Jet set meal containers

Airplane food has been the subject of countless punchlines, but it’s no joke to Scandinavian Airlines, which recently decided to revamp its dinner packaging. “In creating packaging for inflight meals, you must take many factors into account,” says Gustaf Öholm, senior manager of onboard concepts at Scandinavian Airlines. “The packaging must have low weight, present the food well and feel good in the hand.”

The airline decided to use a see-through film on the top of its boxes so passengers would initially have a pleasing view of their food. Clear packaging continues to be a leading trend in consumer demand. Recent research from Mintel Group Ltd. finds 54 percent of shoppers want transparent packaging, which, experts say, gives food a fresh or clean appearance.

Elanders, a Swedish printing company, worked with Scandinavian Airlines to choose the folding box board solution called Incada, which was produced by the Swedish company Iggesund Paperboard. Because of Incada’s stiffness, low weight and ability to be barrier coated, it looked to be a good fit for the meal packaging.

“Incada is a folding box board, a multilayered board with inner layers made from mechanical pulp for stiffness and chemical pulp in the outer layers for whiteness and printability,” says Staffan Sjöberg, public relations manager for Iggesund. “In this particular case, it also has an extruded plastic coating to protect the board from moisture coming from the food.” The interior barrier is made of black-dyed polyethylene, giving both the inside and black-printed exterior an elegant, dramatic look.

“The stiffness brought by the mechanical pulp makes it possible to make a light, but still stable, construction,” says Sjöberg.

For more information: Staffan Sjöberg,+46-650-28-256, staffan.sjoberg@iggesund.com, www.iggesund.com.