FOODBOARD™ now protects foods in Switzerland as well

06.12.2017 - FOODBOARD™, Barriers, Customer Stories

Coop is the first Swiss retailer to offer all rice products of their store brand in packaging made of our FOODBOARD™. The migration of mineral oils and other defined unintended substances is effectively prevented by our cartonboard with functional barrier, which was developed specifically for food packaging. The material already meets the future legal thresholds currently under discussion.

Protection from migration
Guido Fuchs, Project Manager Sustainability at Coop, explains the reasons for switching to FOODBOARD™: “Until now, our foods were mostly packaged in virgin fibre cartonboard. However, this did not provide comprehensive and reliable protection from mineral oil migration and cross-contamination from the environment. We wanted to change that, so together with our rice producer Reismühle Brunnen we began to look for solutions.” Reismühle Brunnen is responsible for producing the Coop store brands of rice like Fine Food, Naturaplan, Qualité & Prix, and Prix Garantie. These add up to 3,700 tons per year.“The comprehensive safety concept of FOODBOARD™, which offers documentation of the entire production process and complete traceability of the packaging, is unique and ultimately convinced us,” says Gerhard Marty, Managing Director of Reismühle Brunnen. By using FOODBOARD™, we have eliminated MOAH migration into the food above the detection limit of 0.15 mg/kg.

Premium presentation
Apart from migration protection, FOODBOARD™ offers Coop other advantages: “Certain types of rice may emit their natural grease into the packaging depending on how they are stored. That is why it is all the more important to use a packaging material that protects our product packaging from unsightly stains and discolorations,” Gerhard Marty explains. Thanks to its slightly grease resistant properties, FOODBOARD™ is ideally suited for rice, baked goods, or snacks, and guarantees premium product presentation at the point of sale.

Conservation of resources
The decision to use FOODBOARD™ is based on the safety aspect, but further supported by considerations of sustainability: “In addition to the ultimate product safety we achieve by switching to FOODBOARD™, we have the advantage of using a premium recycled cartonboard. This allows us to save on virgin fibre cartonboard and helps preserve natural resources,” Guido Fuchs points out. FOODBOARD™ is not an extruded or laminated compound, so it is recyclable. Empty cartonboard packages can simply be added to the recovered paper collection just like any other cartonboard package.

Actions, not words
Sustainability is an integral part of Coop’s corporate philosophy and is considered an important foundation for lasting success: Since 1973, environmental protection is incorporated in the company statutes, and in 2006 Coop formulated its sustainability guidelines. The corporation’s commitments to society and ecology are many: from fish and seafood in organic quality all the way to environmentally-conscious goods transport by rail and road. Coop’s contribution to sustainable consumption is summarised on the platform “Actions, not words”. We are pleased to make a valuable contribution to the effort with Action No. 348.

For further information, please contact our team of experts:
FOODBOARD@mm-karton.com

COOP

The Coop Group has strong roots in Switzerland and looks back on a 150-year history. What started as a small consumer cooperative is now an international corporation. With roughly 85,000 employees, the Coop Group had total revenue of CHF 28.3 billion in 2016.
Coop is much more than the familiar supermarket around the corner. The Coop Group is divided into two sectors, retail and wholesale/production, which work hand in hand and use synergies. In the retail segment, Coop has about 2,200 stores exclusively in Switzerland. Their supermarkets, specialty formats, and online shops leave no customer wish unfulfilled. In the wholesale/production segment, the group is active Europe-wide. The Transgourmet Group operates pick-up markets and supplies major customers. In the production segment, Coop has a strong international presence with the Bell Group.