Les Crudettes, Mondi and IMA scoop French awards for new paper packaging

• Collaboration led to top prizes at prestigious French packaging awards
• Packaging producer Mondi developed the recyclable functional barrier paper allowing Les Crudettes to save 137 tonnes of plastic per year, the equivalent weight of one blue whale
• Machine supplier IMA Ilapak developed new solutions on their range of vertical baggers ''Vegatronic'' to handle paper-based materials at high speed
• French vegetable producer Les Crudettes uses the new paper packaging to replace plastic packaging for its ready to eat salads in France

Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper; IMA Ilapak, world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for packaging and Les Crudettes , leading French company in the fresh vegetables market, have won three prizes at the prestigious French packaging award and the Trophées de l’innovation LSA for a new paper packaging.

Mondi developed a recyclable functional barrier paper, which is converted on VFFS machines of IMA Ilapak for a selection of Les Crudettes’ pre-washed, ready to eat salads. Their solution won the environment and production categories at the prestigious French packaging awards as well as the Trophées de l’innovation LSA.

Les Crudettes decided to replace the plastic bags for its fresh salads with Mondi’s new packaging. The new solution is 95% paper and verified as recyclable in the waste paper stream in France while keeping the salad fresh for up to 10 days - the same amount of time as with the previous plastic packaging. Mondi used its EcoSolutions approach to work closely with Les Crudettes in order to help the company meet its sustainability goals of reducing the amount of plastic in its packaging. The new packaging also supports Mondi’s MAP2030 sustainability goal to make 100% of its products reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

IMA Ilapak's R&D efforts have resulted in the first solution specifically designed to perform using paper while ensuring the same performance as plastic packaging materials. The Vegatronic 6000 bagging machines produced for Les Crudettes are part of the Corporate Sustainability Program IMA Zero and IMA NOP (No Plastic) which have the ultimate goal of minimising environmental impact in industrial manufacturing, embodying the Group’s dedication to change and aims to make a positive and eco-friendly impact.

The key to getting fit-for-purpose packaging solutions is to ask the right questions, and these awards recognise that. We worked closely with Les Crudettes and their machine manufacturer IMA Ilapak to ensure the transition to our functional barrier paper was smooth and effective, resulting in a truly ground-breaking packaging that can now be rolled out across other food groups.

Géraldine Collet, Marketing and Innovation Director, Les Crudettes adds: “Making changes like this when existing solutions have worked for three decades is always a challenge for brands. When there is a strong desire to create better products and sustainable packaging, combined with collaborative effective ways of working, you often find success. These awards, given by packaging and retail experts, are a recognition of our ground-breaking innovation for the ready to eat salads market.”

Grégoire Duvot, Managing Director at IMA Ilapak France, says: “ These 2021 French packaging awards are the result of our IMA Ilapak R&D efforts to run quicker on vertical form fill seal machines when using paper-based material. In line with the IMA group's NOP ('NO Plastic') project, our ultimate goal, we are accompanying manufacturers towards recyclable packaging, with profound consultancy on machine compatibility of different materials.”

Contact

Judith Wronn
Senior Communication Manager, Mondi Flexible Packaging & Engineered Materials
Tel: +49 151 17714692
Email: Judith.Wronn@mondigroup.com

Géraldine Collet
Marketing & Développement, LSDH Group
Tel: +33 02 38 58 78 00
Email: g.collet@lescrudettes.com  

Christian Romualdi
Group Marketing & Communication Manager, ILAPAK International
Tel: +41 91 960 5938
Email: christian.romualdi@ima.it

About Mondi
Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer-centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. In 2020, Mondi had revenues of €6.66 billion and underlying EBITDA of €1.35 billion.

Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007.

About Mondi Functional Paper and Films

Mondi Functional Paper and Films (FPF) is part of Mondi’s Business Unit Engineered Materials, providing paper and film-based solutions such as release liners, barrier coatings, and technical films following our motto paper where possible, and plastic when useful so we can provide customers with products that are sustainable by design. The industries served are graphic arts, labels, tapes, fibre composites, industrial, building insulation, hygiene, medical, envelopes, food & consumer goods, corrugated case linings, foam liners, automotive, and industrial packaging. Oriented towards a sustainable future and committed to quality, Mondi FPF is an agile and innovative partner with technically advanced expertise, global availability, and customised solutions.   Well-connected within the Mondi Group, we are an integrated part of the value chain. Mondi FPF can imagine, design, and create innovations to meet the rapidly changing demands in the industry, and has access to an international network of specialists with over 11 plants in seven countries and three continents.

About LES CRUDETTES

Les Crudettes, a brand of the LSDH Group's Vegetable Division, has been producing a wide range of fresh, ready-to-use salads, raw vegetables, aromatic herbs and snack salads since 1984.

300 market gardeners, 650 employees, in 2 production workshops in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire (45) and Cabannes (13), share the same passion for ultra-fresh vegetable products to enable everyone to eat better thanks to fresh fruit and vegetables, available everywhere, produced by committed producers.

About IMA and IMA ILAPAK
Established in 1961, IMA is world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea and coffee.

IMA Ilapak, since 1970, with its vast range of flexible packaging solutions, can satisfy every form, fill and seal packaging requirement of food, pharma, medical devices and wet wipe industries.

Besides flow wrappers and vertical baggers, IMA Ilapak portfolio includes systems for modified atmosphere applications, product handling solutions, counting and weighing systems and complete, fully automated lines.