Shortly after Helmut Meininger founded VPZ as a food packaging company in Graz, Austria, in 1982, he and his daughter Susanne Meininger turned the focus of product development towards the environment. They weren’t driven by profitability, but rather a strong belief that they could do things differently – and better. For mankind and the environment. The fruits of their creative labours, as well as their desire to play an active role in shaping the future, came in the form of innovative biogenic packaging concepts. Since 2019 Markus Kainer heads the PACKNATUR® business area. 

The breakthrough came after 25 years of research. Compostable net packaging, better known today as the Packnatur® Cellulose Tube Netting was the product that finally turned their convictions into reality – an ingenious packaging solution that was incapable of harming the environment. Meanwhile, Packnatur® Tube Netting made of Lenzing ™ Modal beechwood cellulose is used in all leading European supermarket chains for potatoes, onions, citrus fruits, etc. and is currently taking over the international market, including the USA, South Africa and New Zealand.

2019 was the year in which VPZ took another step into the future. The new Packnatur® Entwicklungs- und Produktions GmbH company was founded with headquarters in Neudau, Styria. With a past steeped in the textile industry, Neudau’s history is now being continued here with the home-compostable Packnatur® net packaging. Besides creating new jobs, new prospects for the local textile industry have been opened up.