​Fifty years ago, on 16 October 1971, the Kemi mill launched its liner production. The mill, which originally produced brown kraftliner, has developed its products to serve as an increasingly high-quality material for packaging and showcases. Today, Metsä Board’s Kemi mill is a leading producer of coated white top kraftliners.

I might be biased, but I’ve always seen the corrugated package as a simply brilliant construction. And with sustainability and circular economy thinking at the top of the agenda for both brands and consumers today, this lightweight, sustainable and recyclable material is more relevant than ever.  

​Ever wondered what the secret is behind the bold, bright and beautiful designs on the box for the new TV or laptop you've just bought, or the eye-catching vegetable boxes and store displays at your local supermarket? The answer is coated white top kraftliner, a material that changed the corrugated packaging market for good after its introduction in the early 90s. 

​​Finland's leading ready-to-eat food company, Saarioinen, launched soup packaging just before Valentine's Day, for consumers to share their own messages. An online platform combined with digital printing, opened up exciting new opportunities for the packaging.

​​A study published by the European Paper Packaging Association (EPPA) reveals that single-use fibre-based food and drink packaging used in European quick service restaurants provide significant key environmental advantages when compared to reusable tableware.

​As packaging designers, the first mistake we often make is to create a package that pleases us rather than the people who will buy the product inside. My trick to avoid this is to leave my inner designer at home and step into the consumer's shoes instead.  

SIM Finland Oy is a cosmetics manufacturer that emphasises purity, quality, and design in its products, and pays special attention to sustainability issues. When the company recently renewed its SensiDO professional hair colour range it chose a packaging material that mirrored these exacting values. MetsäBoard Pro FBB Bright is a lightweight fresh fibre paperboard with a low carbon footprint manufactured in Finland by Metsä Board.

​Alongside growing consumption, the need for authenticity is increasing in pharma packages. Pharma companies and consumers alike want to be sure that the medicine is legitimate – not a forgery and has not been tampered with. Tamper-evident features are a tool to ensure the safety of the packed product. 

Packaging and graphical professionals are constantly looking for new ways to attract consumers. There is often an artistic vision and haptic feeling that the printed piece should convey. With modern printing techniques it is possible to produce various touch and feel properties, but outstanding technical characteristics are also required from the paperboard. 

​Historically, eating healthily and treating oneself have largely been viewed as mutually exclusive, with self-indulgent foods thought of in terms of takeaways and fatty, sugary or spicy foods and healthy food often perceived to be bland and boring. Can a balance be struck between these extremes? We explore this fascinating theme with Anu Rehtijärvi, Business Intelligence Manager at Metsä Board.

​An attractive gift item requires an equally impressive package. Metsä Board's design team helped to create an appealing package for a golf ball gift set featuring the universally loved Moomin characters.  

​Rapala, a leading fishing lure innovator, chose Metsä Board’s premium lightweight paperboard for its striking lure packaging. The packaging was digitally printed by PackageMedia.

​Good packaging protects both the product and the consumer, and as a packaging material, fresh fibre paperboard has an advantage. Paperboard made from fresh fibre is safe to use in packaging for foodstuffs and in food service. It does not pass on any flavour, odour or harmful substances to the food.

​Demographic shifts - with more urban, single, carless, digitally enabled yet time-starved or physically restricted consumers - are driving the demand for faster and more convenient shopping and consumption.

For companies producing consumer goods, replacing fossil-based packaging materials with sustainable paperboard packaging is an excellent way to improve the responsibility of their business operations and promote sustainability globally.

​The global e-commerce market is growing at double digit growth rates. Increasing e-commerce offers numerous opportunities for packaging suppliers, but also challenges, as online shopping places new requirements on packaging.

​With the growing trend of beverages on the go and expanding consumption, it has become even more important to develop resource-saving solutions with renewable materials. Metsä Board’s in-house design team revamped the traditional design of the paper cup leading them to an entirely new solution: Lidloc that reduces carbon footprint by 50% in comparison to traditional cups with plastic lids.

