaging system combining advanced bio-based materials science with real-world food protection and sustainability design requirements. The resulting pack features a home-compostable fibre tray, bio-film lidding, and a sleeve, each engineered specifically to address the technical and environmental demands of raw pet food.
The main tray is produced from pulp sourced from Scandinavian forests certified as carbon positive, ensuring three trees are planted for every one harvested. This fibre-based tray is lined with a unique compostable inner layer that prevents food from sticking and provides barrier performance, while an additional paper base liner aids product release and moisture management. Its tailored laminate structure uses blended biopolymers expertly optimised for burst strength, seal integrity, and product protection, matching or exceeding conventional plastic packaging performance.
The sealed lid is crafted from a thin bio-film comprising a blend of cellulose, cassava, and corn. This film is completely plant-derived yet delivers a transparent, airtight, leakproof seal, offering PET-like protection but without the environmental impact. Parkside’s process ensures that the film is heat-sealable to the fibre tray for a secure, hygienic closure that protects the freshness of high-moisture, high-fat raw food.
Every element of the packaging is certified for home compostability, verified to break down within 26 weeks in a domestic compost heap and within 12 weeks in industrial settings. This solution ensures that trays, lids, and sleeves all naturally degrade, regardless of where they are disposed, without leaving plastic residues or environmental toxins.
The results
For Naturaw, this new packaging design means no compromise is necessary between practical shelf life performance, consumer convenience and ethical responsibility. The solution meets or exceeds current and future regulatory expectations for compostability, while directly responding to environmentally conscious consumer preferences and Naturaw’s B Corp ethos. It positions Naturaw as one of the only UK raw pet food providers offering a genuinely fully compostable pack, reinforcing its identity, and has contributed to Naturaw receiving the King’s Award for Enterprise – Sustainable Development in 2023.
The last word
“Our customers truly appreciate our new packaging – it’s a vital part of our business ethos and helped us achieve B Corp certification in 2022 and the King’s Award for Enterprise in 2023. What sets Naturaw apart is not just the quality of our food, but our unwavering commitment to sustainability. We invite all dog owners to join the rawvolution, because dogs deserve real, ethically sourced food, served in pioneering, compostable packaging – made possible by our long-standing partnership with Parkside.”
Chris Broadbent, Director at Naturaw
