If you buy one of the ready-to-drink energy or vitamin drinks in the assumption that it will give you the necessary kick, you might be in for a surprise. The kick is not coming and you discover you just drank a very sweet soda, nothing more. Well, sugar of course gives some extra energy, but the expected dose of vitamins might not have worked.

Deterioration of vitamins and nutrients
It is generally known, that most vitamins and other nutrients are very sensitive and lose their power the moment they get mixed with a liquid, particularly water. In other words they start deteriorating the moment the bottle leaves the filling line. The longer they stay mixed, the less efficiently vitamins and nutrients work. Vitamin C, for example, loses 80% of its potency after only 30 days.

It is even worse, as beverage companies add flavouring to make their product more attractive to the consumer. Most added flavours are fruit additives, and if they are natural, the beverage degrades if stored at ambient temperatures for a prolonged period of time.
Shelf-life can be broadly defined as the length of time between initial packaging of a product and the point at which consumers notice a decrease in product quality. Thus, shelf-life of a product is determined by the least stable aspect of that product or its package. For moderate to high acid-containing citrus beverages, in other words most fruit additives, the least stable aspect, as well as the cause of greatest flavour degradation, is the extended contact of the favouring extract with water.

Functional Bottle Caps
Various companies marketing energy and vitamin drinks have developed solutions for this problem. In the past I wrote about several of them, the VIZcap, the Activate, the Cedevita and the Delo cap, that keep the vitamins dry and fresh until consumption of the drink. See my article “Innovative dispensing bottle caps for sensitive vitamins“.

But ingenious or not these dispensing caps, or functional caps, as they are sometimes called, have all one problem. Except for the Delo cap, all dispensing caps are proprietary of the drinks company, which limits the possibilities of wider implementation in the market for energy and vitamin drinks.
Developing a functional cap is quite an expensive exercise, leaving many an energy drink no other choice than “slowly deteriorating” in its container.

As said, in the end of the day consumers expecting to drink a healthier product don’t get what they actually paid for.

Tap-The-Cap
That all might change in the near future. Tap The Cap Inc., an innovation company in California, developed the (logically) Tap-The-Cap dispensing cap. The patented development solves the problem of many fortified beverage companies as it can be used by any brand. It is not limited to one brand. Furthermore the cap has the special design that it is universal, in other words it can be used as cap filled with vitamins and sold without the bottle with water, as the cap fits almost any still water bottle in the market.

A huge improvement for all consumers, who like to add “value” to their own preferred water brand!

To use Tap-The-Cap is simple: Remove the (screw) cap of the water bottle, Push the Tap-The-Cap over the neck of the bottle, Tap down on the spout, Shake the bottle, Pull up on the spout and enjoy your drink.

The technique behind the cap of course is a bit more complicated. Let’s have a look at some details.

In its basics the Tap-The-Cap is like any other dispensing cap as it has to dispense a supplement (vitamins, flavours, nutrients) through a bottle neck opening and into the bottle. However one of the most interesting features of the Tap-The-Cap is its configuration to connect to beverage bottle necks of different sizes.
Bottle necks often have screw threads to accommodate the original threaded cap attached to the bottle. The Tap-The-Cap can be put in place on the bottle neck after the original bottle cap has been removed.
As the exploded view shows the dispensing cap system is designed to seal off the mouth of a beverage bottle.
The cap features a number of fingers, while the distal ends of the fingers have inwardly barbs or tabs, which have sloped surfaces. The fingers are thin and have some flexibility. They are made so long so that the tips of the fingers flex outwardly as the cap is pushed onto the neck of the bottle, and the barbs engage under the extending flange of the bottle neck.

With this design the structure of the cap also accommodates non-threaded beverage bottles, by engaging with the bottle flange or collar, as the fingers and the barbs do not have to match the threads of the bottle neck, which varies with different beverage or bottle types. The design even include an extra tooth on the inside of the fingers which engages with the threads on the bottle neck by sliding over some or all the threads as the cap is pushed onto a threaded bottle neck, and locks in place without rotationally being screwed on the bottle.

A seal is located inside the housing to provide a liquid seal against the neck opening and as it is made from an elastomeric material, it will deform according to the size and design of the bottle neck, compensating for any size difference, while the flexibility of the fingers for their part compensate at the outside of the neck for bottle sizes from 26 to 32 mm.

The supplement storage is of a cup-like design, with a cylindrical sidewall and a membrane. The storage chamber defines the volume of the quantity of a supplement in granular, powder or liquid form. According to the company the storage can hold 9.5 grams, representing 9.5 cm3 (.58 cu inch, .33 fluid oz).
A valve sits in the centre of the storage chamber and is attached to the cap, configured for movement between a closed and a dispensing position, in which passage of the supplement is permitted from the storage into the bottle.
A drinking spout is positioned on top of the valve to allow the bottle content to be consumed. The sidewall of the spout has several ports, which permit the beverage to pass through from the bottle when the valve is in an open position.

When you look at this universal dispensing or functional cap, you must agree that the inventors with their more than 25 years experience in the health and wellness industry, succeeded in their goal, (as they formulated it) “to create a safe and effective way for people to take their supplements without having to swallow a pill or capsule or get taken in by those over-hyped vitamin fortified waters where the vitamins have already deteriorated in the liquid”.

Currently, the inventors are looking to licensing out their technology. Interested parties can contact info@tapthecap.com.

This month we start again our series of new packaging developments. An ingenious packaging format for artisan square sandwiches, Salanova lettuce to grow in your own kitchen, a paperboard handgrenade holding a boxer short, nostalgic paperboard baskets for fruit and vegetables and from Singapore a Rice Dumpling Box made from nostalgic unbleached kraft.

Tri-Star’s Artisan Square Sandwiches
Tri-Star launched a new range of packaging for ‘rustic’ sandwiches – the hand-made, square-cut bloomer-style of sandwich that is currently all the rage in delis and discerning retailers up and down the UK.

The new Artisan range comprises two innovative pack designs – the ‘Bloomer U’ and the ‘Bloomer 2’.  The Artisan Bloomer U is a flat structure with sides that click upwards to form a U-shape.  This next-generation pack can be flow‐wrapped, wrapped with poly-sheet or simply bagged. It protects the product while in transit and on display and ensures it is highly visible at all times.

The design of the Artisan Bloomer U also helps guarantee that the sandwich stays in great shape and that it is easy to pick up and put down, making it ideal for eating at the office desk or grazing in the park.

The Artisan Bloomer 2, meanwhile, is an off-the shelf pack boasting two cavities that are the perfect shape and size for square-cut sandwiches.  The Artisan Bloomer 2 is designed to be bagged but can also be flow‐wrapped.

Created by Anson, a UK packaging manufacturer, the Artisan range will be distributed exclusively by food packaging supplier Tri-Star. The packaging is made of rPET (recycled PET), a sustainable, recyclable material recognised as a BRC food grade material.

Salanova lettuce hits the market in a pot
The Dutch potted plant grower Bunnik Plants has developed a new concept with Salanova lettuce. This concept, Salafresh, was presented at the largest ornamental and flower exhibition in Europe, the IPM Essen in Germany.

The product is sold with a special packaging concept ‘your own salad garden in the kitchen’.
With its numerous, smaller leaves and compact size, Salanova is the perfect lettuce type for this purpose. The consumer has a fun product in the kitchen and it stays fresh for a long time.

The packaging has a QR code that consumers can scan with a smart phone. They will be directed automatically to Lovemysalad.com where they can find and share salad inspiration, recipes and all kinds of other ‘fresh fun’.

The Bazingaa Boxer Hand Bombs
A stylistic package for a pair of boxer shorts used as sport wear or underpants is made from corrugated paper. The package from the God Speed Co. Ltd. from Thailand, is in the form of a rocket capsule depicting on active lifestyle. The capsule can be detached easily from its holder, and the cap removed conveniently to take out the product.

The packaging, 11x6x20 cm, is made from recyclable single wall corrugated board with mono-colour printing.

Baskets and bowls for fruit and vegetables
The carrying baskets and bowls in chip basket design are an own development of the German packaging manufacturer Karl Knauer KG. The challenge was to add moisture protection to the inside, achieve the necessary stability and to meet the requirements for direct contact with food.

The paperboard baskets and bowls for fruit and vegetables are certainly worthy of distinction under the aspect of sustainability. They can replace both plastic containers and woodchip baskets on the fruit and vegetable shelves. They are made of paperboard which has been demonstrably approved for direct contact with food, it also being possible to dispose of it in the recycling loop for waste paper.

Their foldable property reduces the logistical expenditure for the baskets, low-migration inks and the refinements of the inside with a special barrier varnish crown the top quality of the product for everything that is fresh and is to stay that way.
A woven look and surfaces which can easily be printed on, provide manufacturers with all the chances of positioning themselves as a sender of traditionally high-quality original products.

Rice Dumpling Box
The rice dumpling box is a creation to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival, otherwise also known as the Rice Dumpling Festival or the Duanwu Jie falls on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar.
It is shaped just like its content, a rice dumpling, complete with a string. To add to the nostalgia feel, the package is printed on uncoated kraft that brings back memories of the paper bags that were a common sight years ago by simulating the look of the good old brown paper bags.

To instill the value of conserving traditions, the graphics design of the box shows activities relating to the festival such as dragon boat racing and the making of rice dumplings. The box is able to pack six small rice dumplings.
This packaging, designed by Starlite Printers (Far East) Pte Ltd in Singapore, is made with solid unbleached sulphate board. The printing is done on the uncoated kraft surface to give the box a nostalgic look, the colour scheme used is limited with black as the dominating colour to simulate the look of paper bags used commonly in the seventies and eighties. The package is fastened with a string just like a rice dumpling. When the restraining string is drawn, the package closes into its unique shape. The string also serves as a handle. By releasing the string and stretching the side of the packaging, its content can be accessed freely.

As the packaging is not enclosed fully, it allows air exchange which is important to maintain freshness of the rice dumpling. The inner surface of the box is laminated with a layer of OPP film to prevent the seepage of oil from the rice dumpling into the board allowing the packaging to maintain its clean look.

More to come.

Wood fibre samples - Image courtesy of Technical Research Centre of Finland

In the recent weeks we have seen some very interesting developments in packaging material based on wood fibres. Packaging material made from wood fibres belongs to the oldest packaging materials known to mankind.
From the whole range of wood-fibre based packaging material, cellulose film is the oldest transparent packaging product. It was first marketed in the USA in the 1920’s as cellophane. It was the most popular packaging film used until the 1960’s when polyolefin based products began to dominate the packaging market.
In the more environmentally-conscious marketplace of today, cellulose film is returning to popularity because it is on average 94% from renewable raw materials. Unlike the man-made polymers in plastics, which are largely derived from petroleum, cellulose films are manufactured from a natural polymer, cellulose, which is a component of plants and trees. The raw material for cellulose film that is used today is a renewable virgin wood-pulp, often sourced from plantations following sustainable forestry principles.
That’s all nothing new and even an old story, except that the keyword here is “virgin”. The recent developments I want to highlight today are all three not related to virgin wood fibres, but to the waste of the paper mills and forestry industry. In other words sourced from by-products such as wood fibres and tree oils and even cellulose sludge. All transformed into packaging material.

Wood-Based Clear Packaging Film
Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre, both from Finland, developed a wood-based material with properties like plastic, suitable to be used as packaging material. These include food packaging, where the material – nano-fibrillated cellulose film (NFC) – can help increase the shelf life of a product.

Wood based clear packaging film

Nano-fibrillated cellulose typically binds high amounts of water and forms gels with only a few per cent dry matter content. This characteristic has been a bottleneck for manufacturing on an industrial-scale. In most cases, fibril cellulose films are manufactured through pressurised filtering but the gel-like nature of the material makes this route difficult. In addition, the wires and membranes used for filtering may leave a so-called “mark” on the film which has a negative impact on the evenness of the surface.

According to the method developed by VTT and Aalto University nano-fibrillated cellulose films are manufactured by evenly coating fibril cellulose on plastic films so that the spreading and adhesion on the surface of the plastic can be controlled. The films are dried in a controlled manner by using a range of existing techniques. Thanks to the management of spreading, adhesion and drying, the films do not shrink and are completely even.
The more fibrillated cellulose material is used, the more transparent a film can be manufactured.

To date, the researchers have piloted this technique using a scaled-down production model, which has generated a 2-3 metre NFC roll.
According to the press release the technique wouldn’t require packaging companies to install completely new technologies.

Wood fibre bioplastic packaging
It is generally estimated that 30-50% of all (petroleum based) plastics in Europe are used for packaging. As a result there is increasing pressure on the packaging industry to develop environmentally sustainable materials.
The use of by-products from the forest and paper-industry in food packaging is low-cost and can act as an alternative to petroleum resources.

Wood fibre bioplastic packaging

Biodegradable plastic food packaging, made using up to 25% wood fibres, could soon be available, as a result of the EU-funded Bio-Based Composite Development project. The FORBIOPLAST project was set up to develop biodegradable food packaging using by-products from the forestry and paper-industry such as wood fibres and tree oils.

However, there is more development needed in relation to food packaging technology as there are still limitations with high pressure processing (HPP) and long storage. But in time the researchers believe this technology can replace the traditional retortable tray.

One product being tested is made using biodegradable polyactic acid (PLA) and 25% wood fibres. Tests are on-going to assess the migration qualities and safety of the material for use with food.

Tests have also been conducted with higher levels of wood fibres, but researchers found that “the result became too brittle”.

The project is also looking to develop an eco-friendly fish crate using polyurethane made with wood fibres and tall oil – tree oil obtained as a by-product of paper production.

Once research and development has been completed, the technology will be passed on to Hungarian and Romanian packaging companies.

Nano-fibres made of cellulose sludge
Researchers from Luleå University of Technology in Sweden have succeeded in recycling cellulose sludge for production of cellulose nano-fibres, and have now proven it to be an economic and environmental success.

