"SunChips" news and stories

PepsiCo has announced that it is developing a new biodegradable bag for its potato chips, and hopefully this time you won't need to put in earplugs before reaching for your favorite salty snack.

The company's most recent efforts to make its packaging more eco-friendly came to a dismal end just last week when PepsiCo's chip maker in the U.S., Frito-Lay, announced that it was ditching biodegradable bags for most varieties of its SunChips and switching back to conventional plastic-based bags.

The move came after a growing chorus of consumer complaints about the bags being ridiculously loud, inspiring Facebook pages with titles like "I wanted SunChips but my roommate was sleeping..." One Air Force pilot measured the crackly crunch of the bags at 95 decibels, or about as loud as a motorcycle.

But PepsiCo hasn't given up on trying to perfect the compostable chip bag, according to BusinessGreen.com. The president of the company's UK division recently said that they're now looking into making biodegradable bags from potato peelings (which seems logical for a potato chip company). He expects that the new bags might be used for some of the company's smaller chip brands (marketed under the name Walkers in Britain) within the next 18 months.

Frito-Lay is dropping their 100% compostable Sun Chips snacks, not out of any concern over whether the bags actually decompose (they do, in an estimated 14 weeks), but because they're insanely loud. Apparently the crinkling is louder than the average potato chip bag -- as proven here -- and sales have dropped 11% since hitting shelves in January.

Video bloggers have taken to the airwaves with their complaints, among them a pilot who likened it to a jet cockpit mid-flight. Okay, we think that's a stretch, but it's true the bag is louder than most. Even so, has a loud pretzel or ruffled chip ever stopped us from snacking before?

Amy Epstein, managing director of the Americas at ABI marketing public relations, explains that a company's decision to go sustainable involves evaluating how much a consumer is willing to sacrifice for a green product. In this case, she says, if the average consumer were a bit more interested in sustainability, maybe they wouldn't mind the sound. Or maybe Frito-Lay should have tested it out more thoroughly during market research. Companies also have retailers pushing for sustainable products, which they believe is a growing market -- so "there's been a slight shift of focus away from the consumer," says Epstein.

ABI helps sustainable-packaging companies meet their market, so she does applaud the company for raising awareness. This move doesn't mean there won't be another compostable chip bag, just maybe one that isn't so loud.

Time to check in with our sister site GreenDaily for some environmental/food news:

• Water bottles: filters on the go; why we probably don't need as much water as everyone says we do

• Produce: not enough land to grow local stuff?; neighborhood gardening; cantaloupe salmonella scare; raw food safety tips; urban agriculture at its finest; try what one poster calls a "superfood berry"; how far has your fruit traveled?
  

• Milk: California might ban it; buy the best container; try organic; consumers fight back

• Chocolate is even better with when it comes complete with antioxidants and carbon offsets

• Junk Food: Cadbury goes green; organic ice cream; Sun Chips get sunnier
  

• Ball parks: all-you-can-eat seating; will the Nationals stadium be named after PETA?