FORMIA examines the many meanings of wellness
This is a special feature from PAX International's April 2024 Special Meals issue on page 36.
FORMIA business
class amenity kit for
Hawaiian Airlines
FORMIA boasts a diverse portfolio of global airline amenity kits, cosmetics and comfort kits, but perhaps what is most notable about the brand is its commitment to maintaining a responsible supply chain.
“We believe that amenities provide a powerful opportunity to
make a lasting impact on every
passenger,” Marisa Pitsch, Chief
Customer Experience Officer, FORMIA, tells PAX International.
Marisa
Pitsch, Chief
Customer
Experience
Officer,
FORMIA
She adds that this is why the company spends the time thoughtfully developing responsible products, ensuring there is added value for passengers. FORMIA selects sustainable materials and production processes as part of its conscious design, partnering exclusively with brands that share these values.
Lasting impacts
Wellness has always been integral to FORMIA’s design process. But the concept of “wellness” itself has several interpretations. As Pitsch puts it, wellness can refer to physical comfort, like wearing a luxury eye mask inflight, or it could be the calming effect of a skincare product that reduces stress during travel. Another interpretation could be how a consumer feels about the product they are using.
Pitsch says it is increasingly important to airlines and their passengers that a product has a positive social or environmental impact. This has informed FORMIA’s partnerships with brands that are conscious of both environmental and social responsibility.
One example of this form of wellness in action is FORMIA’s collaboration with Japan Airlines for its Business Class amenity kits, featuring the artwork of artists from welfare experimental company Heralbony. “Through these beautiful and unique kits, JAL has provided a platform for artists with intellectual disabilities to showcase their talents to the world,” Pitsch explains.
The artwork not only drives social change through the brand partner, Heralbony but also exposes passengers to works of art and the personal story of the artists behind the creation.
In 2023, FORMIA facilitated the partnership between Aeromexico and Gen Phoenix, leading to the airline amenity kit program using recycled leather. Gen Phoenix rescued the leather offcuts from landfill and worked with Italian luxury brand ETRO, to demonstrate that sustainability can be luxurious when creating circular solutions for the cabin.
“Passengers can take home a sleek ETRO branded bag to use time and again knowing that it has been produced from recycled fabrics and inner items with reduced environmental impact,” Pitsch says. “More airlines understand the importance of connecting passengers with communities through inflight products and the added value this can bring to all parties.”
Through the connection it creates, the amenity kit transcends its role as a product and becomes a tool for airlines and partners to deliver brand messages that create a meaningful connection with passengers.
Sustainability and wellness
FORMIA believes there is an inextricable link between sustainability and wellness, a cyclical effect between taking care of the planet and each other.
“Sustainability is integrated into the fabric of FORMIA through conscious design, responsible supply chain and meaningful partnerships,” Pitsch says. “We see ourselves as part of our airline customers’ value chain with the continuous challenge to develop concepts with as little carbon footprint as possible and with circularity in mind.”
FORMIA creates designs using materials with minimal environmental impact during production that can later be recycled or that are made of recycled materials. The company also crafts amenity kits that appeal to the passenger to take home and reuse after their journey.
FORMIA is working towards being a net-zero carbon company by 2030 and recently announced the first carbon-neutral amenity kit program in the industry for Hawaiian Airlines.
“The carbon-neutral certification process for this program involved designing a sustainable kit, optimizing the carbon footprint through further product and supply chain optimizations, then compensating the remaining emissions with high-quality off-sets,” Pitsch explains, adding that the kits have been certified by third-party verification provider, SCS Global Services.
“FORMIA is excited to continue to nurture meaningful collaborations between airlines and brand partners to create an extended, purposeful experience with added value for travellers,” Pitsch says.