Paper sludge

A few years ago, cellulose industries in Sweden, disposed some of their waste as sludge into the ocean. It is now prohibited, and the sludge is stored in large tanks on land. This particular cellulose sludge makes it possible, to produce, so far, the most profitable production of cellulose nano-fibres from bio-residue products. The yield of the manufacture of cellulose nano-fibres from the sludge is 95%, compared with cellulose nano-fibre production from wood chips 48%, lignin residues 48%, carrot residues 20%, barley 14% and grass 13%.

For example, at one single cellulose manufacturer, Domsjö Fabrikerna in Sweden, a producer of special cellulose, which is used to in the manufacturing of viscose fibres, causes one thousand tons of sludge as a residue each year. In the current situation the sludge is not re-used.

Professor Kristiina Oksman explains: “The separation of cellulose nano-fibres from bio-residues is energy demanding but when we separate the waste from Domsjö, the energy consumption is lower. The special cellulose from Domsjö has a very small size and it also has high cellulose content and therefore the fibres do not need to be chemically pre-treated before the production of cellulose nano-fibres”.

Mehdi Joonobi, postdoc and professor Kristiina Oksman at the Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics at LTU

Mehdi Joonobi, postdoc and Professor Kristiina Oksman at the Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics at LTU, who carried out the research, which is part of the Bio4Energy project, conclude that the outcome of the re-use of this sludge, can be, for example, create cheaper and more environmentally-friendly milk cartons and other paper and packaging products.

Cellulose nano-fibres, manufactured from this sludge, are probably shorter than the cellulose nano-fibres made from pulp but are finer and can form dense films with excellent barrier properties.

There are some more developments in wood-fibre based packaging material, but in other sectors than flexible film. I keep them for a next article.

In general it can be said that dispensing caps or functional caps are used to store dry or liquid supplements separately from the water in which when released by the consumer they form an energy or vitamin drink or sometimes a medicinal drink, under the assumption or claim that supplements, particularly vitamins deteriorate in water quickly and as such a ready-to-drink vitamin beverage doesn’t give the consumer the kick he/she was expecting and paid for.

This claim marketed by the companies of energy and vitamin drinks which use a functional cap, is at this moment under attack, as Activate, one of the main players in this market segment, is slapped with a class-action lawsuit in California.
The class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Feb. 24 accuses Rising Beverage Co., the owner of Activate, of dishonest and misleading statements in its advertising about the freshness of Activate’s key innovation, its “in-the-cap” reservoir of dry vitamins versus those pre-mixed in other beverages.
The lawsuit points to a 2006 study in “The Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences” that found certain types of vitamins – including those contained in Activate – to be stable in water.

Activate 4-pack

Whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, the implementation of functional caps will continue, as there are many other arguments to be used in favour of this type of caps. Let me just relate some of the most important. Besides the (still valid) argument of rapid degradation of supplements in water, everything from pharmaceuticals to nutraceuticals, from anti-aging to anti-oxidants, from vitamins to functional supplements, from male potency to stem cell stimulants, from energy to relaxation and so on can be packed and properly dosed by a dispensed cap.
You already see applications in the (semi)medical sector, as it is generally claimed that pills and capsules have a very short window of absorption when traveling through the body.  A consumer would be fortunate to absorb 10-15% of the nutrients.  Liquid absorption is much higher: around 80-90%. Furthermore people would rather prefer to drink their supplements, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals than taking a pill or capsule, especially when it comes to children and the elderly.

All this said, let’s have a look at the technique of dispensing and various recently developed functional caps.

ViCap dispensing closure

Over the last 50 to 60 years a wide range of dispensing caps has been developed and patented. A typical dispenser cap includes a space which holds the substance to be dispersed (vitamin, flavour, medicine in powder form, liquid or tablet), which is bounded and sealed on one side by a membrane. A membrane opening device is used, often activated by depression of a flexible diaphragm, which causes the membrane opening device to pierce the membrane, thus enabling mixing of the contents of the dispenser with those of the container to which it is attached.

United States Patent 7017735

One of the most basic designs I found in a patent filed in 2002 by inventor Stephen Carlson and assigned to The Coca-Cola Company. The image (see picture) shows the principle of any dispensing cap.
All dispensing caps come back to this principle, punching a hole in a membrane to release the vitamin powder or liquid, stored in the separate chamber above the membrane. But in reality a dispensing cap isn’t functioning that simple as showed in the drawing/sketch of the “invention” of the 2002 patent. The risk that powder sticks in the punched hole and is not released in full into the liquid/water of the bottle is one of the reasons further inventions with more complicated designs have seen the light.
In other words the secret of a good-functioning dispensing cap is not just punching a hole, but how to remove the membrane in such a way to ensure that the powder is fully released into the water. Inefficient or incomplete mixing of the two substances is not desired as the concentration of the additive may be critical for some applications, such as in preparing pharmaceutical solutions. Shaking or other means of forcing the contents of the dispenser to mix with the water in the bottle cannot guarantee complete mixing, as some additive may still remain trapped in the dispenser.

The 3-step-process of ViCap

Just punching a hole is not appropriate for use with supplements in the form of tablets. To dispense a tablet the hole in the membrane must be larger than the dimensions of the tablet so that the tablet can move freely and reliably from the dispenser into the container when the membrane is ruptured.

With all these disadvantages for dispenser caps with just a puncher, the developments concentrate on rupturing the membrane completely, cutting it along the edges and removing it as much as possible. In all modern dispensing caps you see more or less ingenious cutting devices to get rid of the membrane. In addition, the membrane may include a scored line to facilitate rupturing.

Details of the Funktional closure of Optima

I selected some 14 different designs of dispensing or functional caps from all over the world. We will see the VizCap of Viz Enterprises, the Activate cap, the Optima functional cap, the ViCap of Vicap Systems, the BiaGaia Cap of Bericap, the Cedevita cap made by Teamplast, the PowerCap of Liquid Health Labs, the Yoli Blast Cap, the Mojo organics cap, the Karma cap of Karma Wellness Water, the Tap-The-Cap, and the Delo Cap from France.
Furthermore especially developed for the pharmaceutical industry the Aspin Dispensing Bottle Cap, the CapStaticX of NYSW Beverage Brands Inc., and the Berocca Twist ‘N’ Go cap of Bayer Australia.

CapStaticX-Ray

Some of the above I have described in previous articles, but for the sake of completeness I briefly include them in this overview with a link to the more detailed article. The others I will describe in detail, as far as I have details available.
When I count correctly I mentioned 14 different dispensing caps. That’s a long ride, so I cut the whole story in three more parts.

The next article starts with, probably the most well-known, the Activate dispensing cap. Then the VizCap, Optima, Vicap and BaiGaia. The rest will follow.

Activate dispensing cap

In my previous article we discussed why it is desirable to dispense a predetermined amount of ingredients/additive/supplement into a liquid, mostly water, in a container. In short to dispense an additive in powder or in a tablet form into water it can add flavouring, colouring, vitamins, minerals and the like into the water to create a palatable drink which can be consumed direct from the container. There are other applications, like pharmaceuticals, but the most marketed application is the enhancement of water.

This article starts with, probably the most well-known, the Activate dispensing cap. Then we shall have a look at the VizCap, and the Optima cap. The other caps as mentioned in my first article are described in the next articles.

The Activate dispensing cap
In 2009 Rising Beverage Co. in Los Angeles, the owner of Activate, launched a line of functional beverages that features a custom-designed cap to keep vitamins and other healthful ingredients fresh until consumption.

The vitamin drink consists of a 16 oz (474 ml) PET bottle filled with water and capped by a custom-made dispensing closure that stores 3 gr of dry ingredient. When the consumer twists the upper cavity of the cap clockwise, an internal blade within the closure turns and pierces a plastic membrane separating the powdered formula from the water. By cutting the sealed membrane, the ingredients are released into the beverage, which is then ready for consumption.

As I argued in my previous article the secret of a good-functioning dispensing cap is not just punching a hole, but how to remove the membrane in such a way to ensure that the powder is fully released into the water. Inefficient or incomplete mixing of the two substances is not desired as the concentration of the additive is critical to the result as marketed by the vitamin or energy drinks company.
As you can see in the photo compilation the membrane in the Activate cap is almost fully removed to give full and free access to the water in the bottle.

Portola Fushion Cap

We will see that similar cutting systems are used by several other companies. The Activate bottle is made by MPI Packaging and distributed by Zuckerman Honickman. Although the name of the supplier of the dispensing cap is not unveiled, it is generally assumed that Portola in Napeville,Il, is manufacturing the Activate cap. By the way, Portola markets a similar cap under its own trade name Fushion cap, a 28 mm dispensing cap.

The VizCap
In contrast to the Activate cap and many others the VizCap isn’t exclusively linked to a drinks company and not even to a specific bottle. The VIZcap, designed by Formation Design, can be moulded and manufactured to fit any bottle size and can contain both large and small powder quantities. The company states that the cap can seamlessly run at existing bottling lines.

United States Patent 7854104 titled “Multi-chamber container and cap therefor”, published 21 Dec. 2010 and assigned to VIZ Enterprises, LLC (Atlanta, GA, US), uses the arguments I described in my previous article in relation to punching the membrane.

It states: “Many of these devices consist of a piercing tip or cutter that perforates or cuts a foil seal, blister pack or membrane releasing one component into a supplemental component, usually tablets, granules or powders into a liquid. Minor differences, consisting mostly of how the piercing tip is activated, differentiate these devices. Whether piercing tips or cutters are used to remove the seal between compartments, there is always the danger of having fragments of foil or other residue fall into the mixed components”.

The VizCap is described as an “invention [that] provides a container and cap that overcome many of the disadvantages of the prior art while providing a container that is easy to use and uses a minimum number of parts and that is simple to manufacture and assemble”.

The VizCap is simple. The VIZcap stores liquid and powder nutrients in an oxygen and moisture-restricted chamber situated in the bottle cap. Around the bottle cap with its transparent dome-shaped chamber, in which the fresh ingredients are stored, sits a tamper-evident tear-strip, which should be removed, after which the plunger (the dome-shaped cap) can be pushed downwards and the ingredients are released into the liquid.

Besides the typical characteristic of a fresher and more powerful drink, the VIZcap features the appealing advantage that the vitamins and nutrients are visible in the clear dome where they are housed.

VIZ Enterprises doesn’t manufacture the bottle cap itself, but licenses its VIZcap technology to third parties to get it on the worldwide beverage market.

The Optima cap

Optima Functional Cap

In fact the Optima cap is not a cap, but a system. It is not linked to any drinks company or even a manufacturer of closures. The Optima Packaging Group GmbH, with its headquarter in Schwäbisch Hall in Germany is a packaging machine manufacturer, having developed a machine to manufacture and assemble a functional cap, as they call it.

With its modular-designed CFL machine series, Optima offers a solution that integrate all functions for manufacturing functional closures within one continuous process. The CFL1, the start-up machine, achieves an output of up to 50 units/min. In high-output design, a machine from the CFL series produces a maximum of 1,000 units/min. The machines always incorporate multiple assembly functions for the various components. Dosing features for the ingredients in addition to control functions for the tightness of the functional closures, while the assembling accuracy is a particularly important aspect in this context.

The Optima CFL1 starts the manufacture of beverage closures at the sorting head. Then, the “chambers”, one of a total of four components, are placed into a conveyor plate. An Optima auger filler fills these chambers with the required quantity of ingredients. This step is followed by foil-sealing. Immediately followed by the joining of the filled chamber and the fed-in sleeve, after which it is laser-labelled. A cap – placed in a subsequent step to protect the cap against contamination – completes the system.

Accompanying the 100% tightness control, all processing steps are monitored. Therefore, via an active pick-and-place discharge, only those closures that are properly processed reach the market.

As said Optima is manufacturing the machine, which assembles the Functional Closure components and then film-seals the closure. Maximum output is said to be 1,500 units/min. The individual components of the functional cap are made by a Swiss plastics company.

I haven’t the information available whether the supply of the cap components is an exclusivity of the (unnamed) Swiss company. Interested parties have to contact Optima to get a direct answer.

I said last time that I should describe 5 caps in this article. But it is getting too long and I bring the remaining caps to the next article. Still 11 to go.

Double-Drawer Box

Since the days of the fish-and-chips wrapped in old newspapers and the Chinese food scooped into unappealing plastic trays, quite some has change. And the developments are continuing, as take-away or take-out meals are the big trend in these years of disciplining our personal financial resources.

Note: For the sake of diversity on my blog I decided to write between part 02 and 03 of the Overview of Dispensing Caps, about Take-Away Packaging. Don’t worry, after this article I will post part 03 of the dispensing caps.

Traditionally supermarkets and convenience stores have expanded their foodservice platform and built upon consumer desire for convenient and quality ready-to-eat meals. But a recent market survey conducted by Technomic concluded that consumers are sourcing prepared meals from a wider range of retail foodservice operations than they were two years ago, many times at the expense of restaurants. Eating-out is transformed into taking-out.

Consumers increasingly choose take-out as a faster, more convenient and often less expensive foodservice option. The survey by Technomic revealed that 57% of consumers now order take-out at least once a week, compared to just 49% of consumers polled just three years ago.

Sticks'n'Sushi take-out box

To keep sales afloat, many restaurants turned to the take-out sector for new revenue streams. An influx of take-home meals from both chain and independent restaurant brands has hit the market place. These value-driven, quasi gourmet-meals help offset lagging restaurant sales, but, of course, all under one condition. The ‘gourmet-meal’ has to be packed in a packaging at a same level as the gourmet-meal itself.

I am not talking here about the packaging for junk-food from the fast-food restaurants, nor the (industrially) prepared meals to put into a microwave. I want to highlight the possibilities of packaging for hand-crafted take-away gourmet-meals offered by delicatessen shops and restaurants, which as an alternative to eating-out, supply a quality meal to take home and enjoy.

