We use BIODEGRADABLE PACKAGING for
our Organic Raw Cacao Energy Snacks!

Superfood Snacks is very grateful to have had opportunity to pioneer sustainable printed packaging into the food marketplace made with biodegradable & compostable materials!

Superfood Snacks Organic & Raw Chocolate line offers you a wonderful boost of energy & antioxidants, while all are served in cutting edge sustainable packages made from NatureFlex non-gmo, sustainably sourced biodegradable and compostable films.

Click here to read a press release about Superfood Snacks Biodegradable Packaging.

Superfood Snacks Compostable Packaging Video

Are the Bio Bags packaging technology new?
Although cellophane and aluminum metallized films are not a new packaging concept, the process for producing metallized cellulose films that are compostable and biodegradable and have the ability to be strong and flexible is truly groundbreaking. Superfood Snacks has pioneered the first retail products in the marketplace that use this technology in a flexible stand-up bag format.

Why do the Superfood Snacks Bio-Bags use NatureFlex Films?
Cellulose film is the oldest transparent packaging product. First marketed in the U.S. in the 1920s as cellophane, it was the most popular packaging film used until the 1960s when polyolefin based products began to dominate the packaging market for a variety of reasons. In the more environmentally-conscious marketplace of today, cellulose film is returning to popularity because it is on average 94% from renewable raw materials. Unlike the man-made polymers in plastics, which are largely derived from petroleum, cellulose films are manufactured from a natural polymer, cellulose, which is a component of plants and trees. The raw material for NatureFlex, the cellulose film that Superfood Snacks is using, is a renewable wood-pulp sourced exclusively from plantations following sustainable forestry principles. NatureFlex also has excellent machineability and heat sealability and an excellent water vapor rating for a bio-polymer film.

Why do the Superfood Snacks Bio-Bags use aluminum?
Aluminum has been used since Roman and Greek times in various forms, and is used today in a wide variety of packaging materials. This metal acts as a very effective barrier to light, oxygen, odors, flavors, moisture, and bacteria. The new Superfood Snacks bags are designed to provide the freshness benefits of an aluminum barrier, using the absolute minimum amount of metal necessary. The NatureFlex film used by Superfood Snacks is the only metallized biodegradable film suitable for home composting because the level of metal is miniscule less than 0.02% of the bag by overall composition. The ultra-thin layer is only a few atoms of aluminum thick, as opposed to the much thicker 180 ml sheets that are used by most coffee companies.

How is NatureFlex made?
Unlike the man-made polymers in plastics, which are largely derived from petroleum, NatureFlex is a natural polymer made from cellulose, a component of plants and trees. Natureflex is made from trees farmed and harvested specifically for cellulose film production. The raw material for NatureFlex is renewable wood-pulp, sourced exclusively from plantations operating sustainable forestry principles. The wood-pulp suppliers conform to the environmental standard ISO 14001and have either achieved or areÂ working towards Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC or similar) forestry management processes.

Cellulose film is made by digesting wood in a series of chemical processes that remove impurities and break the long fiber chains in the raw material. Regenerated via extrusion of a dissolved cellulose liquid as a clear, shiny film, with plasticizing chemicals added for flexibility, cellulose film is still comprised largely of cross-linked cellulose molecules. This means that it can be broken down by micro-organisms in the soil just as leaves and plants are.

How are the Superfood Snacks Bio-Bags Biodegradable and Compostable?
Tests have shown that the average total time for complete bio-degradation of cellulose film is from 28 to 60 days for uncoated products, and from 80 to 120 days for coated cellulose products like the ones we use. In lake water, the rate of bio-degradation is 10 days for uncoated film and 30 days for coated cellulose film. Even materials which are thought of as highly degradable, like paper and green leaves, take longer to degrade than cellulose film products. Conversely, plastics, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, polyethylene terepthatlate (PET), and oriented-polypropylene (BOPP) show almost no sign of degradation after long periods of incorporation in soil.

In the Earth's crust, aluminum is the most abundant (8.13%) metallic element, and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). However, because of its strong affinity to oxygen, it is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates. In the decomposition process for the Bio-Bags, the ultra-thin coating of aluminum oxidizes and turns into aluminum oxide which is inert, non toxic.

All NatureFlex films are fully FDA & EU direct food contact approved and certified compostable to the ASTM 6400 and EN-13432 standards. A small amount of fossil-based polymer is used in the process in order to provide the required functional properties such as moisture barrier and sealability. Renewability tests conducted in accordance with ASTM 6866 show that NatureFlex films are certified 94% bio-based, with the remainder being fossil-based carbon.

Who makes the Natureflex film?
NatureFlex films are made by Innovia Films. This UK based company was started in 2004 and now has production sites on 3 continents and sales offices throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

Below are pictures of an empty Chocolate Goji Treat package breaking down naturally after it was placed on top of some dirt.

The first photo is day 1, Chocolate Goji Treats bag on top of the soil: June 21'st 2008

Now for a look at day 40: July 30'th 2008

A look at day 120: October 18'th 2008

A look at day 150: November 17'th, 2008

The material is very soft and shreds in my fingers. The product has not been agitated for 150 days, just sitting in the soil under Northern California normal conditions.

Day 170: December 7'th, 2008

In the final slide, the packaging has totally broken down. We are left with only the earth.

Here we have some pictures of our Chocolate Goji Bag being used as a plant starter!

We would like to introduce Guayaki, the newest sustainable company and co-pioneers to use the NatureFlex line of biodegradable films.

They have just launched there new San Mateo blend Yerba Mate and there traditional loose Yerba Matte blends in these same NatureFlex biodegradable and compostable materials.

Click here to read a current press release on Guayaki's Sustainable Packaging

Guayaki's business practices are environmentally friendly, drinking Guayaki Yerba Matte helps to sustain the rainforest, while delivering you a wonderful boost of wonderful clean energy, vitamins, minerals & antioxidants!

Here are the latest pictures of Guayaki's sustainable packaging breaking down in the soil: