Stora Enso said its new Ensocoat meets the performance and visual needs of the high-end packaging sector in the terms of cosmetics, perfumes and luxury packaging and for premium chocolate, wine and spirit brands.
The company said that the development project regarding the paperboard started in early 2009, with trial runs on the board machine at its Imatra Mills facility demonstrating consistently high quality in terms of performance parameters from batch to batch.
Moreover, said the company, printing trials were conducted in collaboration with high-end package converters and graphical board customers showed that Ensocoat enables various finishing methods such as foil lamination or embossing.
Packaging material that is odour and taste neutral is vital for use with delicate products such as chocolate and the firm said that the new paperboard scored a maximum 0.5 value in the Robinson matrix test, the prevailing sensory testing method for chocolate.
The company argues that paperboard packages tick all the boxes in terms of sustainability and are well positioned to mitigate climate change as they are based on renewable resources, and are sourced from sustainably managed forests where continuous growth is guaranteed. Growing forests store carbon effectively, states the paperboard supplier.
ConfectioneryNews.com recently reported on the trend for multisensoric packaging which the organisers of Pro Sweets highlighted as informing packaging developments for 2010.
Such packaging aims to arouse emotions in consumers to encourage purchase and examples include elements such as striking colour schemes, windows to view the product, exciting rustling sounds and foldout trays.
The team behind the Cologne event said that, as a result, the confectionery industry is increasingly focused on touch, sight and sound finished packaging elements such as foil lamination, textured embossing, and varnishes, with the colour white being the new black in terms of the premium end of confectionery containers.
Meanwhile, material downsizing and the use of environmentally friendly, favourably certified packaging materials continue to be a key sweet and chocolate packaging trend, as environmental groups and consumers call for less waste and material use in sweet and bar wrappers.