Yangi, the Swedish developer of Cellera dry-forming technology for fiber-based packaging, is entering the U.S. market with its quick-serve packaging range, as part of an international expansion effort backed in part by a Swedish Energy Agency grant announced earlier this year. The range – plates, bowls, hot- and cold-beverage lids, and takeaway trays, among other formats – is designed for converters and brands serving the quick-serve foodservice sector, a segment facing a widening gap between demand for molded fiber packaging and available domestic production capacity. That gap has become more pressing as anti-dumping duties and tariffs on imported molded fiber products push converters and brands to look for domestic alternatives.
Yangi will introduce the range to the U.S. market in person at Pack Expo International, taking place 18–21 October 2026, in Chicago, where visitors can find the company at Stand S-3422, South Hall.
A direct, quantified alternative to wet molding
With U.S. demand for molded fiber packaging continuing to outpace domestic supply, converters are looking to build robust domestic production capacity to reduce import dependence and strengthen supply chain resilience. Cellera’s dry-forming process eliminates the need for a water slurry and multiple drying steps, along with the added infrastructure and floor space that conventional wet-molding requires.
According to the company, this gives converters a direct, quantified alternative: up to 90–99% less process water than conventional wet-molding, since forming happens without a water-based step; 4.3-second cycle times versus wet-molding’s typical 30–60-second cycle, which the company describes as a significant throughput advantage without a drying-step bottleneck; and 1.8 kWh/kg energy consumption versus wet-molding’s typical 4–7 kWh/kg – roughly 55–75% less electricity consumption, based on a third-party verified life cycle assessment. Together, the company said, these efficiencies add up to a simpler manufacturing setup with fewer utilities to install and maintain, with lower operational complexity and cost.
“Converters and brands are seeking solutions that combine high operational performance with improved resource efficiency,” said Hanna Rüdel, chief commercial officer of Yangi. “For U.S. converters, that means a renewable, FSC-certified, PFAS-free material that’s proven curbside recyclable – deployable at scale, with the performance to match.”
Cellera: a machine platform for industrial-scale production
Cellera is Yangi’s dry-forming machine platform, already commissioned at the production site of a European converter, a deployment the company describes as a live commercial manufacturing environment. Under industrial production conditions, the platform has demonstrated continuous operation, high uptime, fast production cycles, and repeatable product quality, based on operational feedback from the customer site.
“Yangi has built the supply chain and partnerships needed to deliver Cellera to North America, working with technological partners like GDM, a Coesia company, and AP&T,” said Johann Kaiser, chief executive officer of Yangi. “That gives us a strong North American footprint, and the proven industrial capabilities converters expect from an equipment supplier.”
Dry-formed trays tested and validated in foodservice use
Yangi’s dry-formed takeaway trays have completed a live foodservice deployment, one of several customer trials run at the company’s technical center in Varberg, through a collaboration with Flavor Boss, a food-truck and catering operator in Sweden. The trays performed reliably throughout a full day of festival service, with positive feedback from the team and customers, according to the company. Yangi’s technical center serves as a proving ground for new formats and materials, where converters and brands can validate product performance at industrial-relevant volumes ahead of market launch.
“Dry forming has moved from concept to industrial reality, and Yangi built it to get there,” said Anna Altner, founder of Yangi. “Cellera is commissioned and running today, not in a lab, but on a converter’s production floor. We have spent over a decade making sure that when this technology reached the market, it would already be proven. Now we’re bringing that same platform to U.S. converters, ready to run, not ready someday.”
