Christophe Baudry, Commercial Director Beautycare & Healthcare, Metsä Board Paperboard

Premium Beauty News - What are the main innovations that Metsä Board is presenting at Luxe Pack this year?

Christophe Baudry - We are used to say that revolutions sometimes occur at Metsä Board but that evolutions are permanent. This is especially true this year!

First of all, we are introducing a new liner at Luxe Pack 2013. Modo Northern Light is a lightweight, uncoated liner with high whiteness, ideal for microflute and small pack sizes. It is suitable both for outer and inner packaging in high-quality applications such as beautycare.

This new product helps meet demand for lighter-weight packaging and opens up exciting opportunities for combining a lighter liner with fluting in innovative ways. It complements our product range by providing even more options for our customers.

Furthermore, Metsä Board will also showcase its entire folding boxboard range at Luxe Pack 2013, highlighting the recent improvements to its grades Carta Elega and Avanta Prima.

Premium Beauty News - What are these improvements?

Christophe Baudry - In addition to decreasing the weight of the products, on which we were pioneers, we continued to work on the improvement of the products’ appearance.

The shade of Carta Elega has been optimised to enhance visual whiteness – an important characteristic in the beautycare and luxury packaging market. Avanta Prima has been further light weighted whilst maintaining the same thickness and stiffness. Its shade has also been optimised to enhance visual whiteness.

Each of these cartonboards is now even more suitable for a particular packaging end-use such as beautycare or luxury packaging.

Metsä Board’s cartonboards on show at Luxe Pack include also Carta Integra and Carta Solida lightweight folding boxboards, as well as, the Chromolux cast-coated board range that is especially recommended for applications requiring high gloss and a luxurious look. These products have remained unchanged this year. However, we have improved the sheeting capacities of the Äänekoski paper mill in Finland, where Carta Integra and Carta Solida are produced.

Premium Beauty News - Precisely, regarding sheeting capacities, consequent investments have been made this year.

Christophe Baudry - Yes. The investments on our sheeting capacities have succeeded this year to the heavy investments that were made in 2011-2012 on our production capabilities.

Thus, we have launched a big sheeting centre in Germany. Thanks to its central location, it can supply all of Europe. The paper reels are sent from the factories to the centre, then allowing greater logistical flexibility and reduced delivery times.

This corresponds to a real market need. Changes in demand, especially with brands being constantly eager to react immediately to shifts in the market, imply to be always more responsive in terms of leadtime and delivery.

It is precisely with the aim to improve our capacity in listening to our customers and understanding their needs that we have organized our sales force according to our core markets.