Lecture
Huhtamaki Fiber Technology (HFT) is the internal research and development center for molded fiber and is part of Huhtamaki. Huhtamaki is a Finnish consumer packaging company whose production includes food packaging, disposable containers, as well as egg cartons and fruit packaging for quick service restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, caterers, and vending operators. Huhtamaki is active in 37 countries, has 116 locations and consists out of around 18000 employees. HFT has around 200 employees and has its office and factory in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.
The goal of Huhtamaki Fiber Technology is to replace plastic products with fiber alternatives. It is doing so by further developing the molded fiber technology used in egg carton production. HFT executes all steps of the innovation process; pre-development, engineering, building the machine lines, and industrialization of which the latter normally is executed at one of the production locations of Huhtamaki.
After already having developed microwaveable trays and take-away coffee lids, a big part of the company is now focused on the development of home-compostable coffee capsules. Because this high precision technology is more advanced compared to the previous products it was chosen to build a so called ‘Pilot Factory’ in Leeuwarden to have more influence on the industrialization phase. The pilot factory gives us the possibility to test our cutting-edge technology and bring new products quickly to the market.
