Customized packaging brings vital improvements

Vital Farms, a US ethical food company, has been using Hartmann’s recyclable Hybrid egg packaging for some time – but recently approached us to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging still further. The challenge was an exciting one. 

The companies ethics are shared across a community of like-minded family farmers, suppliers, consumers, crewmembers and shareholders. This includes considering the environment in its business decisions from the land on which animals are raised to the materials used to package its products.

A great opportunity for Hartmann to develop a new carton that satisfied the high standards of both Vital Farms and its passionate consumers.

Of course, Vital Farms had already had success with using Hartmann’s Hybrid egg carton for their entire egg assortment.

Hartmann’s standard Hybrid egg carton (exclusively produced for North America) has a traditional moulded fibre base made from 100% recycled paper. The lid is made from SBB (Solid Bleached Board), a virgin fibre paperboard which is 100% recyclable, compostable, and biodegradable. 

However, they now wanted to raise their stake in the ethical market. So, in August 2019 we set to work to produce a customized carton made from 100% recycled material.

Working alongside Vital Farms and a Canadian-based agency we dug deep into research. We unearthed useful consumer insights, valuable industry insights, and married them with our knowledge and experience of how an egg carton is produced.

Then we thought about what could be improved. What innovations could be made to the raw materials? How could the carton lid be reshaped to create a larger front area?

And after several prototypes and rounds of testing, we were finally able to show Vital Farms a customized Hartmann Hybrid egg pack.

• Reduced environmental footprint - The lid is now made from 100% recycled fibers and is also Greenchoice 100™ certified. This certification means the lid is C0₂ neutral - as the carbon emitted during its production is offset by new tree plantings.
  
  
• Longer front flap - More merchandising space and shelf impact due to the larger front surface.
  
  
• Refreshed direct print design - With the cute little creative touch of making the right tab into the wing of the hen.

A vital improvement, you might say – but also another great example of the efforts Hartmann makes to meet our customers’ needs and consumers ever-changing expectations. After 14 months of hard work, the ethical cartons were rolled out in the first week of November 2020 – just in time for the busy Holiday season.