When it comes to famous sushi places in Malaysia, the one place that pops up in fellow Malaysians’ mind would be Sushi King. As the new year arrives, they had taken the step to change their packaging into paper packaging which is an environment-friendly approach.
Company Background
Established in 1995, Sushi King serves fresh Japanese cuisine at a affordable price to customers. Now, they have expanded to over 100 outlets in Malaysia, making it the largest Japanese Kaiten concept chain of restaurants in Malaysia.
Problem Statement
Sushi King wanted to replace their previous plastic packaging with paper packaging. They requested to have four sizes of custom paper packaging structures to contain different amount of food. Besides that, Sushi King wanted to maintain low cost for the packaging as they need to maintain affordable price point for customers. Ultimately, what they were looking for are lunch box packaging that are both low in costing and environmental-friendly. Check out how to cut down food packaging costs for restaurants.
One of the company’s initial ideas was that food packaging to have the feature of a chopstick holder. However, they did not have a lot ideas regarding the structure, hence it was up to FOODABOX to design the paper packaging that suits their overall image.
How FOODABOX provided the solution
Sushi King had a hard time choosing in between kraft paper and art paper. Kraft paper is more aesthetically pleasing, whereas art card has PE-coated layer. We proposed them kraft paper as their food is dry and does not require PE-coated layer. Besides that, kraft paper is also cheaper as PE-coating is an expensive add-on.
Since they did not use PE-coated layer, the glue flap could be stick inside the packaging. Food-grade glue is used as it is safe to be in contact with food. Soy ink is used for the printing. Not only it reduces carbon footprint, it is cost-effective as well.
Their idea on having the chopstick holder feature was reputed. The paper usage would increase with the implemented feature, which increases the cost for the packaging as well.
What did FOODABOX modify to meet client’s requirements
The next step is to give client a sample of the design to review after finishing the structural design. There were a few comments from Sushi King, stating that the food couldn’t fit into the sample structure. As a result, we tried to work around the measurements and pictures given by client and revise the structure. The new structure is then tested again by clients to make sure the measurements are correct.
What were the challenges for FOODABOX
It was tough to decide the right box structure, as they did not have a specific idea on how their packaging should be like. Hence, we had proposed different versions of it to come out with the final product that we have today.
The process of paper choosing was long as we had to find suitable kraft paper. Therefore, we did experiments with different papers under a specific time frame with sushi in order to find the right paper. The paper with the least amount of water absorbed would be the best choice, which is least likely for sushi to stick onto it.
And today…
Sushi King is now replacing their plastic packaging boxes with FOODABOX’s custom paper packaging boxes.
