Nine Total Packaging Partner, a subsidiary of the paper producer Billerud, is to merge with No Picnic’s packaging and graphic design department to form a new company Nine. The merger will enable Billerud, the majority shareholder, strengthening its offering to the packaging market.

Nine offers business strategy services focusing on packaging, category development and new product launches, graphic and structural design, plus surveys and qualitative studies of future consumer behaviour.

The company works with leading brands in several sectors and is the main design agency for Carlsberg Sweden. This partnership has resulted in the design for Pripps Christmas beer being nominated in Sweden’s Golden Egg advertising awards in 2011.

“This new impetus, primarily on the design side combined with a global network of ethnographers and trend scouts, will make Nine a really interesting innovation partner for brand owners who understand the importance of investing in packaging as a competitive tool,” says Jon Haag, MD of Nine.

Nine’s customers are mainly found in the fast moving consumer goods market (FMCG) but its customer base also includes the packaging industry and the retail business. As consumption patterns change and packaging becomes an even more important tool for communication and marketing to consumers, demand is growing for wide-ranging expertise in packaging innovation and strategies spanning the entire product lifecycle.

Nine also works on innovation and vision projects for the Swedish Forest Industries Federation. The company currently has 15 employees.

No Picnic is streamlining its business to focus on design-driven innovation and industrial design. No Picnic remains a shareholder in the new Nine and will continue to work with shared customers as before.

Billerud’s business concept is to offer packaging materials and solutions that promote and protect their products – packaging that is attractive, strong and based on renewable materials. Billerud has a world-leading position within several product segments including paper for consumer packaging and industrial applications. Production takes place at three integrated pulp and paper mills in Sweden and at one paper mill in the UK.