The UK-based company – a division of corrugated packaging giant DS Smith – was selected for the project by Finlandia brand owner Brown-Forman on the basis of its specialism in creative packaging materials.
"The specifications for the packaging were extremely high," says AbbeySheetfeeding. "It had to be a product which was recyclable, strong, light in weight, and it needed to look like a rigid box yet be flat-packed to save costs through the supply chain.
For the premium positioning required for the Finlandia vodka brand in such key vodka markets, the packaging also had to accept foil blocking and embossing "to a high standard".
When manufactured into a microfluted material, AbbeyTex is said to provide high strength and protection characteristics to the carton packaging, in addition to its decorative appearance.
Finlandia's designers used a combination of graphics and text for foil blocking in three colours, with further embossed enhancements, resulting in sophisticated looks for the blue material-covered single-bottle pack.
AbbeySheetfeeding claims to be the UK's leading supplier of speciality corrugated board.
