FINLAND (News release) -- As an advanced manufacturer, Huhtamaki is at the center of the value chain. Our ambition drives us to become a proactive innovation catalyst for our customers and partners. We identify, enable, and monetize sustainable innovation - both upstream and downstream.

"By creating scalable and viable alternatives for plastic substitution, we at Huhtamaki are delivering sustainable options to customers, in line with our 2030 Strategy," says Jelle Post, Technology & Development Manager, Fiber Packaging, Huhtamaki Fiber Foodservice EAO.

In 2021, we invested in acquiring and developing new technological capabilities. We are transforming and leveraging our innovation capabilities to become best in class to enable us to take a leading role in addressing the global challenges of climate change.

Together with our partners, we are working to substitute existing plastics. For example, in the Huhtamaki Fiber Technology Centre in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, we are developing smooth molded fiber (SMF) products using Huhtamaki technology in our core processes. Ultimately this collective effort can help us succeed in protecting food, people, and the planet while also bringing significant commercial value.

At present, we use SMF technology to create, for instance, lids and trays for foodservice operators and retail sales. The end products are strong, lightweight and with the high quality that meets food safety standards. We believe that the future of Huhtamaki SMF lies here, and that we have the experience and know-how to develop this complex but exciting technology, having produced molded fiber egg trays since 1938.

"Our transformative innovation will define the future, enable us to develop an entirely new offering and shape a leading business right from the very beginning," says Francisco Galindo, Head of Technology, Fiber Packaging, Huhtamaki Fiber Foodservice EAO.

The vision of the Huhtamaki Fiber Technology Centre is to shape a new market by building technology and machines that do not exist yet. Our advantage is that we have a solid foundation as a key global player in food on-the-go and food on-the-shelf packaging solutions.

Huhtamaki's 2021 Annual Report, to be published on March 1, 2022, contains more information on the innovation we have delivered during the past year.