Paper gives packaging designers many options to snack on

Paper’s impactful shelf presence, inherent oil/grease resistance and renewability can drive snack food packaging differentiation in today’s marketplace. Wausau Paper (www.wausaupaper.com) can help customers create a customized application solution that combines the many functionality, appearance and sustainability benefits of paper.

Wausau Paper’s portfolio of ProRedi®, ProPly®, ProTec® and Eco Select™ products are engineered to meet specific snack food containment requirements, whether for potato or tortilla chips, pretzels, microwaveable popcorn, candy/cereal/nutrition bars, fried pies and other baked confections, or healthy snacks such as nuts, granola and trail mix.

“The inherent stiffness and rigidity of paper makes it ideal for stand-up packaging on store shelves,” says Bob Frazier, food sector director, Wausau Paper. “Here it can serve as a ‘brand billboard’ to capture shoppers’ attention while conveying an environmentally responsible brand owner to eco-minded consumers.”

Aggressive oils and grease meanwhile do not present a problem for paper-based packaging. Wausau Paper uses mechanical refining processes honed over more than a century to produce sheets with inherently functional oil/grease barriers prior to any additional barrier treatments.

Paper can also be easily laminated to films and other substrates to achieve desired performance properties. It further provides a highly accommodating print surface to accommodate a variety of different graphics requirements.

Wausau Paper offers traditional bleached sheets in a range of thicknesses and finishes as well as unbleached Eco Select papers offering a ‘natural’ look and the sustainability benefit of using FDA-compliant post-consumer waste (PCW) fiber content. These sheets can further be Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) certified, meaning the paper is sourced from responsibly managed, sustainable forests.