A twist on the classic: Ardagh revamps Norwegian seafood tin design

09 Nov 2018 --- Ardagh Group has collaborated with Norway seafood brand Stabburet to deliver a revamped, lively design for its classic aluminum seafood cans. The project targeted Stabburet’s mackerel fillet range – a national dish in Norway – and presented sixty different designs on the Hansa shaped seafood can – the typical aluminum can with rounded edges used for seafood.

“The lightweight aluminum can offer a perfect branding surface for this striking design and together with the excellent functionality, this is a winning combination,” says Patrick Savouré, Commercial Director Seafood at Ardagh Group’s metal division.

Each design, some of which use cartoons linked by the brand’s recognizable yellow background, represents a different town or place, an aspect of people’s behavior or way of life in Norway.

The base of the can contains the catch-phrase: “Er du en av oss?” (Are You One of us?), explaining the relevance of the picture on the lid, and the pull ring shows the green Nordic “keyhole” food symbol. The symbol seeks to demonstrate to consumers that the food complies with dietary benefits such as dietary fiber, less saturated fat, less salt or less sugar.

Ardagh’s metal packaging plant in Cuxhaven in north Germany handled all aspects of the print and production of the cans, while working in close cooperation with Stabburet to ensure that all 60 designs were delivered as specified.

“Mackerel fillet in tomato is an important part of the Norwegian everyday diet and we wanted to honor all the loyal consumers throughout the country. We, therefore, created a series of on-pack designs; each design representing a way of living or a typical local feature from a different town or place in Norway,” says Birte Hjorth, Product Group Manager at Orkla Foods Norge.

The company notes that metal cans are the ideal packaging material for seafood – they provide barriers against oxygen without the need for refrigeration,allowing for the safe transportation of seafood over long distances, even in severe climates.

Metal is a permanent material, which means it can infinitely be recycled without any loss of quality and, as such, form part of a circular economy – a key driver in the elimination of waste. However, critics of the material may note that the production of aluminum for packaging produces a higher rate of CO2 emissions when compared to other packaging materials – such as plastic.

However, cans are the chosen packaging for seafood. “We can size the canned seafood business at around 20 billion cans. Retortable plastic is used for pouches dedicated essentially to catering needs,” an Ardagh spokesperson tells PackagingInsights.

In the beverage cans space, Ardagh recently launched Kahlúa Espresso Martini in Nitro Cans – a ready-to-drink packaging solution for nitro beverages. The Nitro can replicates the effect of a traditional stout faucet while upholding the integrity of the product in place of refrigeration. The company also flexed its design muscles while partnering with Mondelez to deliver a limited edition, 80th anniversary tin for the iconic “Cadbury Roses” brand.