Paptic’s lightweight gift bags boost European holiday wine sales and streamline recycling

21 Dec 2023 --- Finland-based scale-up company Paptic says its continued supply of fiber-based wine packaging is boosting holiday sales in the Christmas period. The company’s wine gift bags use 30% less material than typical wine boxes and were recently adopted by Castillo de Molina wines, following several years of use by Jacob’s Creek wines. 

Cardboard cases are typical for wine during the holiday season, but Paptic says its gift bags offer consumers a lighter, more environmentally sustainable option, streamlining the purchase process without additional bags. 

A solution for three different wine products was designed by Packdesign ID, featuring a single, high-quality, “uniquely” adorned gift bag with individualized stickers for each product. 

This provides flexibility and easy customization in later packaging stages in a cost-effective way. 

Speaking to Packaging Insights, Esa Torniainen, Paptic’s chief strategy officer and co-founder, says the company’s method of lightweighting materials while maintaining strength is a secret. 

“What I can tell is that it is based on the innovative use of wood fibers. Having the strength and maintaining the recyclability is the most difficult challenge, but we know how to do it as all our materials can be recycled in paper and paperboard recycling streams,” she says. 

Paptic’s wood fiber-based packaging can be used across multiple sectors.“But strength is only one thing that differentiates Paptic from other materials. The touch and feel properties of Paptic are unique, offering a way to differentiate the packaging. And in a product like (wine) bag, the foldability is important, making reuse an option. Paptic folds nicely and is thus easy to carry. This is the reason why many retailers have chosen Paptic bags instead of paper or plastic bags that are very seldom reused.” 

Designing superior wine packaging 
Torniainen says that improving wine packaging is much the same as for other types of products. 

“Lightweighting is a good starting point as it means less raw material, less energy, less logistics and so forth. Then, the end of life brings into the picture a very important thing: recyclability. And as the plastic waste problem is one of the biggest challenges the globe is facing, the packaging should be made of renewable materials that do not contribute to the plastic waste,” she says. 

“As a new player in the packaging material business the biggest challenge is to get the attention of the brands and them to see the full potential of our materials. Wine packaging is only one application. For example, the soft structure of our materials means that they can also be used to pack scratch-sensitive products like TV sets.” 

Recently, Paptic raised €23 million (US$24.7 million) in growth financing to develop its carbon footprint-reducing packaging. The global flexible packaging market is estimated to be worth over €200 billion (US$214.6 billion) annually, and 70% of the materials currently are plastics, according to the company. 

The investment will accelerate and support the company’s goal of reaching €100 million (US$107.3 million) in revenue in 2026 and attaining carbon neutrality by 2030.

Pernod Ricard Finland
Pernod Ricard Finland, the second-largest player in the Finnish spirits business, also adopted Paptic’s packaging. 

“We are constantly seeking solutions to better serve today’s environmentally conscious consumers. Sustainable development is at the core of all our operations, including packaging. We are looking for material-efficient alternatives made from renewable resources without compromising on quality. This is why we chose Paptic material for our gift packaging again,” says Kaisa Rautanen, brand manager at Pernod Ricard Finland.

Torniainen adds Paptic is “extremely pleased” that Pernod Ricard Finland has chosen its material for its packaging and “to hear how the packaging has positively influenced the sales.” 

“It’s also great to work with Packdesign ID as they already know our material’s versatility and potential. Yet again, this is an excellent example of impactful cooperation when three like-minded companies end up around the same table,” concludes Torniainen.

By Louis Gore-Langton