Sustainable bulk-packaging system for sugar shipping : case study of the enterprise leader in Europe

From 2002 to today, world sugar production has steadily increased due to higher food consumption and biofuel production. Furthermore, in the European Union, the CAP 2014-2020 new reform abolished the system of production and sugar exportation quotas by 1 October 2017. Therefore, since that date, the international sugar exchange has significantly increased in light of these new structural and political-economic conditions. Thus, companies offering a new bulk-packaging technology for international shipping could increase their market success. At the same time, the possibility for the same buyers (from sugar producers to logistic agencies) to use a safer and more sustainable packaging system has become important for economic and environmental cost reduction. The present study aims at presenting the experience of a small Italian enterprise that became a European leader in this sector due to its patents concerning a new, more efficient and sustainable product for bulk sugar transport in containers. This technological innovation represents not only a noteworthy sustainable business strategy for becoming more competitive in the market, but also a system for ensuring more effective sugar transport, mainly for the reduction in management costs (up to 65%) for buyers.