Green manufacturing has become a top priority for companies across various industry sectors as they strive for long-term growth while reducing the environmental impact of their operations.

Frontenac Group, a private family business, brings this shift to the paper industry by manufacturing food paper packaging products from 100 percent recycled and recyclable materials.

Powered by a competent workforce and numerous global business partners, this 40-year-old enterprise manufactures paper bags,, food paper wrapping sheets, takeout boxes and paper straws. It produces nearly 3.5 to 4 million paper bags each day from different categories, including grocery, pharmacy, bakery, satchel, flat handles, twisted handle paper bags and square bottom SOS bags.

It also collaborates with paper mills across North America as their supplier and also to perform paper-converting processes, mainly sheeting and rewinding. Currently, Frontenac works with paper mill suppliers in Canada and in the U.S. By purchasing their raw materials locally, Frontenac ensures stability in their supply chain and to be proactive towards changes in the paper business market.

“Using our state-of-the-art machinery, we can quickly meet client requests and unique printing needs with a lower lead time,” says Martin Lefebvre, vice president of Frontenac Group.

Frontenac exports 60 percent of its products to the U.S. market, primarily the east coast and the Midwest. In Canada, the company sells its offerings to local markets across Quebec and Ontario. It aids wholesalers and distributors in pharmacies, fast food chains, and supermarkets.

Frontenac’s state-of-the-art factories and 40 production lines lie at the heart of this success. It recently opened a new plant, investing $20 million to install large solar walls for heating and air circulation. The company has also implemented automated production lines and is considering the acquisition of small selfguided vehicles to facilitate the autonomous movement of objects and goods around the plant. The new plant and its leading-edge infrastructure are boosting Frontenac’s shift to Industry 4.0.

A significant feature of its packaging products is their customizability to flexographic printing processes that meet a client’s visual needs. Emphasizing good service and high product quality gives the company an edge over market contemporaries. Frontenac’s family-owned nature enables customers to directly connect with the owner, creating close relationships and leading to superior service delivery. A testament to the effort to maintain excellent product quality is its impeccable track record of close to zero rejected products.

Using our state-of-the-art machinery, we can quickly meet special client requests related to their products and unique printing needs with a lower lead time

All these proficiencies are backed by its tight-knit team, which reacts quickly to customer demands to complete an order sustainably, on time, and cost-effectively. Frontenac used its vast industry experience and unmatched flexibility to devise constructive and imaginative approaches to attract an efficient workforce.

Frontenac’s passion for acquiring innovative technologies and developing impactful products has led to the creation of a recyclable, repulpable, and biodegradable coating for packaging F&B products with their EKOSHIELD division. This technology easily eliminates per--and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (banned in the U.S. for causing carcinogenic and other adverse health effects), which were conventionally used when producing oil-greasing-resistant paper in food packaging.

Moving forward, Frontenac plans to increase production volumes and expand its footprint to new customers across more regions.