UPM is one of the world’s leading forest products groups shelf. The Group's sales in 2007 were EUR 10 billion, and it has about 26,000 employees. UPM's main products include printing papers, label materials and wood products. The company has production facilities in 14 countries, and its main markets are Europe and North America. UPM shares are traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and the company has an ADR programme on the OTC market in the USA. www.upm-kymmene.com

UPM works together with its customers to develop innovative product shelf and service solutions. UPM's Corporate Venturing department focuses on the development and commercialisation of new business ideas,  shelf like intelligent packaging products shelf for the food industry. Venturing projects have created the RFID business, electronic paper and wood plastic composite.

Yrjö Wigren in brief
Established in 1917, Yrjö Wigren Oy is one of Finland’s oldest meat processing companies. The family company employs 80 persons. In addition to a meat  shelf processing plant, the company owns two luncheon restaurants and a shop in the local market hall. The company's operations have spread from the Tampere region to the rest of Finland.

UPM Shelf Life Guard monitors Wigren’s modified atmosphere packaging
(UPM, Helsinki, February 25, 2008) – Finnish food manufacturer Yrjö Wigren will begin using UPM Shelf Life Guard in specific consumer packaging this spring. UPM Shelf Life Guard has so far been successfully tested in Wigren products at the Stockmann department store in Tampere and in Tampere University Hospital in Finland.

UPM Shelf Life Guard is a packaging label that indicates if the protective package is intact. When the label colour changes from transparent to blue, the consumer is informed that air has replaced the modified atmosphere gases within the package due to a breach or leak.

The colour change is based on the indicator’s red-ox dye reacting with oxygen between the labelling layers. UPM Shelf Life Guard is attached to the inside of the packaging so that it can be viewed through the package’s transparent outer shell.

The food industry uses modified atmosphere packaging for fresh meat, cutlets, coffee, cheeses, produce and fresh fruit. The advantages of modified atmosphere packaging are even product quality, product appearance, improved taste and nutritional values, and longer shelf-life.

Controlled or modified atmosphere packaging is a commonly used packaging format in the food industry. Air may cause the quality of a food product to deteriorate. It may result in the growth of unwanted bacterial activity, loss of colour and aroma, unsavoury odours and loss of nutritional value.

For more information and product pictures, visit www.shelflifeguard.com.

For further information, please contact:
Timo Äijälä, UPM, Venture Manager, Smart Labels, tel. +358 40 760 6210
Managing Director Juha Salonen, Yrjö Wigren Oy, tel. +358 3 312 372 00

This compact heated shelf keeps towels comfortably warm, dry, and within easy reach while saving valuable floor space. Heat from the rails rises up through stacked towels and accumulates for maximum thermal retention and dispersion throughout the whole towel, so bath linens are pleasant to the touch whenever you use shelf. The efficient 65 watt dry heating element draws as little power as a standard light bulb so it can be left on continuously and can’t leak like oil-filled shelf or hydronic towel warmers. The rack can also be used to dry damp hats and gloves in chilly winter weather, or to aid drying of bathing suits or delicate articles of clothing. The shelf also has a non-heated bar for hanging towels or other bath items. Commercial grade steel tubing stands up to years of use and has a polished chrome finish. The illuminated power switch tells you at a glance that the shelf is operating.