A historic Finnish candy company is taking a big marketing leap to upgrade its packaging for the good of the environment. Known in its community since 1906 and making licorice since 1945, Kouvolan Lakritsi is forgoing its well-known pouch packaging and pivoting to a sustainable and resealable paperboard-based cup.
Kouvolan Lakritsi partnered with Metsä Board to invent new packaging that is plastic-free, recyclable, and low-impact. This cup is made with a three-layer structure made of chemical pulp and high-yield pulp to have an outer brightness for printability and a stiff inner structure to hold its own weight during transport. The result was a paperboard-based cup that is sealed with a transparent plastic-free film and topped with a reusable lid.
"Licorice sold in a bag is still a big mass-market product, but with the licorice cup, we can launch something completely new and exciting," Santeri Nisula Sheriff, CEO of Kouvolan Lakritsi told Packaging World.
Metsä Board sources its wood from sustainability-managed Nordic forests under Metsä's regenerative forestry programs. Metsä mostly uses native Nordic species — pine, spruce, aspen, and birch — to maintain forest resilience and biodiversity. Metsä also observes other essential parts of the forests' ecosystem, including clean water, pollination, and recreation, to maintain a healthy balance.
"Our goal is to leave forests in better shape than we received them," Timo Lehesvirta, Metsä Group's leading nature expert, said to Packaging World. "That means enhancing biodiversity, preserving habitat, and delivering climate resilience."
Production companies around the world make 430 million tons of plastic every year — one-third of which is single-use plastic that just ends up in our landfills. Plastic is made from dirty fuels and does not degrade as natural packaging does; it turns into micro- and nanoplastics over time that end up in our waterways and food chain.
When companies make big strides to eliminate single-use plastic from their production process, it makes a big impact on the industry as well as consumers' perceptions. Food production and manufacturing are currently set up to favor plastic as it's the cheapest, but when brands commit to sustainable upgrades that are plastic-free, they should be applauded, like Kraft, Best Buy, and CG Roxane.
If you're interested in shopping more sustainably, you can look for plastic-free packaging, buy groceries in bulk, or swap items within your community.
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