Reusable Trays in beverage logistics: why packaging is a performance asset 

Beverage logistics is one of the most demanding supply chains in the industry. High volumes, heavy products, fast turnover rates, and complex distribution networks place extreme demands on transport packaging. At the same time, costs, regulatory pressure, and sustainability requirements are continuously increasing. 

Against this backdrop, a seemingly simple component of the supply chain is fundamentally changing: transport packaging. Read here how exactly. 

Consumable or strategic asset? 

More and more companies no longer see packaging as a simple consumable, but as a strategic logistics asset. One example is foldable reusable trays, specifically developed for high-volume beverage systems. They demonstrate how cost structure, process stability, and sustainability can be improved simultaneously. 

Traditionally, transport packaging in many companies has been treated as a classic C-part. Purchase price, short-term availability, and simple disposal were the main focus. Today, this thinking falls short. 

In practice, most costs do not arise from purchasing packaging, but from operational use:

 
• product damage due to unstable packaging 
• inefficient transport volume 
• disposal costs at retail level 
• administrative effort 
• replacement procurement due to loss or damage 

Reusable systems shift this logic. They replace variable single-use costs with predictable circulation costs over the entire lifecycle, while simultaneously reducing operational risks. 

A performance lever for the supply chain 

A key shift in perspective lies in how transport packaging is evaluated. Many organizations still compare unit prices. However, for logistics systems, a different metric is crucial: cost per use.

Single-use packaging often achieves only a limited number of cycles. Reusable trays, on the other hand, are designed for repeated use. This fundamentally changes the economic logic. Instead of ongoing procurement, disposal costs, losses, and replacement purchases, predictable circulation costs arise that can be calculated across the entire lifecycle. At the same time, more stable packaging reduces damage, handling effort, and inefficient transport. 

Many companies already achieve a positive return on investment within the first year, as hidden costs become visible and are systematically reduced.

Efficiency in returns: significantly reduced transport volume

A truck delivers several pallets of glass bottles to a filler in the morning. The goods are unloaded, production continues, and the bottles move into the filling line. What remains are empty transport packaging units.

This is the actual problem: empty trays or cardboard solutions accumulate in warehouses or yard areas. At some point, they must be transported back, yet they take up almost as much space as when they were loaded. For logistics, this means trucks carry large volumes back despite being practically empty.

The result is a familiar situation across many supply chains: trucks are mainly transporting air. This leads to hidden costs, such as unnecessary transport kilometers, poor vehicle utilization, and additional storage space in retail or distribution centers.

A significant portion of logistics costs therefore arises not from transporting products, but from returning empty packaging. Foldable reusable trays can be collapsed once unloaded. As a result, return transport volume is not just slightly reduced, but drastically

. 

Suddenly, the same truck can carry a multiple of empty trays. Return transports become more efficient, storage space is reduced, and empty runs are significantly minimized. What was previously a logistical cost burden becomes a manageable part of a closed-loop system. In other words, returning packaging is still necessary, but it is no longer a problem. 

Less damage, greater product safety

Beverage transport, especially involving glass, creates high mechanical stress. Unstable packaging quickly leads to breakage, resulting in claims and additional handling effort. 

Reusable trays are made from impact-resistant high-performance plastics and are designed to withstand high vertical loads. This creates more stable stacking structures during transport and storage. As a result, damage rates and product losses are reduced, leading to greater process reliability across the entire supply chain. Some companies report double-digit reductions in transport damage.

Circular by design: sustainability as a system principle

In addition to cost efficiency, sustainability is becoming increasingly strategic. Companies today must not only reduce costs but also improve their CO₂ footprint across the entire supply chain. Reusable trays therefore follow a clear design principle: circular by design.

The key elements of this approach are: 
• multiple reuse cycles per tray 
• full recyclability at end of life 
• significant reduction of single-use materials 
• lower transport emissions due to foldable design

Each cycle replaces new packaging materials and significantly reduces the CO₂ footprint per use. In some cases, companies have improved their packaging-related CO₂ balance substantially within the first year. Packaging thus becomes a measurable lever for ESG strategies and sustainability goals. 

Packaging as strategic infrastructure

In many companies, discussions about transport packaging have long started the same way: with a simple price question. Procurement compares offers, calculates unit prices, and chooses the cheapest option. Packaging is seen as a typical consumable – necessary, but hardly strategic.

However, as supply chains become more complex, this perspective is changing. Increasingly, it becomes clear that the real costs arise not at the point of purchase, but during ongoing logistics operations: through transport damage, inefficient returns, unstable production processes, or rising regulatory requirements.

As a result, the key decision question shifts. No longer: 
Which packaging is cheaper to purchase? 
But rather: which system sustainably improves the performance of the entire supply chain?

Reusable trays demonstrate how these requirements can be combined within an integrated system. They reduce total costs across the entire lifecycle, stabilize operational processes, and at the same time improve the CO₂ footprint of logistics. 

If you would like to understand the potential within your current transport packaging, we can analyze your existing supply chain together. Speak with our experts free of charge and without obligation about your packaging strategy.