The confectionery giant has teamed up with Tesco for the trial run of the new design, with more than 200,000 paper tubs set to hit selected Tesco stores from next week.
The move follows Quality Street’s switch to paper wrappers for twist-wrapped individual sweets, rolled out in 2022.
Nestlé described the tub – in the classic Quality Street purple colourway – as having “a luxurious design and feel… embellished with gold foil”.
“The integrated re-close feature of the tub allows it to be securely closed once opened. Once empty it can be put in household recycling.”
The paper composition is 100% virgin fibre corrugated cardboard to meet the legal requirements of food safety and ensure the quality of the products’ taste is not affected by the packaging.
It is fully recyclable through kerbside recycling infrastructure in the UK.
Printweek understands the paper tubs are being produced by Smurfit Westrock.
Quality Street senior brand manager Jemma Handley commented: “We’re looking forward to seeing what Quality Street fans make of the paper tub. A lot of care and hard work has gone into the trial and we’re proud to be the first major manufacturer to trial a paper tub at Christmas.
“The beautiful design has been devised specifically for a paper product and we love how it looks, and of course, shoppers can expect the same great tasting Quality Street sweets that they know and love inside.”
“We know there are some Quality Street fans who, controversially, like to put their wrappers back in the tub once they’ve eaten them – with the paper tub, they can put the paper wrappers back for a good reason – it can go straight into the recycling.”
Quality Street was first sold in its iconic metal tin back in 1936. The brand switched to plastic tubs in the 2010s.
At peak production times up to 12m individual Quality Street sweets at Nestle’s Halifax factory, with millions of tubs despatched in the run-up to Christmas.
Cheryl Allen, head of sustainability – Confectionery Europe at Nestlé, also commented and said: “The Quality Street paper tub is an exciting innovation that we’re really proud of here at Nestlé Confectionery.
“We’re committed to making our packaging more sustainable, keeping in mind the changing needs of shoppers and advancements in technology. Of course, with all potential packaging changes, we want to get it right, so this trial will bring us valuable information to inform our next steps as we keep pushing to reduce our use of virgin plastic.”
The plastic tub, tin, pouch and carton variants of Quality Street will all still be available nationwide.
John Lewis is also offering its personalised Quality Street tin and ‘pick and mix’ service again – including the return of the coffee crème sweet.
Customers who already have a personalised tin can refill them at the pick and mix stations.