As said the era of food wrapped in old newspapers and scooped into cheap plastic trays doesn’t fit in this market segment. Quality and gourmet are the keywords and consequently the packaging has to transmit these keywords. At the other hand the junk-food or fast-food sector has long year experience with packaging its products for take-out, unattractive as the packaging might be.

Guatruck lunch box

Asian food is one of the most popular dishes with an extensive expertise in take-out packaging. And I must say with quite some creativity. Their dishes in itself are beautifully arranged and even sometimes a work of art and they understand that the packaging has to be at a similar level.

For this article I made a round-trip through some Asian countries and collected the most interesting designs. Not all examples I present here are specifically for take-out food, but they have a design and construction which easily could be adapted for this purpose. I just want to give some ideas.

Some years ago I wrote about a packaging with a Danish design for take-out Japanese sushi. It still is one of my favourites, so we start with a repeat.

Sushi with Danish design
Sushi, the famous Japanese dish from decorative fresh fish products, has not only to be superb of taste, but it has to be much more. It has to appeal as much to the eye as to the palate. It has to be fresh, perfect of taste and please the eye. In other words the packaging complements the perfection.

“Sticks ‘n’ Sushi”, a restaurant in Copenhagen, packs its dishes in decorative black trays, stackable in the take-away package made from high quality white paperboard. The design is from Pais Design and the material is converted by Jens Johanson A/S both in Denmark.
The paperboard material is Frövi White from Korsnäs with a coated white reverse side. As the total surface of the reverse side is printed in black the white coating of the paperboard gives it even a deeper black. The packaging comes in four dimensions. The largest one is made from 410 gr/m2 and can handle a weight up till 3 kg.

The fish cut-outs on the handle and stackability of the thermoformed trays are in harmonious symbiosis with the product. The extra creasing in the side of the box makes it easy to insert and remove the tray of sushi. The black interior of the packaging as well as the black tray are perfectly showing off the colourful sushi.

Indonesia – Sta-pack (Stacking Packaging)
In the same style as the Danish design is the Sta-Pack created by PT Bukit Muria Jaya/BMJ in Indonesia. Not quite the same, as the Sta-Pack consists of several separate units with an added handle. It certainly is a nice and elegant solution as fast food packaging, especially for the take-away market of upscale meals.

Stapack has unique characteristics. It adopted and modified the characteristics of the Tupperware elements and applied them to paperboard that can easily be folded saving storage space. In other words a stack of nested Sta-Pack can sit on the counter of a delicatessen shop and filled upon request. Each unit can hold a separate dish and only needs one handle for lifting as the wings of the individual boxes are closed until they locks. fter which it is ready to be taken-out.

The Sta-Pack is made from food grade CDWB 230 gr/m2 and designed by Irvan Hermawan and M. Aidil Saputra.

Indonesia – Double-Drawer Box
We stay with the Japanese kitchen, but now in Indonesia. In Indonesia, (fast-food) take-out Japanese dishes generally are packed in Styrofoam-based packaging. Like Chinese take-out food every box or tray holds one selection of the Japanese meal, such as sushi, bento, sukiyaki, maki, etc.
PT. Bentoel Prima created a Double-Drawer box, more or less in the same style as the Danish sushi packaging. It is a paper-based packaging made from printed ivory paperboard of 260 gr/m2 and water based varnished.

The dimensions of the packaging are 12x12x7.5cm. The packaging is designed by NTM Development Team.

Singapore – Rice Dumpling Box
I wrote about this packaging in a previous article, not long ago, but it is such a beautiful construction that it can easily be adapted to take-out meals.
Originally the Rice Dumpling Box was created by Starlite Printers (Far East) Pte in Singapore to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, otherwise also known as the Rice Dumpling Festival or the Duanwu Jie that falls on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar.
The box is designed to resemble a rice dumpling, complete with a string. At the same time, its design also brings back memories as the packaging is printed on uncoated kraft simulating paper bags that were used commonly in the seventies and eighties. In addition the packaging also instils the value of conserving traditions. The graphics design of the box shows activities relating to the festival such as dragon boat racing and the making of rice dumplings. The box is able to pack six small rice dumplings.
This product is made with solid unbleached sulphate paperboard. The printing is done on the uncoated kraft surface to give the box a nostalgic look, the colour scheme used had also been limited to black as the dominating colour to simulate the nostalgic look of paper bags. The package is fastened with a string just like a rice dumpling, the string also serves as a handle.

By releasing the string and stretching the side of the packaging, its content can be accessed freely. As the packaging is not enclosed fully, it allows air exchange which is important to maintain freshness of the rice dumpling. The inner surface of the box is laminated with a layer of OPP film to prevent the seepage of oil from the rice dumpling into the board thereby allowing the packaging to maintain a clean look.

Philippines – Sustainable Origami-Inspired Food Box
Often a proper prepared take-out meal has a side-dish. Dump it in an unattractive plastic tray or do it as the Filipinos do. You don’t believe this story, but it’s true.
In August 2011, Guactruck positioned its design-focused mobile food truck in Manila serving Mexican inspired Filipino rice dishes. Junk-food? The owners wanted the packaging design to focus on creativity and aesthetics, as well as highlight the environmental aspect commonly associated with packaging. Not quite what you expect from the fast-food sector.
They came up with a food packaging that incorporates sustainability in three ways.
Using only one piece of paperboard, the simple origami inspired design resembles a bud blossoming into a flower.
The material they used is paper, no glue or plastic, making it biodegradable and easier to recycle.

And thirdly they believed that they are responsible for everything that comes out of their truck, may it be waste, food or packaging. Therefore, they highly encourage their customers to return the packaging with the incentive of obtaining a free meal in exchange for ten returned packages. The returned packaging will then be sent to the proper channels for recycling. This way, they created not only awareness on the issue of sustainable packaging and recycling, but also cultivated a habit of conscious and conscientious consumerism.
An amazing fast-food packaging of high quality and worth following the lead.

So, that was a quick visit to some Asian countries.

I seldom write about medical and pharmaceutical packaging. The reason is simple. In my some 45 years of experience in the packaging field, I have been mainly engaged in packaging technology for food packaging and only sporadically and intermediately in non-food applications. Furthermore, and I know a lot of my readers will disagree, I find food packaging much more fascinating and its solutions more complicated, than non-food packaging. Of course pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic packaging are also very demanding, but their demands arise from rules and regulations, counterfeiting and the like and less from the product requirements.

In the March issue of Packaging World I read an interview of Jim Butschli, Features Editor with Richard Adams, head of Pack Graphic Design at GlaxoSmithKline in Raleigh-Durham, NC/USA. One of the questions struck me: “What are you looking for from packaging suppliers? Do you rely on suppliers more today than in years past?”
Richard Adams answered: “In a word, innovation – innovative materials and packaging solutions to meet the diversification efforts within our company. The variety of products and requirements of those products coupled with market regulatory constraints forces pharmaceutical packaging to be more creative in a rapidly evolving space. We rely on suppliers bringing more value to the table. We simply do not have the time or resources to understand what is available and new”.

So let me help him a bit to accommodate that answer and highlight some interesting developments in pharmaceutical packaging here. We start with “Talking packaging is the future”.

The Talking Packaging
The global healthcare packaging market is a complex market. And a large one, as Visiongain calculates that the global healthcare packaging market will reach USD 93.9bn in 2012. The varied factors affecting the drug demand and consumption as well the development of medical practices determine the packaging, as the manufacturer is constantly challenged with evolving trends such as the increased use of disposable medical products, ageing population, influence of regulations, child-resistant/senior-friendly and tamper-evident packaging.

It is one of the packaging sectors that need to supply more information to the consumer than any other. And above all to the “handicapped”, don’t get me wrong on this word, as I mean the consumer, who is in one way or another physically or mentally handicapped to use all his functions 100%. And let’s be honest reading a Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) with instructions can cause a headache. Electronic packaging addresses the fact that one third of us have difficulty reading instructions in ever smaller print.

Burgopak's Chrysalis Carton, a permanent drug packet and patient leaflet combination presenting a number of benefits, besides the primary patient convenience function

The answer might be found in the talking packaging. There are two developments in talking packaging at this moment (as far as I know). The “TalkPack” from Wipak Walsrode GmbH in Germany, a system, which can be invisibly integrated into any printed image on any packaging material, but needs a special scanning pen and the result of a recent development by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland using tags with NFC (Near Field Communication) based technology connected to NFC-enabled mobile phones to download text, audio or web page product information, which can be played back on their handset.

Note Update: Wipak informed me that, due to legal problems, they had to change the name of the Talking Packaging they developed into: “Self Talk”.

Let’s have a quick look at the TalkPack and after that at the VTT research results.

Wipak Walsrode's TalkPack

With the TalkPack special codes store information of all kinds and can be invisibly integrated into any printed image. A scanning pen can render speech, music or sounds audible and thus the consumer can obtain information on the manufacturer, brand, shelf-life or other information.
The method used by “TalkPack” is not limited to the packaging material but can be used by any printed material. No other composite elements are used which could influence the recycling qualities.
A special pen-shaped reader is used to retrieve the stored information and to replay it as audio files. Talk Pack does not require any RFID or microchips; the dot code is simply printed on top of images and texts using a special varnish. This technology can be used with all printing technologies and package types.
However the requirement to use a scanning pen, means that the “TalkPack” can only be activated in shops.

Speaking medicine packaging-demo. When touched, this provides spoken dosage instructions and other important information

NFC (Near Field Communication) tags used by VTT Technical Research Centre can be added to any packaging so a consumer could touch the code on the packaging with their NFC-enabled mobile phone to download text, audio or web page product information, which can be played back on his handset.
In an example from the research, data stored on a NFC tag on a medicine bottle provided spoken dosage instructions from pharmacy staff, to aid a visually impaired or blind person.

Currently, the number of mobile phones with NFC technology is limited but VTT believes that it is a growing market.

The medical and pharmaceutical industry could use the technology to display detailed information and instructions in a small area.

VTT led The HearMeFeelMe research project and believes there are “many possibilities to use NFC technology in services which improve people’s everyday lives”.
Scientists at VTT believe that people would also be more motivated to find out information about the product if this information were easily available. Arguing that, it is already possible that your mobile phone can show you a video about how to use a new product by just touching a tag with your mobile phone.

Identification labels are glued to an identifiable package

Both systems have pros and cons. The weak point in the Wipak-system is the scanning pen, the strong point, of course, is that it simply can be printed into any packaging material, any image printed onto a packaging. For the VTT-system the weak point is the necessity of a tag, but the strong point is the availability to a NFC-enabled mobile phone. I think a combination of both systems could lead to a perfect solution.

I said in the beginning of this article I have several developments in healthcare packaging in my portfolio, so I safe them for a following article. Come back a next time.

As said in my previous article we continue our overview of dispensing caps today with the ViCap of Vicap Systems, the BioGaia or Lifetop Cap of Bericap, the Cedevita cap made by Teamplast, and the PowerCap of Liquid Health Labs.

The VICAP
To drink from the bottle, after the consumer has activated the cap to release the supplement into the liquid, most dispensing caps have to be removed from the bottle. There are only a few which feature a drinking spout.

At first glance, ViCap looks pretty much like a conventional sport bottle cap. But ViCap is much more than that. It can discharge 12.5 millilitres of liquid concentrate or 7 grams of powder to create a flavoured drink, a nutritional supplement or an energy booster.
In 2005 Renè Wilhelm started the development of ViCap when the idea to develop a functional sports cap came up as Aqua Nova launched a drink which contained Q12. The problem with this drink was its short shelf life due to vitamins and other sensitive ingredients losing effectiveness over time when mixed with water.

Renè Wilhelm conceptualized the idea to separate the active ingredients from the liquid until the time of consumption and thus the world’s first dispenser sports cap system was born and Vicapsystems Ltd in Lütisburg, Switzerland was founded.

The BioGaia or Lifetop Cap
Global manufacturer of plastic closures Bericap and Swedish biotechnology company BioGaia entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement with the aim to promote probiotics for beverages packed in a plastic closure system under the name: Lifetop Cap.

Probiotics are extremely delicate and difficult to keep alive. As a result, most probiotic products today are dairy-based because probiotics tend to stay alive longer in a dairy environment. The problem with these products is that the probiotics will die off over time and it is difficult to determine how many probiotics the consumer actually gets down at the time of consumption. Therefore BioGaia decided to develop a system that dispenses the probiotic strains at time of drinking the beverage.

The dispensing cap, made from LDPE, consists of a plastic screw closure to be used on standard neck finishes (30/25, 38 mm), sealed inside the plastic closure sits a blister, made from full barrier aluminium laminate, containing the ingredients up to 200 µl in liquid form or 200 mg in powder, offering an unique solution against humidity, supporting a long shelf life of the sensitive ingredients.
A flexible dome, protected by a hinged overcap, should be used to press on the blister, to tear off the lower part of the blister and to deliver the ingredients into the liquid in the bottle.

Boston-based company Mass Probiotics was one of the first major customers using LifeTop for its “phd (probiotic health daily)” flavoured water. The Ready to Drink or Ready to Go – phd probiotic line of 16 oz (474 ml) enhanced flavoured water features the LifeTop push-button cap. Each flavour contains a total of 20 billion cfu of 6 different probiotic strains, or about 10 times the amount in most dairy-based probiotic products.
There is one problem with the LifeTop cap. It is designed for (very) small quantities or volumes of supplement.

The LifeTop Cap, initially developed and patented in one format by BioGaia, will be further developed by Bericap to cover all the needs of the beverage industry in term of sizes and functionalities and it will be industrialised by Bericap to be commercially available to Brand Owners.

The Cedevita cap
Cedevita is in Croatia a well-known quality brand for healthy vitamin drinks. For its product, Cedevita Go!, the company asked the Dutch designer Luc van den Broek and Dutch injection moulder Teamplast to develop a dispensing bottle cap. The result: with a simple, rotation of the dispensing cap 26 gr vitamin powder is dispensed into the liquid of the bottle, creating a fresh, healthy, on-the-go multi-vitamin drink.

The developed system transfers a rotating movement into a linear one. The movement is activated by a handle which is connected to an oval disc with at the bottom a sharp knife-like point pinching the seal foil when the handle is moved.
The dispensing cap features two pieces: the, with an aluminium foil sealed ‘vitamin chamber’, including the handle with the pinching knife and the bottle cap itself.

The system works as follows: A device which picks up the top of the handle when rotated is located inside the cap. Moving the handle anti-clockwise (opening the bottle) pushes the knife down. The beauty of the system is that activating the vitamin drink the consumer has only to exercise the common doings of opening a bottle, namely to turn the cap anti-clockwise to operate the ‘vitamin-system’ and to get access to the vitamin drink.

The PowerCap of Liquid Health Labs
PowerCap-Liquid Health Labs, in Manchester, NH/USA, offers three different styles of dosing caps under its PowerCap brand. The company claims a lot, as you will see here below, but doesn’t supply any technical information. Judging the workability of the dispensing caps is consequently not possible.

The company claims, that the PowerCap has distinct advantages over traditional hot-fill preparations of functional drinks. The PowerCap is said to have shown in a major university study that it is less energy intensive due to it supporting cold filling, and therefore, is a ‘greener’ technology and it can be utilized on lighter weight plastic bottles, further reducing the environmental impact. Additionally, the company claims, that the newly introduced PowerCap Universal fits on any traditional bottled water neck finish. This allows the consumer to conveniently transform standard bottled water into a functional beverage, and get multiple uses out of their water bottle throughout the day while still getting great-tasting functional drinks.

In addition to licensing its PowerCap solutions to beverage-makers, PowerCap-Liquid Health Labs developed its own products. Last Shot, a hangover protection drink, and Fresh Healthy Stuff…In the Cap!, a health and wellness drink, both use the PowerCap Universal push cap, which snaps onto 26.7 mm to 28 mm bottles. The twist PowerCap fits on 26.7 mm and 28 mm bottles, and the push PowerCap fits on 28-mm bottles. The caps have a 4cc chamber for storage of the supplement.

Marketed to be sold as a cap alone or in multi-packs, the Universal is claimed to fit onto most bottled waters in the world. The Universal line will be expanded to include larger sizes designed to fit on sports and fitness standard size bottles.

That’s it for today. Still 5 to go: the Yoli Blast Cap, the Mojo organics cap, the Karma cap of Karma Wellness Water, the Tap-The-Cap, and the Delo Cap from France. I know there are many more dispensing caps designed, developed, patented, but only a restricted number penetrate the market. I can write a book about all the developments in dispensing caps.

On the Digital Trends blog I read that Japanese company, Toshiba, has developed a, so called, food recognition technology. The new technology is a scanner which recognises the item of food, particularly fruits and vegetables, thus removing the need for barcodes.

Packages and labels can be crumpled so that the barcode can’t be read at the check-out point. Furthermore fruit and vegetables in supermarkets don’t usually have barcodes because they’re put out while they’re fresh, so these items can’t be read at the register using barcodes, which means that either a shop assistant has to weigh, put in the correct data and label the product with a barcode or it is the cashier responsible for this job.
Shoppers all over the world have experienced the situation that the cashier has to key in the code manually. Even worse the cashier may not recognize some items (exotic fruits, rare vegetables, varieties), which can cause further delays. It’s not a big issue, but it can be quite frustrating, particularly with a long line of shoppers waiting for their turn to check out.

Toshiba has developed this new scanner to solve that problem. The Object Recognition Scanner works by utilizing pattern and colour recognition technology being developed by the company.
Toshiba explains that, although the scanner is capable of recognising any type of food it is particularly useful when it comes to fruits and vegetables, although it also can identify packaged items like bread and canned goods. Similar to how facial recognition technology puts parameters like the width of the nose and the distance between eyes as ways to identify people, the ORS uses certain parameters to categorize and identify goods. Specifically, Toshiba utilizes a pattern and colour recognition technology so precise it can sense subtle differences between similar products.

The technology is already well advanced so it can easily identify, not just what sort of fruit it is being shown, but even the variety of a fruit it is being shown. This is likely to save time and avoid mistakes as shop assistants will not need to search for the correct code each time they are presented with a different product variety.

Toshiba’s scanner utilizes a camera that can operate at high swiping speeds, identifying items as they are being whisked by. The ORS is able to do this by isolating any other image “noise,” and thereby concentrating only on the food product. The video shows a cashier scanning a vegetable like they would an item with a barcode over a laser scanner.

Although the technology certainly has potential, I don’t see a fast conquering of the supermarkets worldwide. Toshiba’s claim that “the new technology could soon be seen at supermarket checkouts around the globe”, is based upon the idea that the company is building up a huge database of produce and other grocery store items.
However, being that the market is a global one, this product database will likely be limited to Japanese grocery items for now, and the ORS itself to Japanese grocery stores.

Additionally don’t forget that the Japanese consumer is quite different from the American or European one. In Japan fresh produce is highly selective and of indisputable super-high quality. Consequently the consumer buys one or two units of some fruit or vegetable and not as in most countries where the consumer buys “in bulk” (in pounds or kilos that is) and weighs the product himself or at the check-out point.

Nevertheless the development is worth to keep a close eye on it.

Today the 27th of March the Anuga FoodTec in Cologne, Germany, opened its doors. Scheduled from March 27 to March 30, the Anuga FoodTec offers international food manufacturing companies an opportunity to view the latest technologies dedicated to food and beverage processing, packaging and food safety. The event also includes specialist forums and conference sessions.

Compared to the previous event more than 50% of the 1,300 exhibitors are from outside Germany, including Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Turkey and the USA.

The international trade fair for food and drink technology is promoted as: A meeting point for decision-makers. A place for visionaries. A location for specialists. From 27th to 30th March 2012, everything will revolve around the subject of innovations.

Aerial view of the Cologne exhibition centre

Although primarily a food technology exhibition, the Anuga always has been, in my experience anyway, the perfect place to discover novelties and innovations in packaging technology. Not the graphics, not the pure design, neither the printing nor marketing tricks, but solely the technology of packaging.
Despite the continuous enhancement over a period of more than 100 years that packaging technology has been around, there is still a healthy flow of new developments and innovations.

TetraPak at the Anuga FoodTec 2012

Without doubt top trends this year, among others, are the technologies to conserve resources and the use of renewable materials, as still a number of unresolved issues screams for a solution.

Take the question of packaging made of renewable materials, for example. PLA and PET made of plant materials are a hot topic right now, since they have a much smaller carbon footprint than plastics based on oil.

Coca-Cola and Heinz PlantBottles

Yet (correctly) there is criticism that the crops used for this purpose are cultivated on land that would otherwise serve for growing food. There are several conceivable solutions to this problem. For example, waste matter or biomass might be used as a raw material. Alternatively, efforts could be made to meet the growing call for closed-loop recycling, whereby, for example, a yoghurt carton made of bioplastic is recycled to produce food packaging of an equal quality (cradle-to-cradle), rather than being incinerated to generate energy or turned into a recycled product of a lower grade.
At present, the production of “green” PET still relies on either molasses from the sugar industry or sugarcane juice – as in Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle packaging.

Research is still under way to ascertain whether by-products from agriculture and forestry, such as wood chippings, maize straw and wheat straw, might also be used. The presence of plant materials in PET bottles does not alter their chemical composition. PET = Pet. Consequently, there is no requirement for a separate recycling process here, either.

There is another hot item, which will be gathering a lot of attention this year. In the 1980s, without the internet, without globalisation the way we know it, the accepted view was that packaging was undesirable and should be avoided as much as possible.

Today, however, we are aware that over one-third of the food produced worldwide perishes before it ever reaches the consumer. In view of such statistics, it is easy to see what role packaging might play. This “worldview” recognises the vital role packaging technology plays, but we also recognise that it should be as economical, green and efficient as possible. That conditions, never thought of in the 1980s, keep the flow of innovations coming.

I will visit several exhibition stands in my search for novelties and innovations. Small and large. I will report about my findings in the next few days.

Tagged: Anuga FoodTec 2012, closed-loop recycling, Coca-Cola's PlantBottle, cradle-to-cradle, food and drink technology, food spoilage, food waste, packaging technology, renewable materials

To give you an idea of how important the Anuga FoodTec is seen in the world of the food and drink industry, let me tell you that this year Tetra Pak had a stand covering 4,800 m2 (that for my American friends is more than 50,000 sq.ft), showing its whole range of products with several interesting novelties. But I will talk about the new developments of Tetra Pak in my next article.
My first report of the exhibition is a collection of smaller but interesting developments and products.

TenderPac – optimal maturation for case-ready meats
Within its thermoforming division, Sealpac GmbH from Oldenburg , Germany, attracted attention with its modern post-maturation packaging system for red meat: TenderPac. It ensures that fresh meat products, such as beef, can be stored ‘dry’ in their packaging whilst increasing shelf-life and attracting buyers due to their appealing vertical presentation.
The TenderPac features a dual-compartment vacuum packaging system, which creates the optimal conditions for maturing meat products and is presented standing or hanging in the retail shelves.
The packaging system uses a second compartment, separated by a porous seam and covered by a pre-printed film or label that neatly collects the meat’s drip-loss during the maturation process by means of a special absorption pad. This ensures that the meat is stored dry and appetizingly during its entire shelf-life.

The TenderPac system is available on Sealpac’s complete range of RE-series thermoformers. By using the Rapid Air Forming technology, packs from different film thicknesses can be formed in a highly energy-efficient process.

LamiCan – Aseptic Carton Packaging
My readers might recall that some time ago I wrote about the developments in beverage cans made from paperboard. At the Anuga one more company presented a beverage can made from paperboard. The LamiCan is similar to the paperboard can of CartoCan.
The company, Lamipak, manufactures a full range of aseptic paperboard material products which are fully compatible with TBA filling lines. They even have the Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc like beverage cartons in their portfolio.

Although a Finnish company with production facilities in Valkeakoski, the Lamipak range is produced at a state of the art production plant in Kunshan, China, close to the port of Shanghai.

Lamican packages consist on several laminated layers, including the pull tape made of aluminium, printing inks and varnish, alufoil, tie layer and LDPE.
The can lid is made from LDPE, tie layer, alufoil and board, while the body of the can consist of a heating sealed lacquer, varnish and printing inks, followed by aseptic board material, LDPE, alufoil and AFF/PE.
Finally the bottom of the can is made from aseptic board material, LDPE, alufoil and AFF/PE.

Let’s have a look at the manufacturing of the paperboard can. I took the LAC 250 Aseptic Packaging Machine as an example.
By feeding pre-printed paperboard from a reel into the machine, the can is formed around a turret where, heated by hot air, the side joint is heat sealed.
A reel of the lid material with the closure mechanism feeds the die-cutting device. The lid is joined to the body, the surface of the seal is activated by hot air and the joint is sealed in the sealing unit. The can is then forwarded to the filling unit.

The aseptic process is an integral part of the packaging machine. In an aseptic chamber, a precise amount of peroxide steam is sprayed into the can and vaporised by hot air. The sterilised cans are transferred to the stage of product filling.

The filling of the can takes place simultaneously in all six lanes in the filling unit through the open bottom of the can. The filling of the can is carried out by using electromagnetic flowmeters to control the filling valves. The can is forwarded from the filling unit to the conveyor belt. The machine is equipped with a foam removal system. Inert gas in the head space of the package is used when required.
After the can is filled, it is closed by joining heat sealing. The seals are activated by hot air and pressed closed in the sealing unit.

Eurocap reclosable can end
Reclosable beverage cans are not new, but this design of Eurocap GmbH, from Schwaigern, Germany, has a completely different design. By the way the company supplies the complete can end.
Every can is reclosable with this can end. It opens like a RingPull and closes with an integrated flip top. The CanCap is designed for applications with beverages CSD, energy drinks, non CSD juices, milk, coffee, and other liquids.

The CanCap is made of just one component, but has three flexible parts to facilitate recloseability.

The CanCap was tested for tightness, aroma transfer and contamination by the Nehring Institute in Braunschweig, Germany and was certified as unobjectionable for use in the food industry.

The CanCap closure system can be modified and is suitable for all cans with liquid contents. A variation of CanCap was developed especially for drink cans; this is tailored to meet the specific physical requirements of the can as well as facilitating the easy use to which the consumer is accustomed.

Ecolean Air Aseptic – Lightweight packages for on the go
Lightweighting has proved to be a winning business concept in the liquid food business. Three years ago Ecolean launched its aseptic filling system for family size packages at Anuga Foodtec. New at this year’s exhibition are the aseptic portion packages, for the first time shown in Europe.

People are on the go more often and this has led to demands for smaller package sizes and more single serve packs. The portion packages are perfect for on the go, for smaller households and they fit well in children’s lunch boxes.
Ecolean showed its latest innovation: an aseptic portion pack with optionally an attached straw.

The portion packs sized 200 and 250 ml developed for ambient distribution become, when emptied, flat as an envelope and take almost no space in the trash can.
Ecolean packages weigh approximately 50-60% less than conventional cartons or bottles.

The packaging material is made from a thin plastic film, part plastic (PE and PP) and part chalk (40% by weight), one of nature’s own material. The pitcher shaped flexible package has an air-filled handle which makes it easy to grip and pour from.

This was my first report from the Anuga FoodTec 2012. Next article will related about the novelties of Tetra Pack. I will have one more article about packaging and food preservation and one more about novelties in flexible packaging, among others the new SurePouch from Robert Bosch. Keep tuned.

