Featured image for Level Ground Trading

Level Ground Trading

by Elizabeth Freeman on 10/22/2015 | 3 Minute Read

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The day has come for Level Ground Trading—they have just launched brand new packaging for their entire coffee line that is 100% compostable. As a company that maintains high ethics in all of its practices, utilizing fully biodegradable packaging was a big goal, and Subplot Design Inc. helped them to achieve it.

“The new packaging material is certified compostable by BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) and is made in Canada from FSC Certified wood.  The material delivers the needed barriers for freshness and also decomposes in 180 days or less, and is printed and manufactured by Genpak in Ontario. The result is a brand new package holding 454 grams of coffee that minimizes impact on the planet.”

“The new packaging shape is more industry-standard, which alleviates some retailer’s concerns that the previous pouch-packs were too wide and unstable on the shelf, taking up too much room and often looking messy at retail. New packaging-forming and filling capabilities at Level Ground also allowed Subplot to remove the extra face-panel label and have information printed directly on the packaging, thus cleaning up the overall design. Finally, an audit of essential communications on the packaging allowed the design to be cleaner and simpler to aid in a quicker read.”

They proudly state on the back of the package that they “shake the hands that pick the coffee,” and they put images of actual people involved in their process. Using an earthy brown color and a rugged font, it implies that the beans are harvested with special care. Each variety has a distinguishing color that also helps to set it apart.

Stacey Toews, co-founder, Level Ground Trading adds, “Upcycling has allowed us to take responsibility for our package post-use. Our retailers and our customers share our commitment – 44,000 empty coffee packages were returned to stores last year so we could pick them up and have them upcycled. We wanted to go a step further and offer our customers a coffee package that features more renewable resources and a better afterlife.”

Hugo Ciro, president of Level Ground Trading states, “Our business has been landfill free since 2005 so...we’ve been championing thoughtful environmental practices for more than a decade. But it is in our DNA to continue to do better for our farmers, their families and for the planet. Our customers have been asking us for an environmentally friendly coffee package and we’ve spent years searching for a solution that doesn’t compromise the quality of our Level Ground coffee and meets certification standards. This has been a challenging and exciting undertaking. It’s a proud day for us and for our customers who also want to do the right thing.”

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Designed by: Subplot Design Inc.

Country: Canada

City: Vancouver, British Columbia