Fedrigoni in eco packaging joint venture

Nespolo: "The luxury packaging sector is extremely relevant to us"
Nespolo: "The luxury packaging sector is extremely relevant to us"

Fedrigoni has acquired 70% of a NewCo that will produce inner trays for boxes and gift cases for luxury items made entirely of thermoformed, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly cellulose instead of plastic.

The recently signed agreement, which was announced yesterday (30 August), is with Tecnoform, a company from Colorno, in Parma, Italy.

Tecnoform, which will retain the remaining 30% of the capital, specialises in the production of trays, displays, and internal elements for packaging, made from plastic and other materials, which is used in industrial sectors such as cosmetics, fashion, toys, and food.

The NewCo is a spin-off of the Tecnoform business that is dedicated to the development of innovative packaging products to replace plastic with thermoformed cellulose, through a proprietary technology.

While the venture will initially focus on the cosmetics and high-end perfumes sectors, Fedrigoni said the applications “are endless”, ranging from luxury items to technology, from jewellery to watches, and food and e-commerce packages.

Fedrigoni is aiming to expand this business to reach a turnover of €25m (£21.5m) in the next two to three years.

“The agreement with Tecnoform is a new milestone on the path towards innovation to offer the market higher performing paper replacements for plastic. This is one of the main strands of our sustainability policy for which we have set challenging objectives for 2030,” said Fedrigoni Group CEO Marco Nespolo.

“The luxury packaging sector is extremely relevant to us and we believe we can make the difference in guiding it, on a global level, towards environmentally friendly solutions, thanks to the know-how acquired so far, the synergies with the other activities in our ecosystem and the possibility of globalising business, expanding it from Europe to America and Asia.”

Tecnoform CEO Alessandro Groppi added: “Our two companies are extremely well-matched and Fedrigoni’s experience in the luxury packaging sector, its knowledge of processes and manufacturing, added to the global dimension, will be crucial in helping us to develop new and highly innovative solutions.”

The deal is the sixth in the last three years for Fedrigoni, including four in the last 18 months in the self-adhesives sector.

Since the start of 2020 the company, which was itself acquired by Bain Capital four years ago, has bought Italian company Ritrama, Mexican business Industria Papelera Venus, US manufacturer and distributor Acucote, and Ri-Mark, one of the main distributors in Mexico, of which it already held 30%.

Founded in 1888, Fedrigoni employs over 4,000 staff globally and distributes to 130 countries.