Home compostable Notpla kraft food boxes.

A win for Flexeserve at LeicestershireLive Business Awards

Flexeserve has won the Award for Excellence in Manufacturing at the LeicestershireLive Business Awards 2020/21.

The LeicestershireLive Business Awards is an annual event that aims to celebrate success, recognise achievement and highlight the innovative people and companies throughout Leicestershire who are putting their region on the map.

The Flexeserve team says that it was thrilled to have been awarded the event’s highest accolade in manufacturing, which was sponsored by food manufacturers, Samworth Brothers. In addition to this, Flexeserve was also awarded runner-up for International Trade and Export in recognition of their growing success in overseas sales.

Partners from across all departments of Flexeserve, including the manufacturing team, were in attendance at the ceremony, held at the Maher Centre in Leicester on 16 September 2021.

Jamie Joyce, CEO of Flexeserve, was delighted with the achievement, and said: “The amazing result at the LeicestershireLive Business Awards recognises the eff orts of our entire team. When I refl ect on the past two years, and what we have managed to achieve, during the most challenging time for our business – and, indeed, for everyone – I couldn’t be prouder.

“During this time, we have needed to fulfi l pivotal, large-scale rollouts and everyone has risen to the occasion. We’ve increased the effi ciency and productivity of our manufacturing operation whilst maintaining the high standard of quality synonymous with the Flexeserve brand.”

Flexeserve, with its HQ in Hinckley, Leicestershire, has undergone a period of transformation in its manufacturing operations and facilities in response to a sharp rise in demand for its products overseas having, in recent years, secured major international customers that have made signifi cant commitments to the brand with orders amounting to thousands of units, the magnitude of these requirements having helped to drive Flexeserve’s evolution, and particularly where its manufacturing is concerned, the fi rm report.

Home compostable Notpla coated kraft food boxes

Adding to its sustainable foodservice packaging ranges, Tri-Star Packaging has introduced new kraft food boxes lined with Notpla Coating, an innovative special lining made from seaweed, which replaces the plastic coating usually used on foodservice products.

Notpla Coating does not require specifi c recycling pathways or specialised industrial composting equipment to degrade, claim Tri-Star, taking less than six weeks to completely decompose in a home composting environment.

“For many years, our mission has been to seek out, test and introduce a wider variety of more sustainable packaging,” said Tri-Star Packaging sales director, Lee Richards.

“We are excited to announce the introduction of these new recyclable and home-compostable kraft food boxes, which feature Notpla Coating, made from naturally renewable and abundant seaweed.

“The boxes are manufactured in the UK, from sustainable sources which include up to 25% grass. Adding to their sustainable credentials, they also make a signifi cant contribution to carbon footprint reduction, saving over 250kg of carbon-dioxide and 3,000 litres of water per tonne of carton board, when compared to conventional fi bre alternatives.”

The Notpla coating is made from one of nature’s most renewable resources, brown seaweed, which grows up to one metre per day (seaweed also doesn’t compete with food crops and doesn’t need fresh water or fertilizer, the packaging fi rm point out).

Fully recyclable, Tri-Star’s Notpla coated kraft food boxes are grease and heat-resistant, stackable, and easy to use. The design features webbed corners so the boxes are also leak resistant, making them suited to a range of foods from burgers to loaded fries or dry curries.