On a street dotted with eateries and watering holes in Guangzhou, Roberto Guidetti walked into a restaurant looking for a meal with his colleagues while on a business trip.

He subconsciously began observing what everyone had been drinking and noticed glass bottles filled with a light white liquid on many tables.

It intrigued Guidetti a bit. "Maybe I should try it," he told himself.

Born in Bologna, the Italian entrepreneur had never been aware of the popularity of soy milk as plain milk wasn't that developed at that time in Western countries. Surprisingly, he found the drink in the glass bottle tasted similar to dairy and "quite nice" too.

That was how Guidetti's story with Vitasoy began. Years later, the group behind the glass-bottled soy milk invited him to its fold as chief executive of Hong Kong-based Vitasoy International Holdings.

Soy milk and malt soy milk in glass bottles are still available in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland today. But more than two thirds of the products are packaged in Tetra Pak cartons.

The carton packaging technology was introduced in 1975, using ultra-high temperature sterilization to give products a shelf life of one year without adding additives. In this way, beverages can be stored without refrigeration and easily shipped abroad.

"You cannot do it in a glass bottle. Glass bottles are only normally used in either restaurants or in general trade, like small shops," Guidetti explains. "This is why packaging for most products has become cartons over time, although we started from glass bottles."

Green activists found fault with the group for using too much Tetra Pak paper, but Guidetti says that, last year, about 91 percent of the paper Vitasoy uses comes from forests that are tracked to be managed in a sustainable manner by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The group is more focused on wastage of carbons currently and is engaged in building a waste management system with the government.

"We're thinking more about what is the right balance (of different packages) not only from a business point of view, but also from a sustainability point of view," says Guidetti.

However, glass-bottle packages will not disappear in the market overnight. People can still find their taste of childhood in the city.

edithlu@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 07/27/2018 page10)