According to a report this week by My PRINT Resource, Ft. Atkinson, Wis., USA, when we choose paperboard for chocolate packaging, the decisive factor is taste and odor neutrality. Of course the paperboard must be suitable for the construction we have chosen, but if we do not minimize the risk of the chocolate acquiring an off-taste from the packaging material, then the rest does not matter."

Tom Du Caju and his colleagues at Du Caju Printing & Packaging in Belgium are describing their experiences in food packaging. Du Caju is located in Erpe-Mere, just west of Brussels. With almost 50 employees and annual net sales of EUR 10 million, the company regards itself as a medium-sized Belgian converter. Of the packaging Du Caju produces, 85% is food related and 11% is chocolate packaging.

"In addition, slightly more than 10% of what we do is packaging with direct contact between the food and the packaging material," said Key Account Manager Koen Penne. "We are choosing our food contact materials such as paperboard very carefully to avoid taint, odor, and migration problems."

Du Caju has been working with the world’s largest chocolate producer Barry Callebaut for more than 25 years. The converter is regularly asked to create sophisticated promotional packaging for Callebaut as a sales tool and brand enhancer. The latest creation, The Origin Box, has an outer box made of a brown-colored specialty paper from James Cropper, Colorscope Bitter Chocolate (350 gsm). Inside the box are samples of chocolate from many countries. Each sample is packed in a wedge-shaped box made of Incada Silk (300 gsm) from Iggesund Paperboard. The box also features a wheel giving information about the different types of chocolate. The wheel is printed on Invercote Creato (400 gsm), also from Iggesund Paperboard, and is covered with the same material as the outer box.

 

 

The brown material has a very matt appearance and a very natural look. The brown color and the uncoated sides give a very good indication of the look of chocolate. The Origin Box was a finalist in the ECMA/Pro Carton European packaging award competition in 2014.

"We have learned from experience that only virgin fiber is good enough for this type of packaging," said Erwin Heeren, an experienced purchaser at Du Caju. "In choosing materials we also get support from our customer, Barry Callebaut, who tests all packaging materials for up to 60 days in its own sensory laboratory."

As a purchaser, he must also keep up to date with both the environmental debate and the discussion about how mineral oils in recycled-fiber-based materials can contaminate packaged foods.

"We are following the mineral oil debate with great interest, as are our most knowledgeable customers," Heeren says. "However, we are not seeing any increased demand for traceability certificates for paperboard materials—neither FSC nor PEFC. That demand is constant at between 3% and 5% of our total volume."