Views are changing on what is considered luxury. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues, and many want their purchases to reflect these values. Accordingly, modern luxury brands are looking for ways to make their goods desirable for both customers and the planet. And according to a recent consumer survey, that’s also good for the business.

​Finnish craft distillery The Helsinki Distilling Company combines a true respect for raw materials with an uncompromising attention to detail. Their White Dog new-make spirit and its packaging both communicate a brand aesthetic where the raw and uncut meets a luxurious finish.

​How is urbanisation affecting the way families and individuals live in the modern city, and what are the effects of these changes upon packaged consumer goods?

​Metsä Board’s SkinCare 2.0 gift box design is following in the footsteps of its predecessor that has received multiple awards for its innovative design. On December 4th, the new, improved gift box was named Champion of Packaging Printing, Paper Packaging, at the 29th Hong Kong Print Awards.

​Cartons, using Metsä Board’s paperboards, were awarded in three categories at the European Carton Excellence Awards, held on 21 September in Salzburg, Austria. The awards recognised excellence in design, convenience, brand communication and the major role paperboard plays as an innovative packaging material.

​In his column, Mark Beamesderfer, technical marketing & services director at Metsä Board Americas, talks about how online purchasing has changed the demands for brand packaging.

​Kyrö Distillery Company’s Napue Gin has swiftly become a Nordic award-winning sensation. We take a look at how their market-shaping brand is supported by careful supplier selection.

​We take a look at the biggest trends affecting food packaging today, from premium branded coffees to multi-pack snacks.

​In many industries today, eliminating dependence upon fossil-fuel-based materials is a firm aim, but this is more challenging in some applications than others. Take the paper cup, for example. How could you possibly order a café latte on the move without a plastic lid to keep the hot liquid safely inside until you reach your destination?

​With two highly creative designs, Metsä Board earned a double recognition at this year’s iF Design Awards. T2 Mini Fruit Tea packaging won an iF Design certificate for ‘Beverages’ and the company’s own innovative Elevated drink box won another iF Design certificate for ‘Independent Packaging’.

​With the trend of convenient and fast on-the-go eating growing globally, the demand for food service paperboards is on the rise. In addition to our home markets in Europe, we at Metsä Board have identified the Americas, as well as the global food service market, as our focus areas for future growth.

​Both research and feedback from the field indicate that folding boxboard and digital printing have a bright future ahead of them. Digital printing technology company Xeikon has seen the signs and recently dedicated an entire team to the folding carton business.

​Metsä Board’s white linerboard range has a recent addition, Kemiart Brite+. This grade is a specially designed coated white-top kraftliner suitable for brand, retail and consumer packages, and is also safe for food packaging.

​For tea and teawares company T2, packaging is an essential part of enjoying tea.

​In Metsä Board’s view, digital printing is challenging the whole packaging value chain, from design to box manufacturing.

​Bag-in-box packages are gaining more and more foothold in some of the largest wine drinking countries in North America and Europe. The market intelligence publisher Euromonitor is forecasting an increase of 4 % p.a. for the global bag-in-box retail packaging market by 2020.

​At the beginning of 2016, Metsä Board started up a new folding boxboard production line at its Husum mill in Sweden. A new video was produced to highlight this, made in collaboration with Valmet – the technology company who supplied the new line.

​Seven cartons using Metsä Board’s boards have been shortlisted for the finals of the 2016 Pro Carton ECMA Awards. There are finalists in Beauty & Cosmetics, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Food and Non-food packaging categories.

Nina Happonen, VP of sales at Metsä Board Americas, answered three questions on the US market.

​When making something new, why not make it a true innovation?

​The latest and greatest packaging innovations are within reach.

​To get a wide perspective on printing and converting, we turned to Bobst. Bobst is the leading supplier of equipment and services to packaging and label manufacturers in the folding carton, corrugated board and flexible materials industries.

​Metsä Board's Husum mill’s new folding boxboard machine, BM1, was inaugurated in April 2016. The production of BM1 is targeted at the Americas and the food-service market globally.