A Major Shoe Manufacturer Exceeds Sustainability and Savings Goals with New Packaging
Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivenne Westwood, Gisele Bündchen ... these are just some of the big names in fashion who’ve partnered with Grendene, a Brazil-based giant that’s the largest maker of sandals in the world. The company has several different sandal lines for women, men and kids, but its original Melissa line is probably the most well-known worldwide.
Since WestRock was a longtime supplier of corrugated boxes for Grendene, Senior Sales Executive Douglas Urruzola already had a connection to the company, but their popular sandals weren’t getting packaged in WestRock boxes. Based on his connection, he knew the company had a commitment to sustainability, much like WestRock.
“Grendene has always sought to co-create paths to transform lives. In our purpose, we declare that we want to create sustainable, accessible fashion in a creative way, valuing relationships,” said Matheus Dalmolin, Grendene’s raw material purchasing supervisor.
Urruzola thought that if WestRock could start producing and supplying Grendene’s shoe packaging, it could help the company advance their sustainability and generate cost savings at the same time. So, he began working on a plan with the WestRock team to share his idea with the sandal maker.
Dalmolin reviews designs for Grendene’s new shoe boxes.
Convincing a major brand to redesign packaging
“We studied the shoe lines and their packaging and how we could apply the replacement of bleached papers with our kraft. Grendene's packaging had already been established for a long time and was well known in the market, which was the biggest challenge, deconstructing a culture,” said Urruzola.
To communicate the value WestRock could bring, Urruzola showed the company that making the switch meant cost savings on materials of 30 percent, a savings that would mostly come from switching to various weights of WestRock Kraft Hyperform®, a kraft paperboard. Switching from a bleached white, coated paperboard to unbleached kraft meant a major change in the look of their packaging.
So along with savings, he made it a priority to show how the package design could continue to communicate the high quality associated with the brand despite a difference in look. The Grendene team liked what they heard and agreed to move forward with design and testing. Urruzola’s creative idea paid off.
“We started the tests on the Melissa line, including our TSS technical team to help us plan and execute. The tests were a success, and the Grendene marketing team approved,” said Urruzola.
The new Melissa shoe box (left) made with WestRock HyPerform uses less printing ink than the previous Melissa shoe box made with a coated paperboard. It also uses a water-based adhesive.
Capitalizing on the redesign
In addition to the benefits of using new packaging material, WestRock helped Grendene get more sustainability out of the package redesign. Working with Grendene’s marketing team in changing graphics and design allowed the company to make additional improvements and a greater impact.
“We significantly reduced the use of paint on the box print, and we eliminated the metallic eyelet that existed on the side. The glue was replaced by a solvent-free, water-based adhesive,” said Carlos André Carvalho, Grendene’s manager of sustainable development.
With no added metal and minimal print ink and solvents, Grendene’s goal was to engineer a shoe box with the lowest possible environmental impact. This new packaging would also be lighter in weight, which meant a reduction in shipping and transportation costs, an added benefit.
“It is a point of evolution in our sustainability journey for Melissa and all of Grendene,” said Carvalho.
Carvalho shows a flattened box lid with the full, wrapping design.
Building trust while tackling challenges
Since the team began talks and testing toward the end of 2020, they were met with the unpredictable challenge of a global pandemic. As the world shut down, online order and delivery heated up, putting an unprecedented demand on WestRock’s supply of paperboard.
“Our biggest concern was regarding the supply of kraft paper in a period of great insecurity because of the pandemic. As we really believed in the project, we made a bet on a double dose of Grendene and WestRock,” said Dalmolin.
Despite global uncertainty, both sides continued to move forward with plans for rolling out the new boxes with the Melissa line. Urruzola guaranteed Grendene that he’d be able to secure enough kraft paper if they stuck to making the switch with only the single shoe line.
“We were able to allocate a minimum volume to Grendene as a form of long-term investment, and this made all the difference, as the client trusted us from the start in our commitment to supplying part of their demand even in a period of high global demand,” said Urruzola.
Having established trust in WestRock, Grendene gradually made the change to additional shoe lines once the industry cooled down in the latter half of 2021. By the end of 2023, WestRock was supplying boxes for 85% of Grendene’s footwear lines.
The rewards of redesign
Urruzola initially quoted Grendene’s packaging costs would be 30% less, but the impact created by the redesign was much greater. Since the move to Kraft HyPerform, Grendene was able to track and calculate many benefits related to savings and sustainability.
“We conducted a study to evaluate life cycle. The result is undoubtedly great and becomes even more impressive when we take into account the size, which is already a result that can be multiplied in the millions of pairs and millions of boxes from all over the world here at Grendene,” said Carvalho.
Grendene’s research showed the redesign resulted in a 40 percent reduction in the use of chemicals, a 17 percent reduction in energy usage, a 60 percent drop in the amount of water used, and a 68 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.* When multiplying that by the millions of shoes they produce worldwide, the savings and sustainability impacts are enormous, which is exciting to those at Grendene.
“I want to congratulate WestRock on this achievement and share my congratulations from the Grendene team,” said Dalmolin.
If your company is looking to meet major sustainability goals, our team can show you how much you can accomplish through packaging and a bit of creative thinking. A new, innovative take on your package design can make your packaging lines more efficient and optimize your transportation and supply chain. Contact us to learn about your options.
*All statistics are derived from a life-cycle analysis conducted by Grendene.
