The Future of Frozen Dessert Packaging: Why Home Compostability Matters More Than Ever

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Packaging may not be the star of the show—but in the food industry, it’s the backbone that ensures safety, quality, shelf life, convenience, cost-effective distribution, and, most importantly, brand identity and communication.

This is especially true in the frozen food market, where the global frozen food packaging market is projected to reach USD 56.2 billion by 2028. Looking further ahead, the broader global food packaging industry is expected to hit USD 592.8 billion by 2032. These monumental figures signal not only growth, but urgency—because packaging plays a vital role in how responsibly (or irresponsibly) that growth evolves.

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The Packaging Problem: A Global Challenge We Can’t Ignore

Each year, over two billion metric tons of unsustainable municipal waste are generated globally—waste that breaks down in the environment, leaks into ecosystems, contributes to climate change, and harms wildlife and human health.

We are, quite literally, creating more trash than ever. At the same time, our current packaging and waste systems aren’t sustainable—and incremental improvements aren’t enough.

Thankfully, forward-thinking companies across the frozen dessert industry are stepping up. One standout example is smart wood—the world’s leading manufacturer of food-grade beech wooden sticks. Its recent achievement of NF T51-800 Home Compost Certification marks a meaningful shift toward packaging solutions that not only protect product quality but also reduce environmental impact and support a more circular future.

Consumer Perception of Environmentally Friendly Packaging: A Complex Picture

According to McKinsey’s 2025 consumer survey, only about one-third of consumers ranked environmental factors as “very important” or “somewhat important” to their purchasing decisions. This is significantly lower than the weight they give to price, quality, and convenience.

But when asked who is most responsible for driving sustainability in packaging, consumers overwhelmingly shift responsibility upstream:

• Nearly 70% of U.S. consumers believe brands or packaging producers should take the lead.

• Only 10% see themselves as primarily responsible.

“Consumers are right. In light of what we now know about planetary health, it is we—the people behind the retail shelves—who carry the responsibility to empower safer choices,” agrees Francesca Resta, Group Strategic and Innovation Manager at smart wood and smart break.

In other words, real change must be designed into products long before consumers encounter them. And this is where smart wood’s newest milestone comes in.

Introducing smart wood’s Major Announcement: NF T51-800 Home Compost Certification

In a recent LinkedIn post, smart wood announced that its entire wood product range has been independently tested by an external French laboratory and awarded NF T51-800 Home Compost Certification. Recognized as one of the most rigorous and credible compostability standards available, this certification represents a significant milestone for the company.

Naturally, smart wood was eager to share this achievement with us—and by extension, with you, our broader ecosystem. After all, many of you are actively exploring more sustainable packaging solutions and will be keen to understand the certified, home-compostable options now available for your ice cream and frozen dessert sticks.

To understand why this certification matters so deeply, it’s essential to explore what sets home compostable packaging apart from recyclable or industrially compostable alternatives.

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A Closer Look at Degradation Pathways

Recycling systems vary dramatically by country and even by municipality. For many materials—especially mixed-material packaging—recycling isn’t a reliable end-of-life solution. And with less than a quarter of municipal waste globally being recycled, it’s clear that recycling alone cannot address the growing packaging crisis.

Enter compostable solutions.

Industrial compostability relies on high heat and specialized facilities, enabling materials to achieve up to 90% biodegradation within approximately six months. This differs from home compostability, where materials are designed to fully break down in low-temperature, real-world home composting environments.

Spotlight on smart wood: What This Certification Means in Practice

smart wood’s NF T51-800 certification applies across its complete wooden product portfolio, including numerous wooden spoon options. This certification guarantees that the company’s products:

• Naturally degrade at home without requiring industrial facilities,

• Are safe for soil, plants, and ecosystems,

• Contain no harmful additives or contaminants, and

• Contribute to a circular, low-impact lifecycle.

In short: smart wood products respect the planet—even after use.

“All our sticks’ wax coatings are 100% vegetable-based, not mineral-based, ensuring compatibility with compost processes,” Resta explains. “An independent external lab validated our materials and concluded that our certification applies to every format (not just a single SKU), and even our new QR-branded sticks!”

The investment in sustainability is already evident in the company’s earlier innovations, from their thoughtfully engineered wooden spoons to their beechwood ice cream sticks, prized for their durability, food safety, and sustainability.

A Call to Action for Frozen Dessert Manufacturers and Retail Buyers

Along with brand owners and packaging producers, Innodelice helps enable better choices at every step of the value chain. If nothing changes, global waste is projected to reach 3.78 billion metric tons by 2050—an increase of 1.66 billion metric tons from 2020.

And yet, despite these alarming insights, behavior change is not happening fast enough. This is why solutions like home compostable wooden sticks, spoons, and stirrers matter:

• They make selecting better choices easy and work within existing consumer behavior patterns,

• They reduce environmental harm even when waste is disposed of imperfectly,

• They eliminate the need for specialized infrastructure, and

• They shift responsibility upstream—where it belongs.

Home compostable packaging isn’t a trend—it’s a responsible evolution. It’s time for all of us—brands, manufacturers, and retail buyers—to make the best packaging decisions we can. Because when we choose materials designed to return safely to nature, we make it easier for consumers to make better choices.

Reach out directly to smart wood or contact us at Innodelice, to learn more about home compostable packaging.

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ABOUT INNODELICE  

Founded by former executives in the ice cream industry, INNODELICE aims to create a worldwide ecosystem of solutions within the frozen dessert industry. Thanks to the relationships fostered by INNODELICE, manufacturers, brands, importers, distributors, and suppliers can discover, buy, and sell solutions to grow their businesses. These solutions include co-manufactured and branded products and innovative and competitive ingredients, packaging, and services. Our collaboration model generates lower costs and fewer risks for our participating partners while optimizing their time to market. To learn more about INNODELICE, email andrea.montreuil@innodelice.com or visit www.innodelice.com. 

ABOUT SMART WOOD 

smart wood is proud to be a family-owned company that has become the world’s leading manufacturer of food grade wooden sticks (ice-cream, coffee stirrers, wooden skewers). Almost 100 years of experience in being attentive to their customer’s needs, has enabled us to become an essential partner in this markets. 

Founded in 1928 in Saint-Sauveur, France, our story began with a small local manufacturing site of wooden articles for shoes. The end of the second world war in 1945, market the beginning of our production of grade wooden sticks. In 1990, smart wood launched the paddle stick and the story of our international footprint began.