The Compostable SunChips Bag Resurrection

The almighty snack food gods have spoken and everyone's favorite noisy and compostable bag has been brought back to life.

(And the choir rejoiced.)

Frito-Lay decided to let the bag go up in flames last fall, but it wouldn't be for good. The snack company redesigned the compostable packaging and the new quieter bags will be used with original flavor SunChips until user feedback determines if the bag is here to stay.

GreenBiz says,

The company's bold foray into compostable packaging in 2009, the first of its kind among major U.S. snack makers, was brought to a halt last year by consumer complaints that the bags were simply too loud.

Frito-Lay attributed the noise to the compostable materials in the bags, but the backlash was so strong, Sun Chips switched back to non-compostable bags for all but its original flavor.

Since it pulled the compostable bags in October last year, the company, and its owner, PepsiCo, searched for a quieter bag, reports The Associated Press.

The solution came from using a different adhesive to hold together layers in the bag, acting as a buffer and making the packaging again as quiet as most chip bags.

It's possible that this quieter bag may actually be a hindrance to widespread acceptance of the compostable packaging. After all, amidst the bad press, we didn't think the original bag made ENOUGH noise.

What do you think?

[Photo: anotherkindofdrew/Flickr]