etra Pak Inc. was trying hard to think outside the box — which is not easy for the Vernon Hills, IL-based U.S. operation for Tetra Pak International S.A. After all, in 2007 the company manufactured 137 billion of its unique box-like paper cartons, which allow liquids such as milk and orange juice to be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Now, with 22 billion of those cartons recycled annually and a record of earth-friendly initiatives, Tetra Pak wanted its trade show exhibit to reflect its positioning as a company that promotes sustainable manufacturing practices. “This message is the core of our strategy for the next few years,” says Nina Westberg, senior marketing specialist for the company.

	By integrating its own eco-friendly product into its exhibit design, Tetra Pak Inc. not only highlighted its Green efforts, it also conveyed key brand messages.

“It’s important our booth reflects that for key shows, including the Natural Products Expo West/Supply Expo.”

But with more than 52,000 retailers and manufacturers attending the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, CA, the country’s largest trade show in the natural products industry, Tetra Pak needed to stand out. The industry had mushroomed nearly 55 percent from $36.4 billion in 2002 to $56.7 billion in 2007, representing a market ripe with opportunity. But the 2008 show had a record 3,392 exhibits, many of which had gone Green and were shouting their eco-friendly claims from the treetops. “Tetra Pak was looking for a different way to exhibit,” says Tim Hamann, an account executive at the Denver division of Chicago-headquartered Czarnowski Inc., which designed the booth. “The key was the materials and how we would use them.”

Tetra Pak rounded up the usual sustainable suspects to convey its Greenness in the 20-by-40-foot exhibit: recyclable aluminum, Plyboo (a plywood alternative derived from bamboo) and water-based finishes for the counters and product-information stations, along with bamboo and recycled/recyclable carpet for flooring. It also used energy-efficient LEDs in the booth’s six light fixtures. But while once exotic, these materials are now almost commonplace, and not necessarily enough to make attendees perceive you as nature nurturing in a show where almost 100 exhibitors use some form of the words “Green,” “Natural,” or “Organic” in their company names.

FAST FACT Tetra Pak Inc. opted for six iPods instead of using energy-guzzling LCD or plasma monitors to display product information.

So Tetra Pak bolted in front of the pack by integrating its eco-friendly — and historic — packages into the booth’s design. The iconic carton was once included in an exhibition of “inspired designs” defining everyday life at the Museum of Modern

Art in New York, and for the exhibit, nearly 150 of the cartons were strung together into a striking 14-by-16-foot juice-box curtain — which became an instant draw for attendees, who could then learn from company staffers about how every Tetra Pak carton is just 7 percent packaging and 93 percent product, while a glass container is almost 40 percent packaging and 60 percent product. By using its own sustainable product as part of the design, Tetra Pak didn’t just go Green for Green’s sake, it did so in a way that made sense for its brand and incorporated its key messages.

Next to the curtain was a product wall with almost 80 samples of consumer items from an array of companies that package their products in Tetra Pak cartons, backed by a thick covering of real oak leaves. Overhead, an artfully cut Plyboo structure simulated the view of looking up through a canopy of tree branches, while nearby Plyboo boxes with live wheat grass and a real oak tree at the three product stations conveyed an au naturel feel. Instead of energy-guzzling plasma screens or LCD monitors, Tetra Pak used six iPods, placed at the product stations, to communicate its story with three short videos on each iPod about its products as well as their environmental sustainability.

Unlike some companies in their early Greening efforts, Tetra Pak had firm environmental goals for the booth. To increase brand awareness and communicate new environmental positioning to the press, it hoped for coverage from six media outlets, but received 14 interviews with publications such as Beverage Industry Magazine, more than twice its goal.

By uniquely blending Green messaging into its branding and products, Tetra Pak avoided the gratuitously Green vibe many companies’ eco-friendly efforts give off, and achieved the kinds of results that won’t have it packing in its sustainable booth any time soon.