Stora Enso, Finland, and Europe-based AR Packaging have jointly developed a new packaging concept for chocolate and sweets. The specially-designed candy cups come in several shapes with a variety of closing mechanisms. The cups have attracted lots of interest from chocolate and candy companies seeking innovative and appealing packaging for eating on-the-go, the company reported.
"We have been rethinking cups and packaging and the result is a totally new packaging concept. The unique shape and closing mechanism clearly differentiate the candy cups from traditional cups," said Wilfried Schmahl, segment development manager for chocolate and confectionery at Stora Enso. "The concept offers a wide range of new marketing opportunities in several product groups, such as salted or sweet snacks, candies, and chocolate brands. The cups are handy to use and catch the eye with their shape and excellent print quality."
The candy cups are made of 100% renewable raw material. The baseboard is Stora Enso's Cupforma Special with the sugarcane-based PE-Green coating on the inside. The PE-Green barrier provides the necessary protection for the contents. The cups are offset printed to achieve high-quality print results that meet the demands of chocolate and sweets branding.
The candy cup concept was created in cooperation between Stora Enso's designers and AR Packaging, who tested different cup shapes in production on their cup machines. According to Philipp Eissner, group innovation manager at AR Packaging, the general eat-on-the-go trend and such solutions as cup holders in cars and on bikes call for packaging concepts with certain characteristics.
"Paper cups are the most environmentally friendly solution for cups, and as a manufacturer of cups we receive a lot of requests. We are now running a very open, creative, and flexible project with Stora Enso for new cup applications beyond beverages and have created 10 outstanding cup shapes with various closing mechanisms and eye catching features. These concepts have been shown to major confectionery brand owners whose reactions have been highly positive. The decorative impact of these shapes is the perfect way of expressing all kinds of emotions linked to sweet products. The cups are perfect for seasonal specialization for a certain product and have a strong gift and sharing impact," Eissner said.
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