The Woodly® heat-sealed bag successfully caught the attention of the Nordic service industry following its launch in early spring. As expected, many have and are interested in shifting towards a more sustainable and wood-based packaging option.
The Neste Kontiomäki restaurant and service station located in northern Finland also recently made the switch to the Woodly® bag. However, a new product can sometimes take convincing, especially if you have not used it before.
“At first, I had my doubts, because the price differed from the previous bag we used. I figured we would just go through the samples and simply return to our old bag,” said Soile Lillinen, the Restaurant Manager at Neste Kontiomäki.
But the results of the Woodly® bag were just too good to be ignored for Lillinen, who has seen her fair share of different packaging applications during her nearly 40-year career in the service industry.
“In my mind, it’s the best bag that I have used in my long career during which I have packaged many sandwiches and other food-to-go products on display,” she continued.
Before the Woodly® heat-sealed bag came into the picture, Lillinen constantly faced several annoying issues that needed addressing.
“The Woodly® bag doesn’t tear up like our previous bags. You can fill it effortlessly and apply a firm seal to it easily. I like the feel of it, it’s soft and doesn’t make crinkling noises. Also, due to the softness and firmness, it does not break should it fall on the floor, unlike the previous bags I used. So in this sense, they are more economical as well,” states Lillinen.
No more soggy bread
Crinkling and tearing though were not the main issue of the previous bag. With display case bread products, it’s all about the look and feel of the product. Lillinen reveals that moisture was the biggest problem.
“With the previous bag, the bottom bun of the sandwich would end up soggy and wet. Now, our products stay fresh inside the Woodly® bag and look great, they don’t get moist like they used to,” she says.
After casting her initial doubts aside, Lillinen is more than happy with the results and firmly recommends that those operating in the service industry should make the switch as well to the wood-based heat-sealed bag.
“Regardless of the price difference, this bag is worth it. Easy to use and handle, we utilise every bag and save money because they don’t break easily and the products maintain freshness. I recommend others to try them, wrap your sandwiches on display for the customers to see,” concludes Lillinen.