Commercial and marketing

Rapid transition to help customers

The year got off to a strong start. Sales reached record-highs and a comprehensive reorganization of the sales and marketing organization was made to streamline customer communications and improve the customer experience. This turned out to be the right strategy when the pandemic caused an increase in the cross fertilization between Duni and BioPak and more customers chose products from both.

It has been a difficult year for our customers, especially in the HoReCa segment. We were able to quickly adapt the product ranges of the segments to customer needs. More restaurants started using take-away, and the BioPak range offers popular fiber-based alternatives to plastic in this area. When demand for hygienic solutions increased significantly, the Duni segment was able to transition and deliver a large quantity of cutlery packs.

Digital working methods were implemented quickly, which was a success factor both internally and in contact with customers.

New commercial regions

Central region:

Germany, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland

NorthEast region:

Nordics, Baltics, Poland, Russia and Czech Republic

South region:

France, Italy, Spain and Portugal

West region:

UK and Benelux

Rest of the World (RoW) region:

Asia and Oceania (APAC), North, South and Latin America (Americas), the Middle East, North Africa and India (MENA)

Strengthening the organization

To create a more attractive customer experience, at the start of 2020, Duni Group replaced its four business areas with two segments – Duni and BioPak. In the new commercial organization, five regions are responsible for all local sales and marketing of both brands. In November, the Group announced another step to strengthen the organization by creating two business areas based on the segments effective January 1, 2021, each with responsibility for their value chain. The current management team functions in the areas of Operations, Marketing and Corporate Development will disappear, with responsibility being taken over by the respective new functions.

Record-start to the year lost momentum

In terms of sales, 2020 started out with the best January and February in the Company’s history. Then, as of March, the coronavirus shaped the rest of the year. Most professional customers, such as restaurants and hotels, were hit the hardest, and the Duni segment’s sales decreased significantly as of March, especially for napkins and table covers. Sales to grocery outlets declined as well.

Duni met strong demand for hygiene

The pandemic gave rise to new customer needs. Hygiene aspects became highly important as restaurants began to re-open in the second quarter, and Duni was able to meet a growing customer need in this area. As a result, sales of Duni Sacchetto cutlery packs and placemats saw very strong growth.

Take-away increased and BioPak delivered

When many restaurants had to close, take-away became a new sales channels even for traditional restaurants. Home delivery of food also became enormously popular. This prompted a drastic increase in demand for eco-profiled meal packaging. Via its former ecoecho® range, now BioPak, the Group commands a very strong market position. BioPak’s meal packaging product range is purchased, and we had to work hard to avoid delivery problems when much of the supply chain disappeared, especially in Asia. Instead, European suppliers or alternative products had to be found quickly.

Digitalization and new ways of working kept our business running

With lockdowns and remote working, digital ways of working became essential. Traditionally, in-person visits were important for the Group. Now, customer contacts and communications were moved to digital channels. Creative solutions included webinars and digital campaigns, with social media as an important part to generate interest in the product range. At the same time, many tactical activities were pursued to secure sales, including pitching of the Christmas product range, annual negotiations with wholesalers and active efforts on hygienic alternatives.

Atlantis wins sustainable design award

BioPak’s Atlantis bowl concept won a prestigious silver metal at the 2020 Pentawards, the world’s leading awards contest for packaging design. Atlantis was designed by designer Karolin Larsson in collaboration with Duni Group’s marketing department. The concept combines chopsticks made of wood and bamboo with bowls and lids made of compostable bagasse and lids made of recycled plastic.

DUNI Visualiser – the app that sets your table

The Duni Visualiser Augmented Reality app makes planning table decorations easy, risk-free and fun. It’s easy from a smartphone to choose coordinated products or complete table settings and generate images of how it will look. In the app, it’s also easy to contact Duni Group for information, product specifications and samples or to book a meeting with a salesperson.

Warehouse relocation simplifies logistics

In fall 2020, work started to relocate the warehouse in Norrköping to Jönköping. This streamlines logistics and will lead to cost savings. The relocation will be completed during the first quarter of 2021.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Singapore

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) is one of the world’s most well-known café chains with more than 1,200 locations globally. The first in Singapore was started in 1996, and now there are more than 60 in the country. CBTL Singapore uses plates and bowls from the BioPak BioCane range. This decreases detergent emissions and enables customers to rest assured that they are eating on environmentally-sound and hygienic single-use products. BioCane products will also replace take-away packaging that was made of plastic.

Eatery, Sweden

As a result of COVID-19, Stockholm-based restaurant chain Eatery lost 75% of its lunch guests. To compensate, the chain started delivering food to customers by taxi in Duni Group’s packaging. The first order was for 100,000 Duniform® trays. Eatery has invested in four Duniform® machines to seal packaging. After just a few weeks, Eatery had delivered 10,000 portions of food. The chain’s collaboration with Taxi Stockholm improves its margins but also benefits the heavily hit taxi sector.

Bünting Group, Germany

In March 2020, Duni Group initiated testing for sustainable packaging with the Bünting Group, which includes supermarket brands Famila and Combi. Bünting’s headquarters has so far approved 17 products, and the response from both customers and the company’s management has been positive. Five supermarkets have switched their packaging to BioPak and more are on the way. The number of Forum trays alone is about one million per year. The Duniform® sealing system is also used in the chain’s 92 kitchens.

Pinchos, Sweden

Pinchos is a Swedish chain with 66 restaurants serving hors d’oeuvre from around the world on its menu. Guests book a table, order and pay in an app – Pinchos was the first restaurant chain in the world to take all orders via an app. When they switched to takeaway during the pandemic, they chose Duni Group’s meal boxes made of bagasse with adhesive lids The number of take-away boxes they use is estimated to be about 15,000–20,000 per week.

Sylvest & Bang, Denmark

Sylvest & Bang in Copenhagen has three foundations: lunches, catering and portion-packed ready-to-eat meals. Before COVID-19, most of this was served on large platters, but now individual portion packaging is used. They use boxes from the BioPak Viking range with transparent lids so that customers can see the food. During the pandemic, Sylvest & Bang started delivering more hot food. Their tests of the Duniform® sealing system have been positive.

Pura, Germany

In Breitbrunn am Chiemsee, restaurant Pura stretches the boundaries for vegetarian and vegan cuisine. Everything is cooked with passion and the conviction that a healthy diet is good for your well-being. The organic ingredients are sourced regionally and are seasonal. The sustainable concept also applies to Pura’s take-away and delivery services. All food and drink are packed in Duni Group’s environmentally-sound containers. The glass is made of 100% recyclable plastic and the food is delivered and compostable bagasse boxes. Pura also uses Bloom environmentally-sound bags made of grass paper.