Les Crudettes, Mondi and IMA scoop French awards for new paper packaging

14 December 2021 – Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper; IMA Ilapak, world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for packaging and Les Crudettes, leading French company in the fresh vegetables market, have won three prizes at the prestigious French packaging award and the Trophées de l’innovation LSA for a new paper packaging.

Mondi developed a recyclable functional barrier paper, which is converted on VFFS machines of IMA Ilapak for a selection of Les Crudettes’ pre-washed, ready-to-eat-salads.

Their solution won the environment and production categories at the prestigious French packaging awards as well as the Trophées de l’innovation LSA.

Les Crudettes decided to replace the plastic bags for its fresh salads with Mondi’s new packaging. The new solution is 95% paper and verified as recyclable in the waste paper stream in France while keeping the salad fresh for up to 10 days – the same amount of time as with the previous plastic packaging. Mondi used its EcoSolutions approach to work closely with Les Crudettes in order to help the company meet its sustainability goals of reducing the amount of plastic in its packaging. The new packaging also supports Mondi’s MAP2030 sustainability goal to make 100% of its products reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

IMA Ilapak’s R&D efforts resulted in the first solution specifically designed to manager paper while ensuring the same performance as plastic packaging materials. The Vegatronic 6000 bagging machines produced for Les Crudettes are part of the Corporate Sustainability Program IMA Zero and IMA NOP (No Plastic) which have the ultimate goal of minimising environmental impact in industrial manufacturing, embodying the Group’s dedication to change and aiming to make a positive and eco-friendly impact.

From right to left:  Grégoire Duvot, Directeur Général / Managing Director, ILAPAK France; Sandrine Le Guen, Regional Sales France Consumer Flexibles, Mondi; Alexandre David, Responsable R&D/ R&D Manager, Les Crudettes; Géraldine Collet, Directrice Marketing & Innovation / Marketing & Innovation Director, Les Crudettes.