Stora Enso transitions Finnish chocolatier to paper-based boxes with black-and-white design

06 Dec 2021 --- Stora Enso has equipped Finnish chocolate producer Chjoko with a plastic-free, paper-based box, maintaining the brand’s stylish black-and-white aesthetic and tagline “Chjoko: Made in Helsinki.” 

The recyclable paper-based packaging is designed to address the need for climate-friendly, renewable and circular materials in packaging ahead of the Christmas season.

The solution allows Chjoko to switch from its previous plastic packaging to a renewable material alternative. The paper packaging comes from certified wood and is recyclable in paper recycling streams.

Innova Market Insights has indicated consumer perception strongly favors paper-based packaging, finding  35% of global consumers deem it “excellent” for recyclability, with only 16% giving the same verdict for plastic packaging. 

Matching brand values
Mika Gröndahl, founder of Chjoko and master chocolatier, notes Chjoko is a family-run business valuing “freshness, craftsmanship and carefully-selected ingredients.”

Chjoko was looking for a locally-manufactured box to “do justice” to its popular line of pralines, which customers are able to individually select in-store or online.

The product’s previous packaging came from China. It consisted of a pre-assembled box with a raised stage on which the contents lay, which meant it took up a lot of space prior to use. It also had a transparent plastic lid.Chjoko’s previous packaging from China consisted of a pre-assembled box with a raised stage.

“The traceability of our ingredients is really important to us and we try to use local and ethically-sourced ingredients wherever possible,” says Gröndahl.

The same environmental sustainability credentials are also important for the chocolate’s boxes, and the Chjoko founder therefore decided to use Stora Enso’s packaging.

“A few minutes in Mika’s company was all we needed to realize there were a lot of shared values, both in our approaches to work and what we look for in packaging,” adds Sirpa Välimaa, lead for Stora Enso’s innovation center for fiber products.

“It turns out that chocolate and packaging also have a few things in common; quality, traceability and using the best ingredients are all key.”

Meeting consumer demands
According to Innova Market Insights, 75% of global consumers agree with the statement that food and beverage companies need to be more transparent about their packaging materials.

Additionally, around 77% of global consumers believe food and beverage companies should state clear recycling guidelines on their packaging.

“The package improves Chjoko’s sustainability performance, with a locally-made, renewables-first approach capped off by the eye-catching yet classic design completed by Anna Kjellberg, a designer at Stora Enso,” Gröndahl explains.

“We have heard only good things from our customers about the packaging,” he continues. “Finally we have packaging that matches the contents.”

“Working with Chjoko combined two of our favourite things in the world – local Finnish delicacies and reducing the amount of non-renewable plastics in packaging,” adds Välimaa. 

“It also goes to show what can be done when the common passion for better, sustainable materials is shared.”

In other Stora Enso developments, the supplier recently launched a bio-based foam portfolio made from wood for protective and thermal packaging.

By Natalie Schwertheim

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