Europe's leading consumer packaging board producer, Stora Enso, is launching new power brands Cupforma and Trayforma for the cup and tray markets. For the cup market the company seeks growth in promotional and coffee-to-go products, while the main potential in the tray market is in non-food applications. To encourage the design of non-food trays, the company has announced the Trayforma International Design Awards competition.

The company presented the new brand families in April at the Interpack 2002 exhibition in Düsseldorf. The launch reflects changes in the cup and tray markets.
"Cup products are now extensively used for promotional purposes, and companies are beginning to see their marketing value. This is why we have expanded our cup selection and designed Cupforma Premium for the most demanding applications. In the tray business, the non-food area has enormous potential. So far, paperboard trays have mainly been used by the food industry," says Seppo Kiiski, Director of Stora Enso Food Service Boards.
The Cupforma product family includes four brands: Cupforma Classic, Cupforma Special, Cupforma Dairy and Cupforma Premium. Of this selection, Cupforma Premium incorporates the latest research and development. It is made of clay-coated SBS board for use with products such as quality ice cream, promotional cups and for other uses requiring optimal performance. Its surface smoothness and consistent material quality are said to assure good results in all applicable printing methods and finishing treatments. Premium is also suitable for digital printing. This product will be launched in autumn 2002. Besides hot and cold drinks, cups are generally used for ice cream and soup packages and increasingly in serving fast-food portions.
Trayforma is the board family for all tray-formed packages. Its solutions take many forms - pressed or folded trays, bowls or multipacks, with or without lids, sleeves or other integrated components. Mainstream Trayforma is a pure SBS (solid bleached sulphate) board with good formability and stability, and performs effectively in production, converting and printing. Trayforma Special is multilayer board reinforced with CTMP (chemi-thermomechanical pulp) in the middle layer to bring added rigidity. This board family can be used for various frozen and chilled food packages. Stora Enso has taken the initiative to attract designers to focus their skills on tray packages.
"Various design products, clothes, toys and electronics open up excellent new end-use areas for tray packaging. There are many advantages in this form of packaging: better brand differentiation, more functionality and user convenience, new merchandising options, streamlined production processes and logistics and ecological acceptability," Seppo Kiiski states.
To support this initiative, the company has announced the Trayforma International Design Awards competition. Both existing solutions, and those still being developed, are eligible for entry in the contest. The competition has separate categories for food and non-food products. All entries will be evaluated at the end of this year, and awards will be presented in March 2003. More information about the competition rules and product information are available at the website addresses www.storaenso.com/trayforma and www.storaenso.com/cupforma.

Picture caption:
Stora Enso launched new power brands for the cup and tray markets. Besides hot and cold drinks, cups are generally used for ice cream.

For further information, please contact:
Stora Enso Food Service Boards
Mr Seppo Kiiski, Vice President
FIN-55800 Imatra
FINLAND
Tel: +358 2046 22166
Fax: +358 2046 24719
E-mail: seppo.kiiski@storaenso.com

Press release images