Ecolean - a lighter approach to packaging

Ecolean has been awarded the "Best new packaging innovation for dairy foods or beverages" in the 2011 IDF Dairy Innovation Awards.

The judges looked for packages creating differentiation and improving shelf-standout while keeping the consumer usability at good level. Reduction in raw material use and making a measurable contribution to environmental sustainability was also highly evaluated.

The award attracted more than 100 entries from 25 countries. FoodBev Media group editorial director Bill Bruce, who chaired the judging panel, says: "This entry impressed the judges as it succeeds in combining an attractive, modern and practical alternative packaging solution, while at the same time offering a measurable contribution to a brand-owner’s environmental sustainability agenda. This represents a potential win-win for both manufacturer and consumer alike".

- An innovative package should bring visible differentiation to the brand owner, the Ecolean package is one of a kind and makes the brand owner's products stand out on the shelf. We are proud to be awarded for this in the IDF Dairy Innovation Award, says Peter L Nilsson, Managing Director Ecolean Group.

Read more about the competition and watch the movie showing all entries here www.foodbev.com

Download high resolution pictures etc here www.ecolean.com/en/about/downloads

For questions please contact Ecolean press and marketing responsible:

• Anna Annerås, 该E-mail地址已受到防止垃圾邮件机器人的保护，您必须启用浏览器的Java Script才能看到。 , +46 (0) 42 450 4574
• Louise Hobroh, 该E-mail地址已受到防止垃圾邮件机器人的保护，您必须启用浏览器的Java Script才能看到。 , +46 (0) 42 450 4533

The first Marketing Conference “Insights, ideas and creativity” has taken place in beautiful Yahroma-Park outside Moscow, Russia from 20 till 22 of September 2011. The participants enriched their knowledge of Ecolean’s products, received useful experience within marketing and built relations with colleagues from other companies in the business.

22 representatives such as directors, marketing managers and brand managers from our partner dairies and beverage producers in Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia was part of the event. The participants gained knowledge about and shared ideas on how to position, promote and launch their products in the unique lightweight Ecolean package. The conference program included presentations, workshops, discussions and business cases.

• Read more about the conference and download presentations (Russian)

Milk from the organic dairy Osted mejeri in Denmark, was the clear test winner in a taste test made by Danish television, TV2 and newspaper Politiken. Both the first and the second places, out of the six tested products, were packed in Ecolean Air packages.

Osted Mejeri produces organic dairy products both under their own brand (the winner) and labeled for the supermarket Rema 1000 (second place).

Ecolean and the Osted dairy has been collaborating since the owner, Karl Simonsen, founded it in 2003. He says, We started up in a small scale, with producing 200 000 liter of milk per year and ever since the beginning we have had a clear ambition to deliver good quality to a fair price. And apparently people like what we are doing! Today we sell more than 5 million liter milk. He continues, we use the Ecolean package, for all our products, as it is a lightweight package that leaves small environmental footprints, it stands out on the shelf and our customer likes to use it.

The test panel meant that some of the other milk, packed in carton packages, had a taste of paper which made the milk taste old. Thomas Hansen, who is assistant professor at Metropolitan University College in Copenhagen, was a part of the test panel. In an interview on Danish television, TV2, he explained that milk is a flexible product that easily can adapt taste from the surroundings. He says, that you begin to wonder, if the two winning milks that both were packed in plastic packages tasted better, due to the packaging or if it the cows eat a different kind of cattle food?

• Read the whole article about the test here. (Danish)
• Watch the TV clip from Danish TV2 here. (Danish)

Minimilk is one of the most popular milk categories in Denmark and was introduced in 2001. The minimilk fat percentage is lower than 0,5%.

After three prestigious prizes since June this year, Ecolean has once again won world-wide recognition for its aseptic packaging. Ecolean has been awarded WorldStar 2009 in the beverage category. WorldStar 2009 attracted 237 entries from 35 countries around the world and the winners were selected by a jury consisting of 14 country representatives from the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) and one representative from the International Packaging Press Organisation (IPPO).

Award decisions were based on the judges’ consensus that a package is superior to other packages in its geographical market and category, when it comes to performance and the best in innovative design. The judges consider many features in each package; for example ease of handling, sales appeal, cost reduction and environment compatibility.

We can establish that the appreciation received from competition juries worldwide also reflects in a great sales increase, and we expect to expand even more next year, says Peter L Nilsson, Managing Director of Ecolean.

WorldStars are presented only to those packages which, having already won recognition in a national competition (Ecolean was awarded Scanstar 2009 in September) and are compared by an expert panel of judges to similar packages from around the world. The winners of WorldStar 2009 will be honored at an award presentation ceremony in Beijing, China in the first week of June 2010.