Convenient and Quick are keywords for today’s lifestyles, cropping up in category after category. The French catering company Saveurs d’événements specialises in meetings, seminars and training days, and when it comes to their lunch-, breakfast- and cocktail trays, you can add another keyword, too: Elegance.

The company has a distribution network that spans all of France, supplying food from 25 sites throughout the country. Besides smooth management of distribution to customers, Repaburo offers a clever solution once people have finished eating and want to continue working at the table. You simply slide the tray into the cover it came in: no mess, no fuss. Everything is cleaned up in a blink of the eye. Last year, they sold 180,000 trays. When they set a sales goal of  more than 200,000 units for this year, they also decided on a packaging upgrade for the premium segment. Previously they employed corrugated board, but now they would be asking more of the printing results, both frontside and back.

Stackability and printing results made the difference
Since the packaging is filled when it is delivered, compression strength is an important consideration. The trays are stacked 25 high and each tray weighs 1.2 kg. “We have many years of experience with Korsnäs materials and their strength properties,” says Alain Bounaix, at Gauthier Packaging. “The combination of strength and whiteness that their new material, Frövi White*, provided gave us what we needed to produce functional packaging with the right luxurious feel. Korsnäs’ Packaging Performance Service helped us develop testable prototypes quickly.”

The results are worth it
From a printing standpoint, the graphic design is extremely demanding, since it involves complete coverage with a single colour, either dark brown (the deluxe model) or orange. On top of that, there is metallic printing and embossing to enhance the brand image. The results are seductively good. “Très beau!” exclaims Isabelle Galoppier, head of strategy and development at Saveurs d’événements, when she sees the first printed sheets. The colour is just right, and she feels confident about her partnership with the converter. With the new packaging, Saveurs d’événements pushes forward into a new realm, improving its chances of boosting sales.

Superboard
Producing the lunchboxes marks something of a historic milepost: the first major delivery of Frövi White. This cartonboard is the result of a comprehensive market survey, followed by development efforts and an investment in a reverse side coating machine at Korsnäs’ mill in Frövi. “This is superboard,” says Alain Bounaix. “Besides the optimal runnability and the flat sheets, we can run up to 10,000 sheets through the printing process before washing the rubber blankets. Comparing it with the previous material, we can now load 2000 sheets per pallet, up from appr. 700, so there are logistical advantages, too. This cartonboard opens up new business opportunities in other quality packaging segments, too, especially for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics”.