How long-life milk is preserved
The exhibition follows milk from farm-level hygiene through heat treatment, sealed packaging and recycling. Its displays explain how processing and protective cartons can keep highly perishable foods, including liquid cow's milk, at room temperature for at least six months without artificial chemical preservatives or refrigerated distribution.
On farms, the process includes foremilk stripping and antiseptic preparation of the teats to help control environmental mastitis. Milk then goes into rapid-cooling tanks held at 4°C, limiting microbial growth and stabilizing titratable acidity. At the factory, ultra-high-temperature treatment, or UHT, brings the milk to about 140°C for four seconds before it is filled under aseptic conditions and hermetically sealed.
Each layer of the carton serves a different purpose. Virgin paperboard makes up 72% of the packaging and supplies its stiffness and structure. Low-density polyethylene accounts for 23%, forming seals and keeping out external moisture. The remaining 5% is aluminum, which blocks oxygen and light. Together, the layers prevent light-induced oxidation of riboflavin and protect casein micelles and milk-fat globules during storage and distribution.
Milk distribution and farm finances
UHT processing has made packaged liquid milk more accessible in Mexican communities without continuous commercial refrigeration, including remote settlements, tropical regions and urban outskirts. Processors use multilayer cartons for whole, reduced-fat and lactose-free milk to preserve nutrients and protect against spoilage caused by acidification during distribution.
The same packaging technology also serves lower-priced dairy substitutes and imitations. Traditional shops and supermarkets sell these blends, formulated with hydrogenated palm fats, modified starches and imported dried whey, alongside products made entirely from cow's milk.
IndexBox estimates the value of Mexico's long-life/UHT milk market at $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion in 2026, with volume of 2.4 billion to 2.7 billion liters. That represents roughly 20% to 22% of the country's fluid milk consumption. The market report forecasts compound annual growth of 4.5% to 5.5% from 2026 through 2035.
Food News Latam's account also describes a connection between long-life processing capacity and payments to dairy farmers. Feed, including maize silage, alfalfa hay and commercial protein concentrates, makes up more than 70% of operating costs per liter at specialized dairy farms. When forage production is abundant, logistics disruptions and a lack of factory capacity to process seasonal milk surpluses can push down farm-gate payments.
According to that account, continuous UHT processing and aseptic filling allow processors to accept more milk from family-run and technologically equipped farms. Turning those volumes into shelf-stable inventories can cushion price volatility and help sustain regular payments to producers.
Packaging history and Tetra Pak's Mexican operations
Under the slogan "Protects what's good", Casa Tetra Pak traces the company's multilayer packaging formats back to 1952. Wikipedia's company history dates the business itself to 1951, when AB Tetra Pak was established in Lund, Sweden, as a subsidiary of Åkerlund & Rausing. In 1952, a local Lund dairy received its first filling machine, which produced tetrahedral packages containing 100 ml of cream.
An aseptic version of Tetra Classic arrived in 1961, followed by Tetra Brik Aseptic in 1969. Wikipedia also reports that the Institute of Food Technologists has called aseptic packaging technology the most important food packaging innovation of the 20th century.
Mexico became home to Tetra Pak's first production plant outside Sweden in 1960; a U.S. plant followed in 1962, according to the same company history. Today, its Querétaro facility has capacity for 10 billion cartons a year and employs 470 people, making it the company's second-largest carton packaging plant worldwide. Mexico Business News, citing Tetra Pak's 2025 sustainability report, puts the company's total Mexican workforce at 1,187 across four sites.
Carton recovery, reuse and expansion plans
The exhibition's recycling displays follow used cartons through collection and industrial recovery. Tetra Pak recycled 57,500 metric tons of cartons in Mexico in 2025, a 4% increase from the previous year. Its collection network includes 820 collection centers, 420 strategic partners and 191 green collection points.
Industrial hydropulpers separate the cartons' cellulose fibers mechanically, without corrosive chemicals. Those fibers become corrugated board, toilet paper and notebooks. The polyethylene and aluminum left behind form a material known as polyaluminum, which is fused with heat into sheets for roofing and school furniture.
Mexico Business News notes that the 57,500 metric tons recovered in Mexico in fiscal 2025 represent only a fraction of the 6.878 billion packages Tetra Pak distributed in the country that year. The outlet links that gap to a global shortfall: nearly three-quarters of cartons remain outside formal recycling channels.
Globally, Tetra Pak allocated €42.00 million, about US$48.78 million, in fiscal 2025 to collection and processing infrastructure, according to Mexico Business News reporting on the company's sustainability report. That support contributed to an estimated food-and-beverage carton collection rate of 27%, or roughly 1.3 million metric tons.
In Mexico, Tetra Pak's collaboration with paper manufacturer Bio Pappel aims to bring the national carton recycling rate to 40% within the next few years. The partnership centers on a dedicated carton pulping line with annual capacity of 24,000 metric tons. Tetra Pak says cooperation with companies such as Bio Pappel has resulted in recycling totals exceeding 54,000 tons a year.
