Weekly Roundup: Carlsberg’s Chinese New Year design, Sealed Air acquires Foxpak

04 Feb 2022 --- In packaging news this week, Carlsberg celebrated Chinese New Year with limited edition packaging designed by world-renowned illustrator Victo Ngai. Also, Sealed Air acquired Foxpak, an Irish company known for pioneering digital printing for flexible packaging, and Metsä Board created golf ball packaging that can be reused as an insect hotel.

In brief: Limited edition design
Carlsberg celebrated Chinese New Year with limited edition packaging designed by world-renowned illustrator Victo Ngai. “We are thrilled to work with Victo to bring to life the limited edition packaging to usher in the Year of the Tiger. This packaging represents our best wishes to our consumers for a smooth and better 2022,” said Andrew Khan, VP of marketing at Carlsberg China. The limited edition packaging is based on a Victo Ngai painting, following the theme of starting a smooth new year and the celebration of Spring and new prosperity. The palette is inspired by the Carlsberg greens and Chinese New Year festivities.

In brief: Acquisition and expansion
Sealed Air acquired Foxpak Flexibles, under SEE Ventures, its initiative for investing in disruptive technologies and business models to accelerate growth. Foxpak, a privately-owned Irish packaging solutions company, pioneered the development of digital printing on flexible packaging, says Sealed Air. Foxpak partners with leading brands to deliver highly decorated packaging solutions, stand-up and spout pouches, and sachets that serve various markets, including food retail, pet food, seafood, and snacks.Schwarz Group has developed Silphie-paper packaging.

WestRock announced plans to build a new corrugated box plant in Longview, Washington, US, to meet the growing demand from WestRock’s regional customers in the Pacific Northwest. “WestRock’s corrugated packaging business in the Pacific Northwest continues to perform well, with strong relationships with customers in attractive growth markets,” commented David Sewell, WestRock’s CEO. “Our new corrugated packaging plant will enable our team in this region to serve these customers even better in the future, with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will provide new capabilities and efficiencies for our customers.”

In brief: Bio-based developments
Schwarz Group’s environmental division PreZero developed new fiber and paper products for packing solutions with its brand OutNature. After a successful pilot phase, the two retail divisions, Lidl and Kaufland, are gradually introducing the Silphium-based paper packaging for fruit and vegetables, starting with organic cress. Silphie-paper is resource-efficient, insect-friendly and stores CO2 in the soil.

Kraton Corporation, a global producer of specialty polymers and high-value bio-based products derived from pine wood pulping co-products, announced its CirKular+ Performance Enhancement Series C2000 and C3000 have been approved as fully compatible with recycling of polypropylene containers in Europe, according to RecyClass.Viking Masek Packaging Technologies’ 4SC-235 pouch packaging machine.

Braskem, the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas and industrial-scale biopolymers producer, invested in Nexus Circular, a commercial leader in advanced recycling that converts landfill-bound plastics into circular feedstocks used in the production of virgin plastics. Using a proprietary advanced recycling technology, Nexus converts a range of hard-to-recycle plastics, especially landfill-bound plastic films, into circular feedstocks.

In brief: New machinery
Viking Masek Packaging Technologies, a manufacturer of high-performance automated packaging systems, launched the 4SC-235, an automated pouch packaging machine developed for small businesses. “The development of the 4SC-235 pre-made pouch machine allows Viking Masek to help an entirely new customer market,” said Robb Leonhard, Viking Masek’s president. “It also gives our existing brand loyal customers a compact, highly productive, pre-made pouch packaging solution.”Metsä Board’s insect hotel from reusable packaging.

Shawpak, a UK-based medical packaging equipment specialist, introduced a 4-Side Seal (4SS) Pouch Machine. Designed for the packaging of flat medical products, the new Shawpak 4SS can be particularly useful for manufacturing pre-made pouches for manual packaging lines. “This is another Shawpak packaging solution that will transform the industry norm away from ‘how things have always been done,’” said Robert Hartwig, president of BTS International and North American sales representative for Shawpak.

In brief: Insect hotel
Metsä Board equipped Finnish Golf Coat Oy with golf ball packaging that can be repurposed into an insect hotel after use. “The packaging is an excellent example of how teamwork can create something totally new,” said Gunilla Nykopp, customer experience manager from Metsä Board’s packaging design team. “In 2021, we organized 36 virtual workshops with our customers and partners. The process concentrated on improving the current package while creating something completely new, like this insect hotel.”

By Joshua Poole