CONPAX: From seaweed innovation to millions of food packs
2026-10-30
A promising material is one thing. Turning it into millions of food packs used by restaurants, venues and consumers is something else entirely.
That is where Conpax enters the seaweed story.
The Dutch company produces folding carton packaging and supplies a broad range of disposables to the foodservice, food industry and retail markets. Sustainability has long influenced that portfolio. Commercial Director @Wilco Wieling describes @Conpax as a sustainability driven organisation, working predominantly with raw materials from natural sources such as paper, cardboard and sugar cane.
But as European legislation around single use plastics tightened, finding credible alternatives became increasingly important.
A claim worth investigating
In late 2022 or early 2023, Conpax came across a LinkedIn post from Notpla claiming to have developed a completely plastic free coating based on seaweed. Wieling was initially sceptical. The packaging industry is full of environmental claims and alternative materials can still contain plastics or modified polymers.
Conpax decided to investigate.
What followed was a nine month process involving Wageningen University and Research, the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, specialists from Notpla and Conpax itself. Eventually, Conpax received the confirmation it needed: the coating could be classified as plastic free.
That opened an interesting opportunity. Many cardboard food containers require a thin barrier coating to provide resistance against grease and moisture. Traditionally, that coating is often plastic. Notpla offered Conpax a way to maintain the functionality of fibre based packaging without that plastic layer.
The missing link between innovation and scale
Yet a validated material does not automatically become a commercial success.
This is perhaps where Conpax plays its most important role. Notpla develops the material technology, while Conpax has the production capabilities, foodservice knowledge and customer relationships required to turn that innovation into products that can enter the market at scale.
Wieling identifies three major hurdles in that process. First, the environmental claim has to be proven. Second, the economics need to work. New materials initially come with smaller volumes and higher prices. Third, customers need to understand why making the switch is worthwhile.
“It does not sell itself,” says Wieling. “You have to explain the story, the impact and why it is different.”
Conpax was prepared to invest in building the range before that demand was guaranteed. Wieling admits that the introduction was not always easy. But the numbers now tell a very different story.
Conpax sold more than 600,000 seaweed coated packs in the first year. That increased to 2.3 million in the second year. This year, the company expects sales to reach almost 12 million packs.
Finding customers willing to move first
One of the companies helping to drive that growth is Kwalitaria. The foodservice chain, with around 160 locations, was already a Conpax customer using cardboard containers with a conventional PE coating.
Moving to the Notpla alternative took time. As volumes increased, however, the price difference became smaller. Conpax could also demonstrate the reduction in plastic use and carbon impact associated with the switch.
Other applications have followed. Through Conpax, Notpla coated products are also being supplied to major venues including the Johan Cruijff Arena and Ziggo Dome.
For Wieling, these examples demonstrate an important reality. Sustainable innovation needs organisations that are prepared to make a conscious choice rather than simply wait for the cheapest solution.
More than one company can solve
Conpax is already exploring further applications with Notpla, including bowls and sauce cups, while development continues on coatings for more demanding applications such as hot drinks.
But widening the range is only part of the challenge.
Conpax believes the next generation of packaging needs collaboration throughout the entire value chain. Material developers are needed to create new solutions. Converters such as Conpax need to turn them into commercially viable products. Foodservice companies need to create demand. Collection companies and waste processors ultimately determine what happens after those products have been used.
“You have to look across the whole chain,” says Wieling.
That perspective also explains Conpax’s decision to join the European Seaweed Association. For companies developing new seaweed-based materials, Conpax can provide something particularly valuable: a bridge between innovation and the foodservice market.
Because the real test for a new material does not happen in a laboratory. It happens when it can be produced, purchased, used and processed at scale.
Read more about Conpax on their website or reach out to @Wilco Wieling