In my previous article I already mentioned the “immense” stand of 4,800 m2 Tetra Pak had at the Anuga FoodTec 2012. To justify this size Tetra Pak had not only to showcase its full range of packaging solutions and its range of dairy processing equipment, but also had to come up with a number of novelties. And they did indeed.

But before we detail the novelties, we go after the rumours. In a Financial Times interview last Monday 26th of March, Dennis Jönsson the CEO of Tetra Pak apparently, according to an interpretation of the media, suggested that Tetra Pak is all set to unveil new smart milk cartons that will change colour when left out of the fridge too long.

Köln Messe - Cologne Exhibition Centre

According to the Financial Times, Tetra Pak has been developing a chip that can be embedded in the cartons to provide information such as how long a carton has been outside the fridge, on a scannable label.

However at a press briefing at Anuga FoodTec 2012, a spokeswoman for the company stated that the innovation was a “long-term project that we don’t want to speak about the moment”.
She declined to confirm that details carried within a Financial Times article on Monday were accurate.

But it could well be. It is well-known that Tetra Pak partnered with Brazilian food co-operative Aurora and devised a code that can indicate which cow on which farm produced the milk, and other processing and packaging information, when scanned with a mobile phone.

Designer Ko Yang presented his idea of a colour changing milk carton to indicate the freshness of its content

It is just one step further, to provide information via a scannable label, showing, for instance, how long the carton had been left out of the fridge. The embedded chip is said to be fitted into cartons on retail sale as soon as next year.

The technology is not new. I remember somewhere in 2005/2006 a Swedish or Danish inventor came up with a first prototype of a milk carton, which discoloured and sounded an alarm when left outside the fridge. Recently designer Ko Yang presented his idea of a colour changing milk carton to indicate the freshness of its content.
What is new and important, however, is the fact that a huge company as Tetra Pak is getting behind this development with an almost 100% chance of success.

After the rumours, the concrete novelties.

New green features in Tetra Pak’s packaging portfolio
Tetra Pak unveiled four new features for its carton packaging portfolio at Anuga FoodTec, all four aimed at strengthening the environmental attributes of several of its leading products.

The four are: A separable top for the Tetra Evero Aseptic and three renewable polyethylene (PE) caps made from plant-based sources. Furthermore there are novelties in two new portion packs based on the Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge design and a tear-off opening for on-the-go convenience to its Tetra Top Carton Shot. At the end of the year, the company will also extend the Tetra Rex line with a new droplet package design as well as the Tetra Gemina Aseptic with two new profiles.

Tetra Evero Aseptic
Following the launch of the Tetra Evero Aseptic, the world’s first aseptic carton bottle for white milk, Tetra Pak developed the additional functionality of a separable top.

The Tetra Evero Aseptic Separable Top has a perforation in the cardboard which allows the separating of the polyethylene top from the carton sleeve, delivering improved environmental characteristics by making it easy for consumers to separate the top and carton sleeve and recycle them separately. At no additional cost, the packaging addresses a consumer demand for ever better solutions to facilitate recycling.

At the same time, Tetra Evero Aseptic with the Separable Top delivers all of the benefits of the original Tetra Evero Aseptic and is entirely recyclable and made from FSC certified paperboard.

Green Caps
In partnership with Braskem, Brazil’s largest petrochemical company, Tetra Pak was the first company in the global carton packaging industry to use green PE caps. Made from sugar cane derivatives, the new caps represent another step towards Tetra Pak’s ambition to offer packaging made entirely from renewable material. My readers know that I strongly object any plastics made from sugar cane derivatives, as they are obtained from arable land which should be used for food crops. There are sufficient alternatives made from agriculture residue and not the crop itself.

Not that my words are worth a cent, as since July 2011, Nestle Brazil has been packing two of its popular milk brands (Ninho and Molico) in Tetra Brik Aseptic packages using the green PE StreamCap 1000.
Based on this trial, Tetra Pak launched the green alternative of another three caps, DreamCap 26, LightCap 30 and Helicap 27. The green caps will be distinguished from the original caps by a leaf logo which will be carried on the cap.

Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge
One of the biggest challenges to the food industry in recent years has been the growth of on-the-go consumption, with busy consumers demanding a ‘right here, right now’ service from their shopping experience.

The new 200 and 250 ml Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge packages provide the flexibility to consume on-the-go whilst also catering for the increasing number of single-person households. The cartons have a large sloping top and contoured side panels which enhance handling by consumers. They are sold with either a Helicap 23 (which is the largest screw cap for 200 and 250 ml ambient dairy carton packages) or a straw.

The company promised that from 2013, its customers will also benefit from increased production flexibility. The new Tetra Pak A3/CompactFlex iLine, which delivers 9,000 packages per hour, will produce four products on one line – the 200 ml Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge with straw or Helicap 23 and the 250 ml Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge with straw or Helicap 23.

In addition, the Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge portion packages deliver significant logistical benefits. The pack shapes allow up to 99% utilisation of the Euro pallet to reduce the distribution costs and CO2 emissions associated with transportation. Products also have a variety of efficient stack-ability options in-store.

Tetra Rex Pearl
Tetra Rex Pearl is a brand new packaging designed for premium milk and juice. Due for launch in the first quarter of 2013, Tetra Rex Pearl moves away from the faceted shapes traditionally associated with cartons to a more curvaceous simplistic shape. The curved, droplet-shaped keyline creates an impactful side profile and defines the overall new look. In addition, the absence of a front horizontal crease line creates one large front panel which not only opens up new branding possibilities, but also affords the space for a large, premium-looking closure.

Tetra Rex Pearl also features the recently launched TwistCap OSO 34 (One Step Opening) closure, a large one-step opening that can be applied on a standard gable top package (70×70) without changing the configuration of the packaging. With higher ridges that are widely spaced for a better grip and an inner lip on the neck, the closure allows consumers to pour the product easily and reseal the packaging safely.

Tetra Rex principle

Tetra Gemina Aseptic
Tetra Pak extended the Tetra Gemina Aseptic range, with two new shapes – Leaf and Crystal – available from the end of this year. Tetra Gemina Aseptic Leaf and Crystal use the Tetra Pak A3/Flex platform, along with the Tetra Gemina Aseptic Square.
The Tetra Pak A3/Flex platform for Tetra Gemina Aseptic offers the potential to produce three different shapes on the same machine and to switch between different shapes and sizes in the range, allowing customers to innovate rapidly in response to market demands.

Tetra Gemina Aseptic Crystal and Leaf combine strong visual appeal with the consumer functionality of the Tetra Gemina Aseptic Square shape. The original Tetra Gemina Aseptic Square is renowned for two qualities: its top, which gives the packaging a unique appearance, and the geometry of the slanted top, which achieves the best possible product flow. Tetra Gemina Aseptic 1000 Crystal maintains these two key attributes, but the shape of the package body is new and includes four new crystal-shaped panels. The result is a design which will build differentiation on the crowded supermarket shelf.

The new Tetra Gemina Aseptic 1000 Crystal and 1000 Leaf packages incorporate the new HeliCap 27. HeliCap 27, built on the same technology as the HeliCap 23, has a large 27 mm neck size which provides enhanced one-step functionality and a superior pouring experience for in-home consumption.
At the same time, the cap height and ridged design provide those consumers who have difficulty gripping with an improved experience. Tetra Pak reduced the opening force by 60%, and tested the closure primarily on elderly consumers, while the pouring performance improved by 30% due to a larger opening surface. This resealable one-step closure provides better visibility for tamper evidence.
In March 2012, HeliCap on Tetra Prisma Aseptic Square was the first one-step opening to be recognized and approved as “easy-to-open” by the Swedish Rheumatism Association.

Tetra Top Carton Shot
A growing demand for healthy products has been met by daily dose drinks, energy boosters and probiotics, a market which is expected to expand by 4% globally between 2011 and 2014.

To meet this demand, Tetra Pak launched Lokka, a new opening option for the Tetra Top Carton Shot in a convenient 100 ml package. Lokka is a new convenient tear-off opening which meets the demand for on-the-go consumption. Already available in Finland, Lokka can be applied to a range of products and delivers the convenience of a unique packaging at a competitive price. From an environmental perspective, the Tetra Top Carton Shot with Lokka opening offers the lowest CO2 level in the market.

Tetra Top packages are filled in the Tetra Top TT/3 XH (Extended Hygiene) machine, which enables simultaneous filling of different products, while boasting a 9,000 package/hour two-line filling capacity.

eBeam non-contact and dry sterilisation system
And finally Tetra Pak also introduced its new eBeam non-contact and dry sterilisation system.  eBeam sterilisation, which is based on well-established low voltage electron beam (LVEB) technology, is being developed by Tetra Pak in collaboration with the COMET Group, one of the world’s leading companies in this field. And although still a concept development, it is already showing tremendous potential.

TetraPak e-beam non-contact and dry sterilisation system

When launched, eBeam sterilisation will also play a significant role in the new Tetra Pak A3 filling machine for super high speed packaging — known as the Hyperspeed Concept — to assure the complete sterility of products while keeping mechanical complexity low and increasing capacity.

I will discuss the eBeam and Hyperspeed concept technologies in a separate article with reference to food conservation (pasteurisation and sterilisation).  Various systems, such as HPP, MicroPast, Aseptic OneStep technology and eBeam, were shown at the Anuga FoodTec, all with a crucial influence to packaging.

You might remember that in a previous article about the Talking Packaging for Healthcare products, I referred to an interview in Packaging World, where Richard Adams, head of Pack Graphic Design at GlaxoSmithKline, gave the following answer to the question, about what he is looking for from packaging suppliers: “In a word, innovation – innovative materials and packaging solutions to meet the diversification efforts within our company. ……… We simply do not have the time or resources to understand what is available and new”.

Apparently it is a problem which many (multi-national) consumer goods companies are facing. Last week Unilever launched an online open innovation platform, which is intended to be a gateway for collaborations between Unilever’s own R&D specialists and any designer, engineer or whatever to come to innovation breakthroughs.
According to Unilever, a successful solution could change the way billions of products are packaged and make a significant difference to the environment and the lives of its consumers.

Vietnamese woman selling Unilever products

It is well-known that sustainability is a key priority for Unilever and in this light, sustainable packaging is a strategic goal for which the online innovation platform is a perfect tool to uncover new and innovative technical solutions to boost growth while cutting its carbon footprint. But in its drive to reduce the overall environmental impact, Unilever is looking for novel and innovative ways to package its products to reduce their overall weight while simultaneously cutting down on waste.

Unilever states: “We’re open to working with partners who can help with the solutions we’re already considering, or who have an idea we haven’t thought of at all”.

Do you have an idea for better packaging? Go to the Unilever Portal.

But before you do so, I have a warning!
Unilever requests that all information you provide in these initial stages imposes no obligation of confidentiality for Unilever or its affiliate yet2.com (who ever that might be). If your submission passes the screening criteria, all your details will be passed to Unilever for further internal detailed review. Prior to any confidential discussions, you will be asked to sign a separate, further Agreement with Unilever so that any confidential information, that is subsequently shared, is protected.

The keyword here is: subsequently. I have some problems with the condition of the “no obligation of confidentiality for Unilever” in the initial stage. I am not saying that it is tricky, but it might cause problems later, when the screening turns out to be negative for the inventor.

If more packaging and consumer goods companies (the good, the bad and the ugly) are initiating open innovations portals, and that is to be expected, then this situation screams for another portal: Registration of Innovations, where inventors can store (partly open, partly hidden) their inventions and particularly the evolving developments in terms of variations, based on the original invention.

Initial design of a Paneer and Mozzarella packaging

I am well aware that Unilever requires that a submission must have IP protection. But a breach of the original patent isn’t the problem. The problem arises the moment an invention evolves into some variants, new shapes, new applications, which can’t be additionally patented by the original inventor, as it is costing fortunes and in general inventors haven’t fortunes to spend.
And here comes the cockroach! In the world of inventors a cockroach is a company (you might say a copy-cat, but much more sleazy) that steals the idea which is the result of an evolution of an original patent. It then is looking for “openings’ in the original patent to patent the evolution as a new development in its own name. After that, the evolution is not any longer an evolution and property of the original inventor, but fully owned by the cockroach.

We all know numerous examples of this behaviour. The cockroach is just sucking inventor’s blood. Worse even the inventor can almost do nothing. The cockroach’s patents are based on a new shape, a new application, etc., modifications the inventors hasn’t patented. And the inventor isn’t able to protest as he can’t prove that he was the first. No date registration is available to show in court.

A Packaging Innovation Platform, which lets everyone issue his invention for registration, partly open, partly hidden, will safeguard the inventor when some cockroach, after the issue date inside this platform, tries to patent a product registered on this platform. This platform protects its members, the inventors can sue a cockroach, or inform the patent office, based upon information inside this platform. The most important is the issuing date, which will be accepted as fact by any court. We always have Google to prove the correctness of the issuing date.

Prototypes of the Compleat coffee cup made from paperboard

To end this story. Did I insinuate that Unilever is a cockroach? Of course not, as I said, there are the good, the bad and the ugly.

One more point. I know there are fairly similar (commercial) websites as the platform here proposed. They are (in my opinion) all too expensive, too complicated and want to commercialise the invention or new technology. That’s not what I have in mind.
What I have in mind is a platform for the individual inventor or small inventive company. Small member fee, no obligations, no further costs. The commercialisation is best be done by the inventor.

From the packaging systems exhibited at the Anuga FoodTec 2012, running in Cologne, Germany last month, I selected three to highlight here.

Gerhard Schubert presented its new tube filling and closing machine, Robert Bosch Packaging Technology presented its new SurePOUCH clean-fill (SPC) machine, and K-Robotix showed its robots for (naked) food products. We end with an auxiliary item, namely the SmartReflect with transparent detection from Baumer.

New Tube Filling and Closing Machine
Gerhard Schubert GmbH presented its new tube filling and closing machine.

