Nowadays the world's leading consumer brands often use the paper cup as an advertising medium for marketing new products and films launched on the market and for image campaigning. Stora Enso expects that the value of promotional cups will continue to grow globally because of their power in promoting and strengthening brand identities.

Stora Enso's Coated Kraft Back Board (CKB) is gaining a foothold in the US packaging market. Because of tougher competition, American food producers want to reduce packaging costs, while maintaining the high quality of their packs. This situation has given CKB a competitive edge, as its structure allows the use of a 15-20% lower grammage without compromising stiffness properties.

The intensive input of Stora Enso and UPM-Kymmene in developing barrier-coated paper and board products has provided the packaging industry with a globally significant innovation - packaging board coated with biodegradable polymers. This type of packaging has been reported to possess good barrier properties, but after primary use it degrades into compost within six months. Biodegradable products are expected to become especially popular in the fast food sector.

Europe's leading chocolate and confectionery manufacturers already use Stora Enso's Performa CTMP board. Now the board is conquering US markets, where European manufacturers export chocolate packaging. A recent example is the success of Nestlé's new Wonderball packaging. The packaging solution has met Nestlé´s requirements and demonstrates the high competence of the European packaging industry.

Today postcards compete with SMS messages and logos sent by mobile phones. This is why the postcard industry has broadened its range of cards. Cards have also become a popular tool for direct mail advertising. To meet these new challenges, Stora Enso has increased its graphical boards production and improved the properties of Ensocoat and Ensogloss board.