Capsules

The specific objective of the project was to jointly develop a laundry washing capsule containing organic essential oils in a water-soluble film, an innovative and environmentally friendly product for households. The organic essential oils are extracted from locally grown plants and their use allows replacing the synthetic chemicals, thus adding real value to the product as harmful impacts on the environment are reduced.

The project was designed with durability in mind. The project partners expect that customers increasingly demand local and organically made household products. The use of organically grown local plants reduces the consumption of synthetic chemicals while encapsulating them in water-soluble film decreases produced waste. Mayeri Industries AS (Estonia) and SIA Field and Forest (Latvia) are leaders in their fields, thus maximizing the financial and institutional sustainability of project results. 

The post-project objective is to export the jointly developed product across Europe and also to Asian markets.

Main activities of product development and promotion were:  

• Industrial research - acquisition of new knowledge and skills required for the development of the joint product.  As a part of the research, the most suitable medicinal and aromatic plant species were selected to meet the product and consumer expectations, protocols for the production of essential oils were developed, the chemical composition of the plants were analyzed and the research on technological aspects of the product manufacturing processes was implemented. 
• Experimental development - creation of prototype, piloting, testing and validating the new product in real-life operating conditions; production of one test batch of laundry capsules. 
• Marketing activities - development of marketing strategy and materials to generate product demand. Joint marketing activities included advertisement in magazines, product samples, marketing activities in point of sales, TV commercials and participation in two fairs - PLMA Shanghai and PLMA Amsterdam fair.