The food industry is searching intensively for ways to develop more sustainable packaging while building strong leading brands. Packaging plays a key role in the consumer experience, preserving the safety and quality of the food, as well as delivering convenience. Packaging also helps to attract consumers on the shelves and ensures the product stays in good shape until consumption. When it comes to selecting the raw materials used to produce this packaging, market players are increasingly concerned about finding partners that help them to develop innovative and more sustainable solutions.

Food trays and baking molds made from Genuine Vegetable parchment are biodegradable and home compostable.

Brands have an ambitious agenda regarding sustainability. Developing sustainable packaging will help to achieve the goals set out in visionary roadmaps for a brighter future.

As a leading producer of fiber-based materials, Ahlstrom-Munksjö works closely with all actors across the food packaging value chain to develop fiber-based solutions that address their current and future challenges, whether big or small. These challenges include the development of lighter packaging paper grades, the delivery of special barrier papers or finding new alternatives to non-renewable packaging.

Today, Ahlstrom-Munksjö offers the widest range of fiber-based solutions for flexible packaging. The company supports the food industry with specialty papers for a wide variety of end applications used in everyday life. Its solutions are used for candy wrappers, pet food bags, fresh or dry food packaging as well as baking papers or wrappers for greasy food products.

Regulations and requirements from the market are getting more and more demanding when it comes to consumer safety, direct food contact and sustainability. Being innovative in terms of sustainability is also about providing the right barrier so products can reach the necessary shelf life, or the appropriate level of protection against grease, moisture or oxygen.

More recently, advances have also been made to maximize consumer safety with the development of paper solutions preventing mineral-oil migration into food. Ahlstrom-Munksjö has developed Gerstar Mo, a one-sided coated paper that provides an excellent MOSH-MOAH* barrier for primary packaging. It also prevents cross-contamination from mineral oils that could come from secondary packaging or transport.

Made from virgin fibers and suitable for direct contact with dry and non-fatty food products, this new paper barrier is available from 50 gsm. Printable in helio and flexo, it perfectly supports brand messages. Suitable for printable in gravure and flexo, extrusion and coating, varnishing, and hot and cold sealing, Gerstar Mo is recommended for use in bags, sachets and pouches. It is mainly used for dry-food flexible packaging such as biscuits, crisp breads or dehydrated food.

Companies can reduce their environmental footprint by using lighter paper grades contributing to a reduced packaging weight. To meet this need, Ahlstrom-Munksjö has developed a one-side coated paper for flexible packaging with an exceptionally low weight of 35 gsm. This superior glossy paper can be used to produce bags and pouches and protects premium food or non-food applications without sacrificing technical performance.

Gerbier HDS 35 gsm is the lightest paper grade on the market for such flexible packaging applications. It is 12.5% lighter and remains just as efficient as the ever-popular Gerbier HDS 40 gsm. It offers a better yield to converters who can produce many more sachets or bags from 1 ton of paper (+14%). On the technical side, Gerbier 35 gsm delivers excellent behavior during lamination (Alufoil, OPP, PE, PET, ...), superior printing results (flexo, gravure), good heat resistance during coating and high converting abilities. The result is a lower environmental impact with the same high visual impact and high technical performance.

Ahlstrom and Munksjö merged in April 2017 to form Ahlstrom-Munksjö, a key global player in fiber-based materials. It serves customers all around the world through a committed workforce of 6,200 employees, including a strong sales and service organization, and 41 production and converting facilities in 14 countries. Ahlstrom-Munksjö is among the world’s leaders in fiber-based materials, which include nonwoven and specialty papers used in everyday products, such as filters, packaging, flooring, labels, and tapes. The industry can expect to benefit from the company’s enhanced strength and reach, including its improved service, design and R&D capabilities.

This new chapter opens up unique development opportunities for the food industry. Ahlstrom-Munksjö strongly supports co-innovation with its customers and a creative approach to develop tailor-made solutions for the needs of tomorrow. Ahlstrom-Munksjö Group is highly committed to playing its part in protecting the planet for future generations.