Nordic Label prints compostable labels using Herma materials

Thanks to biodegradable label stock supplied by Herma, Nordic Label has acquired a new customer – Picnic. It is one of Finland's most widely known takeaway and fast-food restaurant operators, operating 38 branches, from Helsinki in the south to Rovaniemi in Lapland in the north, alongside numerous other sales outlets. The company offers a wide assortment of food, including filled baguettes and bread, salads, and hot meals. 

Picnic has a long-standing commitment to using packaging materials responsibly. In spring 2021, for example, it replaced its single-use lunch boxes with a deposit-based return scheme. The company’s strategy also includes biodegradable packaging as far as possible for items that can be used only once. This was the challenge that Picnic presented to the label printer Nordic Label. 

‘We had the task of developing the first compostable labels for Picnic,’ commented Nordic Label’s sales manager Heidi Lausea. 

The new material combination suggested by Herma serves the dual purpose of labeling the individual baguettes and bread rolls wrapped in paper and presented for sale in self-service counters and sealing the paper wrapper at the same time. 

The label stock consists of HermaExtracoat (grade 242) and the special adhesive 62N. Herma has been authorized to use the seedling logo denoting compostability for this material combination. It has been certified according to the standard EN 13432, which is the internationally recognized benchmark for the industrial compostability of biodegradable products. In consequence, the packaging is becoming fully compostable, including any labels. 

HermExtracoat is a white, adhesive label paper that is semi-gloss coated on one side and made from FSC Mix Credit material. It is suitable for producing compatible labels with multicolor printing with classic methods. For Picnic, Nordic Label is using a Xeikon digital printing press.

‘Even though it’s compostable, this material can be printed to the same high standard and is just as easy to cut as conventional label stock,’ concluded Lausea.