Seafood: Bornholms converts to plastic

Bornholms, a market leader in seafood in Scandinavia, now makes the move from cans to plastics. The key results include improved logistics, user-friendliness and a shelf life of two years under ambient temperatures.

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Cod roe, mussels and fish balls reach most consumers in a tin - when not straight from the sea. Now fish lovers in Denmark can get their healthy and delicious seafood in plastic packaging without compromising the long shelf life. The company Bornholms, a Danish market leader in seafood, is currently converting most of their packaging solutions from cans to plastic boxes.

Two years under ambient temperature
RPC Superfos has developed a series of four types of packaging with an entirely new oxygen barrier solution, created especially for Bornholms. The seafood products are currently launched in supermarkets in Denmark. Under ambient temperatures, the shelf life is two years.

In the long run, Bornholms and RPC Superfos expect shelf life to be extended up to three years. This time frame is also attractive to Bornholms as the company’s export to overseas market means rather time consuming transport by ship and sometimes lengthy clearance through customs.

Saving 200,000 truck km a year
The change of packaging leads to clear benefits for the seafood company and for the end-user. Christian Sieverts, Managing Director of Bornholms, says:

“The conversion allows us to increase the filling speed, reduce the cost of the packaging material and optimise logistics. Another very positive effect is the reduced carbon footprint. According to our estimates, we will save more than 200,000 km by truck every year, which in part is due to the location of the RPC Superfos Distribution Center, but also closely linked to the shape of the packaging. Before, our packaging was straight-sided; now thanks to the new design, we work with a conical shape and can put a significant amount of extra units on each truck.

The improved stacking facility also means that the empty pots only demand up to 30 per cent of the warehouse space that was previously required.”

The kitchen pros are thrilled
Bornholms has already launched the seafood in the new plastic packaging to the catering segment. Reported reactions have been clearly favourable; the new packaging makes the daily routines in the professional kitchens a lot easier, as it is hassle-free to open the container, to get the content out and put the lid back on. This follows the recent trend among consumers seeking resealability and easy-to-open and close packaging; with the solution from RPC Superfos, Bornholms can offer end-users this valuable feature.

All in on conversion
Bornholms has a proud company history of almost 100 year and is known as the largest supplier of tinned fish products in Scandinavia, so obviously, the decision to convert to plastic has not been made overnight. Christian Sieverts states that significant investments have been necessary. He says:

“We went all-in on this conversion. The decision ensures continuous development, up to date production facilities and long term benefits. We are confident about getting a good return on investments.”