In the first sub-machine, starting on the right, tubes are unpacked from shipping cartons fully automatically and moved onto a trans-module transport section in a mass flow. In the second sub-machine, the tubes are transferred from the mass flow to a single-row transport section and at the same time aligned according to their printing marks. These tubes are then filled in the third sub-machine by an eight-position volume dosing station. Upon request, the volume dosing station can also be replaced by weight dosing. The closing is performed using ultrasound in the fourth sub-machine. Only 1/16 of the standard welding energy is required for ultrasonic welding. The tubes are sealed with a cold sealing tool, and any product located in the sealing zone does not negatively affect the quality of the seal.

The tube filling machine, exhibited in Cologne, had an output of 200 tubes per minute. On TLM tube filling machines of various configuration levels, up to 800 tubes can be filled and closed per minute. As it is a modular system, the TLM tube filling and closing machine can be completed to a compact individual packaging line by attaching additional sub-machines.

The TLM packaging machine system is highly flexible due to its simple mechanical design, intelligent control system and exchangeable tools. On TLM filling machines liquid or pasty products can also be filled into bottles, cans or bags.

The SurePOUCH stand-up flexible pack
The SurePOUCH clean-fill (SPC) machine of Robert Bosch Packaging Technology is a roll-fed vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) machine with a footprint of six square meters that produces the SurePOUCH, a new line of reclosable, flexible stand-up pouches with multiple shape and fitment options.

The SPC can produce four different pouch formats. The formats EZPouch, EZGable and EZSquare, with filling volumes from 100 ml to 5 litres, offer flexible applications for retail. For food service, the EZPillow can hold up to 20 litres, allowing for easy and quick refilling. All formats are produced, filled and sealed with the same machine. This enhances flexibility for the manufacturer since it allows the user to expand the product portfolio without fundamentally converting the production line.
The new vertical form, fill and seal machine is capable of filling a variety of products, achieving hygiene standards up to ultra clean-fill. SurePOUCH packs are also fitted with reclosable spouts, which are ultrasonically welded to the exterior of the pouch and can be positioned in various locations. They provide an enhanced hygienic feature as the product is filled directly into the pouch and not through the spout. The closure only comes in contact with the product when the consumer opens the package. The spouts are available in sizes of 10, 20 and 30 mm. Bosch also provides customized options, while drinking straws or simple tear-notches can be added. For the food service sector, adjusting extra handles to the upper seam simplifies lifting and dosing when pouring.

Clean-filled applications for the SurePOUCH include non-carbonated beverages and water, dairy products, concentrates, soups, sauces and dressings. The SurePOUCH system is capable of filling viscous liquids up to 25,000 centipoises as well as particulates up to 25 mm in diameter while protecting particulate integrity. The machine can also handle dry bulk goods, such as flakes, powders, rice or coffee.

In addition to the SPC machine, Bosch supplies both the spouts and the lightweight film or laminate structures for the SurePOUCH packs, guaranteeing seal and package integrity while ensuring easy handling, storage and dispensing of products.
Due to its stable design, the package still stands-up once vacant. Made from flexible materials, it allows high evacuation rates for increased utility as well as collapsibility for efficient disposal.

The RobotiX
At the Anuga various companies showed their developments in robots. For the food industry, however, it is not the robot that is of importance, that technique can be seen everywhere in whatever industry. Take the automotive industry as an example. For the food industry the robot-hands are of extremely importance and completely different from any other industrial application. Handling ‘naked’ product, like meat, cheese, chocolate etc, requires special robot-hands and fingers. We have seen several at the Anuga. I will write a separate article about recent developments in robot-hands. Here some photos from K-Robotix GmbH in Bremen/Germany, for more than five years, exclusively dedicating its activities to automated robotic handling of food.

More in a next article.

And finally an auxiliary object to packaging lines.

SmartReflect with transparent detection
Baumer introduced its innovation: the first light barrier without a reflector featuring unique transparent detection. This especially sensitive version of the SmartReflect picks up the tiniest changes in intensity, which enables it to detect highly transparent foils, bowls or bottles. This model is also available with a hygienic and wash-down design, as well as protection class IP 69K and proTect+ tightness concept.

With the SmartReflect, the physical interruption of a closed light barrier by an object, the closed light beam is set up between the sensor and a machine part, for example. Commonly used separate reflectors or receivers are no longer required. The colour and material of the background and the object to be recognized are unimportant.

In the food industry in particular, the SmartReflect proves its usefulness as it monitors the packaging process by identifying the correct positioning of the food to be packaged. The SmartReflect is used whenever the installation of a separate reflector or receiver presents a real headache.

I have one more article about the Anuga. This one about food preservation in packaging.

In my second article about developments in pharmaceutical packaging (see my previous one about the Talking Packaging) I will show solutions for the PIL (Patient Information Leaflet). A PIL often is a dual or multi-layer leaflet, sometimes even in the form of a booklet. They consist of a single- or multi-page leaflet, which, in one way or another, must be incorporated in the pharmaceutical packaging.
They are used for applications where the printable space on the packaging is inadequate for presenting the required information.

For the pharmaceutical industry, the multi-page leaflets have been especially noticeable, as strict regulatory control has increased the need for more product information, often in multiple languages.

It’s not unusual for the published usage instructions and safety information provided with prescription and over-the-counter drugs to get lost, once in the hands of patients. A solution for this problem is offered by Burgopack and Medica Packaging. The packaging of Burgopack encourages compliance by keeping the PIL, blistered product and outer carton permanently connected through a unique sliding mechanism. Medica’s Chrysalis Carton blends the PIL (Patient Information Leaflet) directly into the structure of the carton itself.

As both packages use blisters I added the newest development in blister packaging, namely the paper-free Child-Resistant Blister Lidding Foil of Constantia Flexibles Ltd.
All three are linked to each other, as you will see that they use either the design or the material of each other.

Chrysalis Combines Drug Packet and Patient Leaflet
Medica’s Chrysalis Carton design blends the PIL (Patient Information Leaflet) directly into the structure of the carton itself. Important information about the medication is conveniently connected to the outer carton for the entirety of the products lifecycle.

The Chrysalis Carton was shown in public for the first time at the Pharmapack Europe exhibition held last month in Paris, France.

The Chrysalis Carton from Medica Packaging permanently connects the outer carton and patient information leaflet (PIL) together. The design keeps the leaflet compact and accessible for when the consumer needs access to information about the product. The easy-tear perforation on the back panel of the pack allows the consumer to access information without destroying the whole carton. The large perforated flap to access the leaflet takes up approximately two-thirds of the surface area of the back panel.
With the patient information leaflet already attached to the pack there is no need to insert a separate PIL along with the pack contents.

The company claims, that the design also has the ability to simplify the manufacturing process as the carton is supplied with the leaflet already applied, there is no need to insert it separately. This allows for increased output through faster product inserting, whilst simultaneously decreasing costs.

The fully-patented Chrysalis Carton is brought to market by Burgopak Healthcare & Technology and manufactured under license by Medica Packaging Ltd.

The Burgopak child-resistant slider
The Burgopak child-resistant slider encourages compliance by keeping the PIL, blistered product and outer carton permanently connected through the sliding mechanism. The child-resistant pack’s functionality is based on a pressure point locking system. The blister and PIL are exposed at opposite ends of the pack when the user simultaneously pushes on two tabs and slides the pack open.

For the double-blister pack, the consumer pulls a blister on one side out of the box, which automatically pushes the second blister out the other side. When it is a single-blister pack, the PIL-booklet appears at the other side of the box.
The secret of the packaging, designed by Burgopak, is the sliding band. This band wraps horizontally around the inner panel of the cardboard sleeve. The left side of a paperboard card with a leaflet glued to it is attached to the band. The left side of a blister is then glued to the back of the band. When a blister on the right is extracted, the sliding band pulls to the right and pushes the other blister to the left.

It can be produced in single- and double-blister designs, and even can contain two different products. All designs include PILs which are printed and supplied in a pre-folded booklet format.

The pack is produced on Burgopak’s fully automated machinery and can be supplied to global pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

The design successfully achieved the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission’s F=1 child resistance and senior friendly effectiveness. This is in conformity with US regulatory standards for poison prevention packaging. This was achieved with impressive results: resistant effectiveness at a pass rate of 98% and senior adult use effectiveness at 95%.

Note: Lisa McTigue Pierce wrote in Packaging Digest a beautiful story about the process of manufacturing and filling the Burgopak sliding blister pack. Worth a read.

Child-Resistant Blister Pack
The Child-Resistant Blister Pack, which was designed for Staxyn, an erectile dysfunction drug from Bayer Pharma, meets both child-resistant and senior-friendly requirements. It has been tested successfully for those two parameters on the American market and will be introduced worldwide in the near future.

This Blister consists of a Coldform Foil and a paper-free Child-Resistant Blister Lidding Foil, Alu15/PET12/Alu15/peelable heat seal lacquer.

Compared with conventional paper/PET/aluminium laminates, the paper-free Child-Resistant Blister Lidding Foil of Constantia Flexibles offers a number of benefits.
For the paper-free make-up of the blister lidding foil the sealing temperature on the blister line is lower than for conventional alu/paper laminates. In turn this means energy consumption is reduced and, as dwell times in the sealing section can be reduced, the blister machine can operate at higher speeds. A further advantage is improved process stability as the bubbles, which could sometimes occur in the paper during sealing, have been completely eliminated.

Furthermore, due to the material composition, using a water-based primer on the decorative outer layer, rather than a primer containing solvents, provides pharmaceutical companies with a sustainable alternative to standard blister lidding foil. The primer also resists the high sealing temperatures generated during the packaging process.

With this new primer a saving of more than 220 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2011 was possible and according to estimations this figure will increase to more than 640 tonnes per annum in 2012 and beyond.

This Child-Resistant Blister Lidding Foil is available for the opening mechanism peel & push, peel-off or bend & tear.

In three articles I like to highlight the recent developments in packaging of fresh produce. Fresh produce can be seen as one of the most important commodities of the food market. And only growing in importance, as more and more consumers opt for fresh and minimally processed food.

As an example we take the Scots. Scots are purchasing more fresh fruits and vegetables than other Britons. A study shows that Scots are more likely to cook fresh foods at home, buy fresh foods and choose food because of its healthiness than those south of the border.
According to the research Scots appear to be happy to spend more of their cash on organic food, being 9% more likely to do so than those in Britain as a whole. Fruit is particularly popular with Scottish kids, with 23% of fruit being eaten because it is “a favourite,” up from 15% in 2010. Children also consumed 11 million more servings of fruit last year than they did in 2010.

But the popularity of fresh produce also has its seamy side. It has been estimated that up to 25% of food is thrown away within the supply chain from grower to retailer to in-home. Vegetables and then fruit are the main contenders. In Germany, for example, where fresh produce is very popular, the consumers throw out nearly 82 kilos of food every year, including fruits and vegetables that they deem as unattractive in appearance.
This translates in almost 11 million tonnes of wasted food nationally each year. 60% of this, according to a study, comes from private households, 17% from restaurants, schools, cafes and the like and another 17% from industry. The remainder can be accounted for by retail wastage.

Everybody who claims that packaging is a waste of resources, has to take a look at the waste figures of fresh produce and multiply that, in case packaging should be eliminated. Many packaging companies, universities and research institute are concentrating their efforts on packaging material that will improve and extend the shelf-life and freshness of fresh produce. It is the only way to reduce the exorbitant quantity of fruits and vegetables thrown away.

But it isn’t only waste. While fresh fruit and vegetable consumption is linked to a plethora of health benefits, it can also be a source of foodborne illness. Globally, there has been an increase in the number of outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with fresh foodstuffs, and in particular ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables.

The fresh-cut industry is heavily dependent on chlorine as one of the most effective sanitizers to assure the safety of their produce.
However, in light of concerns about the environmental and health risks associated with the formation of carcinogenic disinfection by-products, there is increasing pressure on the industry to eliminate chlorine from the disinfection process. The use of chlorine for the disinfection of fresh produce is currently banned in some countries, such as Germany and Switzerland. In any case recontamination of the washed produce by pathogens poses a risk even after washing with chlorine, as they grow faster on cleaned produce.

Let me start with mentioning a new research project to extend shelf-life of fruit and vegetables.

The Safe-Bag Project
Building upon existing research into the use of non-thermal plasma technology for the in-pack decontamination of food products undertaken by Purdue University and project partner Dublin Institute of Technology, the Safe-Bag project will develop an alternative technology.

The €2.4 million EU-funded project aims to reduce microbes on fresh produce ensuring that technology does not affect the nutritional properties, texture or taste of the packaged fruit and vegetables.

It’s obvious that treating fresh produce is more difficult in comparison to foods such as milk where you can use heat. The Safe-Bag approach is to package fresh produce inside any type of plastic packaging and then pass that package through a dielectric plasma discharge. The system uses plasma within the bag for a very short period of time, and make active species within the bag, which inactivate the bacteria. Plasma (an energetic ionized gas) is widely used for industrial materials processing, and has shown promise as a decontamination tool for food contact surfaces.

The Safe-Bag project aims at developing a novel continuous in-pack decontamination system for fresh-cut produce. A prototype of the system will be built and tested at fresh fruit and vegetable processing facilities to validate its performance under industrial conditions. Extensive laboratory trials will be carried out to validate the anti-microbial efficacy of the system at industrial scale, to confirm there are no changes in the nutritional and quality parameters of treated produce and to determine its shelf-life.

As for the time being we are faced with fruits washed in chlorine and might have residues of pesticides, we have to find a way to securely wash the apple before we take a bite.

Dissolvable Fruitwash Labels
Scott Amron, a US engineer has “always been discontent with fruit labels and felt they could do more than just display product info and be difficult to peel off”. His statement: “We buy, wash and eat fruit. So, the wash step was the next thing the label should help with”, let to the development of the “soap-label”, officially coined by him as the “Fruitwash Label”
It’s based on the oval or circular peel-off labels fixed to the skins of fruits, however the labels essentially dissolve into an organic soap mixture which can then be used as a cleaning product, partly aiding in the removal of substances from the fruit or vegetable’s surface.

While the labels resist water, they dissolve when rubbed. Prior to the fruits or vegetables passing into consumers’ hands, though, they can function in the same way as a traditional label, displaying barcode information for retail stock-check purposes alongside the retail price.

The Fruitwash Labels haven’t yet reached the production stage, but Scott Amron is presently seeking an investor to purchase a stake in the Fruitwash Label Intellectual Property.

It’sFresh! Extends the shelf life of fruit
British retail group Marks & Spencer introduced an advanced new packaging design for its fruit products. The system is similar to that introduced last year by British supermarket chain Tesco. It’sFresh! was commercially adopted last year after extensive trialling on berries. Tesco will be the first retailer to confirm that the apparent benefits from a successful series of simulation tests will be transferred to the store and home environments.

It has been developed and brought to market in the UK by It’sFresh Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Food Freshness Technology, claiming that it is 100 times more effective than any similar existing materials.
The technology is a food grade non-woven strip (8 cm by 4.5cm) coated with a high tech mixture of minerals and clays that allows for removal of endogenous ethylene in fruit and vegetables to below physiologically active levels, thus reducing spoilage.

Laura Howes wrote in the Chemistry World an explanation: “The packaging apparently uses an 8cm x 4.5cm strip that contains ‘a patented mixture of clay and other minerals that absorb ethylene. Ethylene, or as we chemists tend to refer to it, ethene, is the smallest possible alkene and a well-known plant hormone involved in the ripening of fruit. It’s why the trick of putting a ripe banana in a bag with unripe fruit will ripen it. I haven’t found the patent from the firm involved, but we can make some educated guesses about how this works. Clay is an aluminosilicate with a large volume, so perhaps what we’re talking about something akin to a zeolite, with a large surface area for the gaseous ethene to adsorb onto. And as for the other minerals, perhaps the pores are impregnated with some antibacterial agent, like silver, to keep the fruit extra fresh. That’d be my guess”.

From now on, the inside of strawberry packaging sold in Marks & Spencer will boast the legend ‘It’s Fresh’. The writing will actually be on the rectangular strip that allows the fruit’s lives to be extended.

The incorporation of this freshening strip doesn’t affect the punnets’ recyclability one bit and it is Marks & Spencer’s intention to make it a standard feature across its entire packaged fruit range. The firm’s also commented that there’ll be no increase in price made to account for this new fresher fruit packaging’s introduction.

Tesco Fresh Produce Aisle

Trials carried out in M&S stores showed a minimum wastage saving of 4% – during the peak strawberry season this would equate to 40,000 packs, or about 800,000 strawberries.
In the meantime Tesco has estimated that the new It’sFresh! ethylene remover introduced after extensive testing last year could eventually save the fresh produce industry “millions of pounds” through its ability to enhance shelf life quality and reduce waste.

The next article about the Squircle clamshell of Hollandia, the Two Piece Display-Ready Asparagus Shipper, the Peel/Reseal Apio Squash Package and Ocean Mist’s microwavable artichokes .

Tomorrow, Sunday, the 22nd of April, will be Earth Day and the internet will be overloaded with the most beautiful photos of what is left of this planet. This is all nice and dandy from an historical point of view, with the accent on historical. Yes, let’s show our children how beautiful the earth once was. Safe the beautiful photographs for the next generations. They might be the only thing they will have.

However I am more interested in what we are doing to conserve the beauty of this earth, or what is still left of it. And then of course in relation to packaging. That brought me to write an essay about the future of packaging.

I am not a futurist, I have no crystal ball. I am solely interested in the future of packaging as a result of developments in packaging technology. Setting the parameters of future packaging will be my theme of this Earth Day.

The consumer is King
It looks like as if packaging is a doomed species. Doomed as a growing hard-core group of consumers only typify it as wasteful and not only think, but promote vigorously that less consumption will save the world and consequently prefer to abandon all packaging.
Looking at the past, we must agree that they have a point.

The modern consumer in general is romanticizing nature and demonizing the industry. And let’s be honest the industry indeed is the culprit.
When you look at all the press releases over the last few years relating the millions of pounds in saving of packaging material, you really wonder what the packaging industries as well as the packaged goods companies have done in the years before. And although there is a lot done, the industry hasn’t come much farther than trimming down, down weighting and using thinner material. There is an absolute end to all that. We have to be a little bit more intelligent.

In 1992 at the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro the word “eco-efficiency” was coined. This, so it was hoped, would transform industry from a system that takes, makes, and wastes into one that integrates economic, environmental and ethical concerns. Essentially, eco-efficiency means doing more with less. Although crucial, eco-efficiency only slows down the rate of environmental damage and resource depletion.

And that brings us to biodegradability. The big ‘green-washing’ slogan, found in any press release and in these days on almost any label.
Let’s face the bitter truth. More than 80% of packaging ends up at landfills, where nothing biodegrades. A situation which will not change in the near future.

Composting companies don’t touch so called biodegradable material, as it biodegrades too slowly and with residues unknown. The landscape is littered with packaging and even worse most consumers can’t determine whether a packaging is biodegradable or not.

And as final point. It might biodegrade at the long run, but it doesn’t enrich the soil. Conclusion: It is a waste. A cradle-to-grave solution.
Eco-efficiency, and that includes biodegradability, lets industry finish off everything: quietly, persistently, and completely.
Case in point: Composting-an-end-of-life alternative offered by PLA and others, is an inefficient (and I even want to define it as an immoral) way and only serves the slogans of marketing.

A new philosophy emerged: Cradle-to-Cradle
The funny thing is that, in contrast to eco-efficiency, the cradle-to-cradle philosophy encourages consumers to buy more products. However the condition is, that they do so from innovative companies which have policies in place to recycle old products, turning waste into new products.
Cradle-to-Cradle allows us to feel good again about being consumers, but to also take responsibility about whom we buy new goods from.

The term cradle-to-cradle is often used for situations in which the recycled material is used for (secondary or low-quality) products. I strongly object to that definition and want it to be narrowed down to reusing the packaging material for equally qualified new packaging material. I decline the option of cradle-to-substitute. So when the industry thinks it can recycle from packaging material to children’s toys, drainage pipes or whatever product, it is on the wrong track and the consumer will recognise the company as one which is still using virgin resources exclusively.

However, you could argue, that the current system for recycling is ineffective. And indeed it is a fragmented infrastructure based on municipal boundaries, and each area does collection differently and selective waste collection often loses in the battle for funding. But that is no reason for the industry, to run away from the problem, as Extended Producer Responsibility is lurking around the corner.

Extended Producer Responsibility
Begun 20 years ago as a solution to landfill problems in Europe, more than 30 countries now have some type of EPR packaging law. EPR programs shift the costs and responsibilities to the marketplace. Extended producer responsibility may be as many as 5 to 10 years from becoming a reality in the United States and everywhere else, it will inevitably arrive. So much better to join the pack early on.

EPR makes sure that everyone involved in the life cycle of the product shares in the responsibility for the product’s life cycle impact. What’s more, based on the experience, the overall costs, per ton, in EPR systems for packaging in Europe tend to decline over time.

To conclude: Besides consumer convenience, “waste-control” is the most important parameter for the future of packaging. Although of imminent importance, basically it has nothing to do with developments in new materials, but all with the future of Mother Earth.

So don’t wait for some high-tech solution to start controlling your waste.

I wish everybody a fruitful Earth Day. As ………..

As said in my previous article Fresh Produce Packaging, today we will see the Squircle clamshell of Hollandia, the Two Piece Display-Ready Asparagus Shipper, the Peel/Reseal Apio Squash Package Ocean Mist’s microwavable artichokes and Pattruss, the tetrahedral shaped salad bag from Japan.

Hollandia Live Gourmet Butter Lettuce
At the recent conference of the Produce Marketing Association the squircle clamshell of Hollandia Produce LLC won one of the five 2011 PMA Impact Awards for Excellence in Packaging.

The new Squircle design is an attractive improvement on the antiquated design of Hollandia’s Live Gourmet Living Butter Lettuce. An eye catching, colourful and communicative label compliments the new design and acts as a tamper evident seal for the new package.
One of the important factors that consumers told Hollandia through test markets and additional focus groups was that they wanted a clamshell they could open and close with one hand.

The new Squircle design (A squircle is a special case of a superellipse that has both the properties of a square and a circle) incorporates the best features of both a square and a circle to create the ultimate package for living lettuce.

Hollandia Produce LLC claims that the new form and function of the Squircle design reshape and optimize the space utilized to package the lettuce and enables automated packaging systems. Additionally the new form eliminates unused space in the master carton allowing for a 20% increase in units per pallet. A 15% source reduction in RPC PETE used to make the clamshell has been achieved and the new harness style companion master carton used to ship the product reduces total annual cardboard used to package the product by 40%.

Two Piece Display-Ready Asparagus Shipper
Gourmet Trading Company, a North American distributor of fresh asparagus and blueberries, won the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) 2012 AmeriStar Packaging Competition with its Two Piece Display-Ready Asparagus Shipper.

Developed in 2010 by Gourmet Trading Company and California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo the package offers the unique ability to be converted from a shipper to a display in the matter of seconds without the use of a box cutter.

The Two Piece Display-Ready Asparagus Shipper is filled the same way as a regular 11lb asparagus shipper. The simple instructions on the package make it easy for retail store employees to separate the top from the tray. The tray can be displayed on a 60 degree shelf creating a clean presentation with branding.

The display tray can hold bunches of asparagus vertically to enhance display appeal and to keep the butt ends in contact with a water-saturated pad. This moisture pad at the bottom of the tray keeps the asparagus looking fresh.

The shipper is made of corrugated polypropylene and accommodates manual set up and packing, while they can be palletised 20 per tier in an eight-tier stack for shipment.

The design of the die-cut, two-piece shipper maintains ventilation areas for hydro-cooling and fumigation of the asparagus and weighs the same as its predecessor (9.6 oz) yet has 27% greater compression strength.

The new design was validated against physical and ambient environment-related abuse experienced during distribution through the pre-shipment test standard ASTM D 4169.

Peel/Reseal Apio Squash Package
The thermoformed Peel/Reseal Apio Squash Package was developed by Clear Lam Packaging and provides consumers with an intuitive easy opening and closing feature for portion control. The peal/reseal film eliminates the need for traditional rigid lids and shrink-bands. The technology is incorporated into the lidding film, which can be printed to maximize branding opportunities. The film also can be hermetically sealed to a tray to help extend freshness.

Processors can apply the new peel and reseal lidding on conventional tray sealing lines. Modified atmosphere packaging can also be incorporated. The new package can be used for cut vegetables, fruits and other food items.

The packaging received at the recent conference of the Produce Marketing Association one of the five 2011 PMA Impact Awards for Excellence in Packaging.

Ocean Mist microwavable artichokes
It is well-known that many consumers view preparing of artichokes as the major barrier to purchase. Offering prepared artichokes makes eating fresh artichokes easy and convenient. The ability to pre-season the artichokes (prior to cooking) is an exclusive convenience attribute to the produce department.

Ocean Mist Farms new “Season & Steam” microwavable artichoke bag features two, fresh artichokes that are cleaned, trimmed and ready to cook. The packaging gives users the option to open the bag, pre-season the artichokes to their preference, then reseal the package and steam by microwave. All within the same bag.

The bag, which was in test market at retail stores in northern California last fall, is now more widely available at grocery stores.

The “Season & Steam” microwavable artichoke bag was a finalist in the PMA’s annual innovation in packaging awards competition. The company was one of five fresh produce companies named a packaging innovator by the Produce Marketing Assn. (PMA). The award recognizes companies with exceptional produce packaging that demonstrates “out-of-the-box-thinking” and makes an impact on consumers.

Pattruss, the tetrahedral salad bag from Japan
The tetrahedral shape is well-known, particularly due to the introduction of the Tetra Pak tetrahedron, years ago. In flexible packaging it was used in the past because its truss structure is strong against crushing. With the original opening style of Pattruss, this simple bag provides innovative usefulness.

Besides protecting the contents to the point of consumption, the shape of the bag itself can be changed into a boat, functioning as a dish when it gets torn from the centre of one edge. This boat shaped opening allows easy pick-up and quick eating without preparing dishes.

The Pattruss Z (Zed) is an extra-large tetrahedral bag with zipper. The bag is designed especially for salads. It has a reclosable zipper seal to maintain freshness, for example of leaf salads. The film material is strong enough for the bag to be opened and closed many times but it can also be torn open for immediate use.

The company claims that Pattruss is comparable to rigid packages (clam shells) in terms of protecting content, but weighing less, using less material, while the freshness of the produce lasts longer due to the level of oxygen.

More fresh produce packages to come.

This year the UK is in the spotlights of the world. First of all we have the Olympics and secondly, but not less important, it marks the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
On 6th February 1952, whilst staying in a remote part of Kenya, Princess Elizabeth received news of her father’s death and of her own accession to the throne. Her tour was abandoned and she flew back to London, where she was greeted by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. So on that day Princess Elizabeth became Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when she acceded to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and became Head of the Commonwealth.
What better way to toast such a milestone than with a fine whisky of similar vintage. And with, important for this blog, presented in the most beautiful and exorbitant packaging. Glass bottles crafted by unique professionals.

Johnnie Walker’s Diamond Jubilee Scotch Whisky
From all whisky brands out there to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Johnnie Walker & Sons, the Scotch Whisky distillers by Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, holds a special place.

Only 60 bottles of the Diamond Jubilee Scotch Whisky, made by Johnnie Walker, have been produced for sale, and are being offered to known collectors of rare and expensive whiskies. One will be gifted to the Queen and the others will be sold around the world for GBP 100,000 (USD 160,000) each.

The bottling, which took place 60 years to the day since the Queen’s accession on 6 February 1952, is a blend of rare malt and grain Scotch whiskies distilled in and maturing since 1952.

Johnnie Walker’s Diamond Jubilee Scotch Whisky is not just a blend of whiskies, but of a host of different crafts. The crystal diamond-shaped decanter is from Baccarat, its silver collar and stopper has been hand-crafted by Hamilton & Inches in Edinburgh and it resides inside a cabinet which has been made with wood from two of the Queen’s estates. There are two hand-etched Cumbrian crystal glasses and the presentation is completed with a white leather hand-bound book personalized by the Queen’s calligrapher Sally Mangum.

The diamond-shaped Baccarat crystal decanter stands on a crystal base with six radial legs to reflect the decades of the Queen’s reign, and is adorned with Britannia silver, selected for its purity.

Each edition also includes a pair of lead Cumbria Crystal glasses engraved by Philip Lawson Johnston and a commemorative artefact book, hand bound by Laura West at her Isle of Skye bindery and personalised for each owner by Sally Mangum, Calligrapher By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen.

All the elements are housed in a chest made by the cabinet makers at N.E.J. Stevenson, incorporating oak from Sandringham to echo the whisky marrying casks and Caledonian pine from The Queen’s Balmoral Estate.

A minimum donation of £1 million from the sales of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons will be given to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), a registered charity in England, which provides grants to British craftspeople and in doing so, keeps many highly specialized trades alive.

Of course there are more whisky distillers with Jubilee versions. Let’s have a look at Glen Grant. A brand I very much love as it is the only malt whisky I can buy (for a reasonable price) here in the Amazon delta. The rest is just scrap. So, Glen Grant’s Diamond Jubilee Whisky.

Glen Grant 60 Years Old Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Whisky
Gordon & MacPhail,  the Elgin based and family-run single malt specialist, has released just 85 bottles of Glen Grant 60 Years Old Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Whisky. They are on sale for the GBP 7,995 (USD 12,660). The 60-year-old malt from Glen Grant was originally distilled on 2 February 1952, just four days before the Queen acceded the throne.

The Jubilee Whisky is presented in a pyramid shaped crystal decanter adorned with a diamond shaped stopper. The crystal decanter and diamond shaped stopper have been created by the family owned company, Glencairn Crystal. Each decanter is expertly engraved (the script in-filled with silver) and uniquely numbered. The decanter carries an engraved crown with a sparking Swarovski crystal, set at the meeting point of the crowns two arches. A silver collar, placed around the neck of the decanter completes the presentation.

Two pieces of silver, created by Edinburgh based silversmith ScottishSilver, adorn the Single Malt. The first is an elegant Sterling silver collar engraved with the number “60”. The second is a Sterling silver stopper sealing the precious contents within the decanter. The silver stopper, which has the familiar G&M seal of quality stamped on it, can be removed and replaced with the diamond shaped crystal stopper should the owner so desire.

The decanter is packaged in a hand-crafted box made of Scottish Elm, felled a short distance from Holyrood House, the Queen’s official Scottish residence.Each box has been skilfully created by cabinet maker Ross Samson and his team at his workshop in East Kilbride. For over 12 years Ross has created a wide variety of furniture and cabinets and is a founding member of the Scottish Furniture Makers Association.

The wood was kiln dried for 6-8 weeks before arriving at Ross’s workshop. The planks were prepared and measured before being cut to size. Owners of this hand-crafted product will note the continuous grain on four sides of the box. Mitre lock joints were prepared and the diamond shapes were meticulously cut out using a jig saw. The glass panels were fastened in place before all sides of the box were carefully glued together.

The box was then cut to create two sections and locks were fitted. The box was then engraved and in-filled with a silver wax made from beeswax and a metallic pigment. To protect the wood, a handmade stain – made from bitumen and orange oil – was painstakingly applied. Finally the box was hand rubbed using wire wool. Harris Tweed was added to the base of the box.

Harris Tweed is the only fabric in the world governed by its own Act of Parliament. The law decrees that genuine Harris Tweed must be made from pure virgin wool which has been dyed and spun on the islands and hand-woven at the home of the weaver, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 60 Years Old nestles in luxurious, purple Harris Tweed, which lines the hand-crafted box. A jacket made from the same material protects the box and the precious contents.

The certificate to accompany Glen Grant 60 Years Old has been created by Piccolo Press. Based in Nairn in northern Scotland, Piccolo Press has retained the timeless skills of letterpress and engraving.
One side of the certificate uses amethyst coloured card and has the Gordon & MacPhail stag’s head logo die-stamped in silver. The flip side of the certificate has been die-stamped in silver, and letterpress printed in amethyst on white card. Once the two pieces of card have been laminated together a silver gilt edge has been added. An envelope, beautifully die-stamped in silver, completes the presentation.

In myprivatebrand  of March 15, 2012, Perry Seelert , strategic partner of united* dsn, a design consultancy in New York and San Francisco, wrote about what he called: The Self-Congratulatory Syndrome.

I freely extract and interpret some of his words:
The Awards within the industry seem to have gotten a little crazy, with all the trade magazines and websites having their packaging of the year and annual package design winners. If these awards were more selective, they would feel more meaningful, but in many cases they are rewarding very mediocre design. Apparently it is a money cow for the organising media.
Through a critical eye, there is still so much potential in transforming the way the industry projects itself, and the push towards more credible marketing and branding. But the visual and environmental language of these shows fight against this if we are to be honest. Too often the agendas are the epitome of the “The Self-Congratulatory Syndrome”: monotonous speakers presenting case studies with innovative “NEW” ideas like” “compare & save” or maybe a new “value tier”. None of this screams “innovation”.
Too much praise, too little critique as of late. A little more critique can spur new ideas, new branding and a new way of measuring our success.

Consumer-Inspired Design Revolutionizes Laundry Experience with Tide PODS Liquid Unit Dose Laundry Detergent by Procter & Gamble

I must say, I fully agree with Perry. There are too many packaging awards and they don’t have any value. However, that said, there are some (too few really) very valuable Awards in the packaging world. Indisputable one of the best is the DuPont Packaging Award. At least DuPont is respected and consequently receives sufficient quality entries to be able to submit a well-founded juror-report. Fortunately the DuPont jurors are not blinded by fancy graphics and shapes, but include proper packaging technology improvements in their judgements. I don’t agree with all of the choices, but at least DuPont comes up, each year, with a fair share of real innovations in packaging. And that’s something you can’t say about most of the packaging award competitions.

DuPont Packaging Awards 2012
Several leading brands, Heinz, Kraft, Pepperidge Farm, Cadbury and Unilever , took home awards in the 24th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, the industry’s longest-running, global, independently judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value chain.

I made a selection of the winners, I think are worth a closer look. In two articles (each one three innovations) I will describe the following winners:
1.    The FreshCase packaging technology for meat.
2.    The Kraft YES Pack.
3.    The Ultra-Freshness Preservation Freezing System.
4.    Sulhwasoo Dahamsul’s cream jar.
5.    The Tide PODS Liquid Unit Dose Laundry Detergent.
6.    And finally the Microcellular Technology of InCycle CPET

FreshCase Packaging for Fresh Red Meats
FreshCase packaging, developed by Curwood, Inc is claimed to be the first-ever, vacuum package for red meat that maintains the meat’s appetizing colour through a found-in-nature proprietary additive in the contact layer of the barrier package.

Traditional vacuum-packaged meat is “purple”, deemed distasteful by many consumers who equate colour with freshness. FreshCase packaging also extends shelf life 10 times longer than store-wrapped meat.
The combination of longer shelf life and more appetizing appearance promises to both reduce food waste and increase the availability of proteins in areas further away from food sources.

As an alternative for modified atmosphere (MAP) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) trays with PVC overwrap that dominate the case-ready meat segment, FreshCase enables 75% less markdowns/waste than store-wrapped meats, less landfill waste and reduces packaging materials up to 75%, compared to other case-ready formats, thereby improving sustainability.
Compared to case-ready EPS/PVC packages that are centrally packed, FreshCase packaging eliminates the aesthetic drawbacks of high-oxygen gas-flushed packaging, such as “black bones.” It also eliminates the appearance of excess packaging common with gas-flushed packaging due to the amount of headspace required in MAP packages.

Vacuum-packed FreshCase packages are hermetically sealed, eliminating the problem of leaky meat packages in the retail case, shopping cart and checkout counter.
FreshCase packaging is USDA-approved for a shelf life up to 36 days for whole muscle beef and 34 days for ground beef.

According to the DuPont Award jurors, FreshCase packaging addresses the important effort to help ensure food maintains its nutritional value and freshness and greatly reduces food waste from spoilage.

Kraft YES Pack, Easy-Open Condiment Package
In November 2010 I wrote on this blog about the Smart Bottle from ExoPack. Exopack’s Smart Bottle features a four sided sealed pouch that is blow moulded into a “bottle”. After filling, the four side-seals form the four vertical corners of a lightweight, semi-rigid, threaded “bottle”, the result of merging different packaging technologies together.

At that time I stated that the packaging was not yet commercially available, but was tested in volume sizes ranging from ½ gallon, up to 5 gallons. It can hold either dry or liquid contents and can be printed on all four sides.
And there it is in the market, introduced by Kraft Foods.

The Kraft YES Pack, which stands for Yield, Ease and Sustainability, is an environmentally friendly flexible gallon dressing package. Yes Pack is designed to help Foodservice Operators manage costs and improve back-of-house efficiencies with improved dressing yield of up to 99% (compared to rigid gallon jugs). The dual handled design allows for easy carrying and the smaller spout provides precision pouring.

In comparison to the production of the rigid gallon jug, the company claims, that the YES Pack is made with: 50% less energy, 60% less plastic, and 70% fewer CO2 emissions from transportation.

The Yes Pack is a stand-up pouch, made from a flexible nylon-polyethylene blend film, with dual handles, and a rigid screw cap closure that replaces the traditional rigid plastic container for salad dressings.

“We have eliminated 70% of the inbound transportation required to produce our salad dressing containers by no longer having trucks deliver empty bottles to Kraft”, the company stated. “Now, we manufacture Yes Pack at the same location as where our dressing is produced”.

Kraft partnered with PE International, a sustainability consulting company, to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment, which quantified the environmental benefits of the Yes Pack. The Life Cycle Assessment is a standardized method of evaluating environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of a product from raw material production, manufacturing and use, all the way through disposal.

The packaging is more compact than rigid jugs, and flattens when empty, which can provide easier disposal and lower waste-removal costs. When it comes to recyclability, the original rigid bottle is actually easier to recycle, as the Yes Pack may not be accepted for recycling in all areas. Kraft stated while the original rigid bottle is more accepted by recycling programs the recycling rate was low.

As of now, the Yes Pack is designed only for Kraft’s foodservice salad dressing portfolio.

Electro-Conductive Packaging Helps Keep Frozen Food ‘Fresh’
The Ultra-Freshness Preservation Freezing System, using high “Electric Potential” and Electro Conductive Packaging, is developed by Mutsumi Chemical Industry Co Ltd, in collaboration with Sun Electric Company Ltd and Enshu-Kasei Co Ltd, all from Japan.
The combination of rapid freezing and the innovative electro-conductive bag preserves food taste and texture, reducing the amount of edible food thrown away.

The Ultra-Freshness Preservation Freezing System uses technology proven in the electronics industry to ensure food quality and increase both shelf life and appeal. This rapid-freezing system uses both alternating and direct current, high “electric potential”, at the same time to rapidly cool the product without oxidization, reducing the size of ice crystals that form in food cells. This process relies on a unique package design that includes an electro conductive bag made of Linear-LDPE and DuPont Entira AS.

The electro conductive bag needs a bit of an explanation.
Antistatic, electrostatic dissipative (ESD) and conductive additives are migrating antistats which diffuse to the polymer surface over time, creating a thin layer that attracts water molecules. The water molecules provide a conductive pathway that prevents build-up of static electricity. Antistatic additives reduce a polymer’s surface resistivity to the range of 1010 to 1012 ohms/sq., providing a slow static decay rate that prevents charge accumulation.
Antistats are used widely in packaging such as film, thermoformed containers, and PET bottles, in which they help surfaces separate during production and reduce dust attraction for short-term cosmetic improvement.

Inherently dissipative polymers (IDPs) form a conductive polymer matrix or interpenetrating network within the base polymer, offering non-leaching, permanent static dissipation at a faster static decay rate than migrating antistats typically 108 to 1012 ohms/sq. surface resistivity, depending on amount and dispersion of the additive in the polymer. Unlike migrating antistats, most IDPs operate nearly independent of relative humidity, although surface resistivity will be slightly higher (less conductive) at low moisture levels. IDPs are colourable and non-sloughing, giving them an advantage over carbon blacks.

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers family of high-performance modifiers impart specific desired properties to a wide variety of polymers. The first product in the DuPont Entira line to be introduced globally was Entira AS. Developed by DuPont-Mitsui Polychemicals Co Ltd, a joint venture between DuPont and Mitsui Chemicals Inc, Entira AS offers excellent antistatic properties, high frequency weldability and high moisture permeability.
DuPont’s Entira Antistat IDP is based on an ethylene ionomer, which makes it compatible with polyolefins as well as other polymers like ABS and polystyrene. This compatibility results in transparency and a smooth surface for polyolefin packaging and blow moulded containers. Because it does not migrate, Entira AS does not interfere with film sealing properties.

Entira Antistat SD 100 has food contact approvals and maintains resistivity of 107 to 1012 at low relative humidity levels (down to 12-15%), but is limited to lower processing temperatures.

These were the first three winners of the DuPont Packaging Awards 2012. Next article about the Sulhwasoo Dahamsul’s cream jar, the Tide PODS Liquid Unit Dose Laundry Detergent, and as last the Microcellular Technology of InCycle CPET.