Vikings and Goddesses is a Minnesota-based, wholesale bakery that supplies over 30 restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores with a variety of baked goods and desserts. During the pandemic, they developed a line of frozen products to bring home-made bakery quality and perfection to home ovens. Since their opening in 2019, the company’s number one priority has been growing a sustainable business, with meaningful employment and liveable wages, while making a high-quality product for consumers.

Over the last year, 80% of the waste produced by the bakery has been diverted from the landfill, and either recycled or commercially composted. Vikings and Goddesses also pride themselves on sourcing products locally to support other small-business owners, and in turn, minimise their carbon footprint.

In line with their sustainability values and consumer demand, Vikings and Goddesses has now chosen a new compostable packaging sourced from Elk Packaging. The high-performance structure includes a high barrier cellulose film layer, NatureFlex film sourced from Futamura, laminated to a biofilm ensuring a hermetic seal. This final structure is independently certified compostable by BPI, proving that it will compost in a commercial compost setting.

This new packaging still meets all the technical requirements: excellent pack integrity is maintained throughout the process and distribution, ensuring that the grocery stores can handle the product, and it will remain intact in the end users home freezers. Additionally, the gusset pouch produced takes up less space on grocery store shelves than a cardboard box or the bakery’s previous packaging options.

Rachel Anderson, the owner of Vikings and Goddesses, comments, “I am pleased to have found a compostable solution to our packaging challenge with our converter partner Elk Packaging. Not only is the new solution compostable, it also works technically without the addition of a sticker or liner, that would need to be removed before tossing into the compost bin.”

Jeanne Cloutier, director of sustainability at Elk Packaging, says, “This has been a great project for Elk. Our challenge was to find a film that printed well, allowed for a clear window, and stood up to the harsh freezer environment. Also, it was important to gain BPI certification while having packaging sourced from sustainably managed wood inputs. We are delighted to have found a solution that stands out in a dark and crowded freezer space. We came up with a look like a “stained glass window” to accommodate for both minimal printing ink usage, and the need to see the product. It is an innovative way for a customer to see the size, shape, quality and deliciousness of the product inside of the bag without any guesswork.”

Elisha Hedin, regional sales manager at Futamura, adds:, “We are excited that our NatureFlex film has been chosen to be part of this compostable solution for Vikings and Goddesses. Our renewable and compostable films are a good choice for this type of application.”