Wynn Petfood packs wet food blends, snacks in paper

German pet food startup Wynn Petfood is packing its entire product portfolio of premium pet food blends and practical snacks for dogs 100% in paper. According to Koehler Paper, the designer of the packaging material, this is the first time paper packaging has been used for wet food blends. Wynn said it is the first company in the pet food industry to do so.

Koehler NexPlus Advanced flexible packaging paper by Koehler Paper is designed to provide protection due to its oxygen, mineral oil and grease barrier properties, all while helping conserve valuable resources, said the company. According to Koehler, in Germany alone, around 10 million cans of wet food for pets are consumed and discarded on a daily basis. Despite being recycled at a high rate, this still results in high resource consumption and CO2 emissions. That is why Wynn Petfood decided to find sustainable packaging that would match this general vision.

“We had two requirements when it came to packaging," said Henrike Ludowig, founder of Wynn Petfood. "Our food had to be packed in as resource‐ efficient a manner as possible, and it also had to be protected as optimally as possible. Koehler Paper not only took on this challenge gladly, but went through every single step together with us. And to top it all off, our customers absolutely love the paper packaging."

Alexander Rauer, head of business development for flexible packaging paper at Koehler Paper, added paper packaging saves space and is easy to dispose of and recycle as wastepaper. "Our goal for our development work with our customers is to protect the product inside packaging to the greatest extent possible while minimizing the use of resources," said Rauer. "By using paper‐based packaging, we get the highest recycling rate of all materials – in fact, 81.5% of paper packaging in circulation in Europe ends up being recycled."

Sustainable packaging

The research and development team from Koehler Innovation & Technology worked with Koehler Paper to develop the NexFlex product range, which is designed as a unique and recyclable generation of flexible packaging paper. The goal was to replace plastic in packaging by using "barrier paper" wherever possible. The range covers a broad spectrum, including standard coated and uncoated paper used in laminates for pouches, sachets and other applications, making them suitable for a wide range of packaging for food and non‐food products.

The next generation of paper for flexible packaging is Koehler NexPlus, which is a sustainable barrier paper with functional surfaces for product‐specific protection. The NexFlex product family also includes paper coated on one side with good dimensional stability and high smoothness (Koehler NexCoat), as well as uncoated paper with a natural appearance (Koehler NexPure).

Various flexible packaging paper from Koehler Paper were awarded the “Made for Recycling” seal by the environmental service provider Interzero.    

Adapted from a press release.