The Coffee-to-go business is now arriving on the European continent, being successful in the US and the UK. Traditional café culture is adapting to busy everyday urban life causing an increase in demand for hot drink cups. One of the largest manufacturers in this field, Huhtamaki (brands: Polarcup, Chinet, Bibo), predicts that paper cups will account for one third of the total market by 2004. This is good news for Stora Enso which is currently the leading producer of cup stock in Europe. 

Stora Enso, UPM-Kymmene and Tampere University of Technology (TUT) have commenced research and development co-operation on barrier-coated paper and board products. The largest European groups in the forest industry and TUT expect to make rapid development in four main fields of research: High barrier coating, packaging materials for frozen food, biodegradable plastic coating and intelligent packs. The aim is to develop barrier coated and laminated paper and board based products, and to promote the recycling of materials.

Catering packs for airlines are the latest end-use applications of Stora Enso's ovenable boards. The annual value of the airline catering business is some EUR 3800 million of which packaging accounts for a considerable percentage.  Airlines are now interested in the recyclability and printing properties of the packs, which is creating demand for new packaging solutions. The most recent examples of innovative packaging are pizza packs made of Stora Enso's ovenable board, which are used on KLM's and Northwest Airlines' intercontinental flights.

A packaging solution based on Stora Enso's Performa CTMP board developed for a Swedish cake manufacturer has won the internationally recognised Worldstar packaging award. The simple, yet practical design has met hygiene requirements and minimised packaging material costs.

Iceland is the latest country to adopt Stora Enso´s Performa Natura CTMP board for packaging chocolate. The use of the board by confectioner Nói Síríus of Iceland means that it is now used by all leading Nordic chocolate manufacturers. This breakthrough comes at a time when Stora Enso is planning to introduce a new member of the Performa family. During summer this year Performa Cream will be launched.