recycled compostable and carton board film facilitate fair trade alliance alce nero to manufacture a more ecologically helpful package for its chocolate. when an italian group of organic farmers and producers looked to bring in more environmentallyfriendly packaging, it relied on swiss converter fratelliroda to give the answer. alce nero, which is a part of alce nero mieliziaspa, and its members share a common philosophy for regionality, environment and the innovation. the choice to cultivate organically has differentiated the organization since its beginning in 1978. at present, it represents beekeepers, farmers and fair trade manufacturers. its chocolate bars are made up of cocoa from plants grown in the region of costa rica by cooperativas sin fronteras, its partner organization. it is a strong network of small fair trade producers in the area of south american country. as soon as harvested, the beans are then roasted and made into the final product by chocolate stella, which is switzerland&rsquos chocolate bernrain group. fratelliroda extensively works with the confectionery market, particularly with those providing chocolate, but also those dedicated in the highquality savoury and sweet markets. for the external packaging of the alce nero chocolate bars, fratelliroda used a recycled carton stuff called gd2 that gives one more use to carton waste. fratelliroda is an fsccertified operation. to produce gd2, fratelliroda recycles about 99 percent of its carton waste. it also revaluates it and finds applications for it. then the recycled carton was printed with using offset and combined with a uv varnish suited for food packaging. on the alce nero logo embossing was also used. to fulfil the needs of the food sector, fratelliroda works within the management system of hazard analysis and critical control points haccp. in this management system, food safety is addressed through the testing and control of chemical, physical, and biological hazards from raw material production, handling and procurement, till manufacturing, allocation and consumption of the finished product. luisa colombo crivelli, who is the marketing manager at fratelliroda mentioned that from a printing perspective, often confectionery market players ask for packaging with special effects, like special varnishes, embossing, and the use of silver or gold colours to decorate their packaging. from the technical point of view, the company requires to be certified to print for organizations working in the food industry they follow the haccp system of control. inside the recycled carton external sleeve, the chocolate is wrapped up in innovia films&rsquo compostable natureflex fabric to further minimize its environmental impact. natureflex films are also certified to fulfil the european en13432, australian as4736 and american astm d6400 standards for ecofriendly packaging. manufactured from woodpulp that is derived from managed forests, the biobased substance of natureflex films is generally 95 percent by weight of material as per the astm d6866. natureflex films have innate antistatic and deadfold properties, good barrier to gases, aromas and mineral oils, highgloss and resistance to grease and oil, and a wide heatseal variety, as per the innovia films. nicolettamaffini, who is marketing manager at alce nero, mentioned that they have decided to switch from standard plastic to a compostable and biodegradable alternative to package their chocolate bars. metallized natureflex offered by innovia films was an ideal fit for them not only because of its environmental attributes but also due to its outstanding barrier properties to maintain the premium condition of their organic fair trade chocolate. giorgio berton works as a technical services and development specialist at innovia films. giorgio mentioned that their metalized natureflex film is used to good by alce nero because it protects the product, fits in with their brand image, and is biodegradable. crivelli further added that everything they produce, they try to do in a manner that reduces the negative footprint on the environment. source of information httpwww.packprintworld.comnewsfeaturesconfectionerypackagingallwrappedup
