As said in my previous article about the DuPont Packaging Awards 2012 in this post I write about the Microcellular Technology of InCycle CPET, Sulwhasoo Dahamsul’s cream jar, and the Tide PODS Liquid Unit Dose Laundry Detergent. But I want to start with one more winner: the AirOPack by IPS Innovative Packaging Solutions.

AirOPack, an Innovative Aerosol Dispenser Technology
Honoured for Excellence in Innovation and Sustainability, the AirOPack, by IPS Innovative Packaging Solutions AG in Switzerland, is a new, innovative technology to dispense fluids, high viscosity liquids and creams by using a patented pressure control device that relies on air instead of conventional hydrocarbon chemical propellants. This system can replace traditional aerosol products that are used today with conventional metal cans and chemical propellants.

This dispenser consists of a blow-moulded plastic container fitted with a compressed air chamber and a pressure control device to protect against pressure drop, improve ease of use and ensure the maximum amount of product can be extracted from the container. Since it is made entirely of plastic it can be recycled after use. AirOPack is unique to the aerosol dispenser industry. Consumers can see the product. Replacing flammable propellant gas with air also eliminates adverse effects on the environment.

AirOpack is an aerosol alternative based on pure compressed air instead of commonly used propellants. This technology makes it possible to fill liquids, creams, gels or foams into plastic containers instead of cans made of tinplate or aluminium and then to dispense the contents with constant pressure by means of a unique pressure-control system. When manufacturing the dispensers, CO2 emissions can be reduced by as much as 65% and energy consumption by approximately 20% compared to common aluminium aerosol cans.

The AirOpack dispensers are filled with the customer’s various products, labelled, packed and shipped ready-for-sale using a high-speed filling and automated packing line.

Microcellular Technology Keeps Food Containers Cool or Hot
Through the use of the ad-air solid-state microcellular plastics process, MicroGREEN Polymers Inc., uses non-reacting, recycled CO2 gas to thermoform recycled PET plastic rolls into inherently insulating trays and cups. The InCycle CPET trays and the cold party cups are 45% lighter than their solid plastic counterparts and are respectively 70% and 60% less dense, resulting in lower thermal conductivity. This allows consumers to handle CPET trays straight from the oven without being burnt and keeps the beverage in their cold party cups refreshingly cold, while providing significant environmental benefits.

Ad-air clean technology creates a microcellular structure in common thermoplastics. In contrast to melt-state chemical foaming processes, this technology does not require any harmful chemicals or VOCs, and the location and size of the micro-bubbles is precisely controllable. The material can then be printed as a flat sheet or converted by a number of processes such as: folding, thermoforming and convolute forming.

In the Ad-Air Technology, a roll of solid plastic is prepared for saturation by layering it with a porous material. The roll is then pressurized with a gas such as food grade CO2. The interleaved porous material provides a pathway for the gas to saturate the polymer roll. Once saturated, the polymer is removed from the vessel and heated. As the polymer softens, billions of gas bubbles nucleate in the polymer, reducing the density and causing expansion. In general, this process increases the length and width by 150% and the thickness by about 200%. This expansion results in a dramatic decrease in density, typically to about 20% density relative to the original polymer material.

Ad-air technology applies to most common thermoplastic polymers, including recycled PET (rPET) and biopolymers (PLA).
Ad-air technology can create open-celled materials. These open cells are dispersed throughout the surface of the sheet or in pre-defined patterns, creating channels through which liquid can flow if desired.

Jewel-like Brilliance in Injection Moulded Cosmetics Jar
Using insert injection moulding, Amore Pacific from Korea achieved a new level of design innovation with its Sulwhasoo Dahamsul cream jar. This process removed the gap between the inner cup and the outside packaging, eliminating light refraction that would diminish the appearance of the inner graphics.
The outside packaging easily adheres to the inner cup with DuPont Surlyn 3D overmoulding technology, offering transparency and additional aesthetic appeal. The brilliance of the inner cup graphics shine out, giving the cream jars a jewel-like appearance.

Surlyn is a commercial thermoplastic ionomer resin that was introduced by DuPont in the early 1960’s. Surlyn can be used in conventional extrusion/co-extrusion, blown film, cast film, and extrusion coating equipment designed for polyethylene resins.
Moulded goods made with Surlyn are virtually unbreakable, and offer unusual design freedom, combining toughness, clarity and chemical resistance. Thanks to a direct removal of this fully massive, isomorphic, and smooth piece from the mould, no mould parting line is visible, leaving the transparency of the cap perfect. The glass-clear appearance of Surlyn makes it the perfect complicated partner of fine glass and crystal.
It is one of the materials most favoured by designers, for complicated and bold designs.

Tide PODS Liquid Unit Dose Laundry Detergent
This new, brightly coloured liquid unit dose product, developed by Procter & Gamble, is the first three-chamber unit dose in this category, offering an ultra-convenient, 3-in-1 laundry detergent. The unit dose detergent features three chambers especially designed to brighten, fight stains and clean. Tide Pods also feature a film, from MonoSol, that dissolves and works effectively in all water temperatures.

Tide PODS eliminates spills and the need to measure and pour liquid detergents. The pre-measured unit dose pack uses a specially-developed film that dissolves completely in the wash, even in cold water, enabling consumers to reduce energy use by washing more loads in cold water. Tide PODS tubs, made of 25% recycled PET, and the stand-up bags, reduce plastics use by 50% per load and total packaging material use by 11% per load compared to liquid laundry detergent bottles.

Procter & Gamble warned the consumer that, as with all laundry products, Tide Pods packages should be kept closed and stored out of reach from children and away from pets and food. However it seems that this warning didn’t work quite well.

This week P&G announced that it is adding a child-resistant closure to Tide Pods packaging to deter children from eating the brightly coloured packets that look like candy. The company says that it plans to create a new double latch lid on tubs of Tide Pods “in the next couple of weeks”, as nearly 250 cases have been reported to poison control centres. No deaths have been reported.

That was my selection of the winners of the DuPont Packaging Awards 2012.

Two years ago I wrote about a new development as a result of a collaboration of some Brazilian packaging companies. The PaperPouch was a joint effort of Ibema, Tradbor, Dow Brasil and ESPM. Although paper isn’t a revolutionary material for pouches and bags, it is in terms of a stand-up pouch as no paper had been stiff enough to let a pouch stand upright independent of the filling.

The stiffness of the paper causes PaperPouch to stand “on its feet” besides the fact of giving it unique appearance and touch for the world of pouches in the national market. Polyethylene, by its part, is responsible for physical integrity and content protection. The possibilities of adding new materials are practically infinite, making it possible to offer the necessary protection for the diverse uses.

The ‘plasticity’ of polyethylene allied to other materials addable through co-extrusion or lamination enable PaperPouch to store dry grains, cereals, grain coffee, animal food, powdered cleaning products and the like.

Since the development went public, I haven’t heard or seen any application for this interesting packaging format. Until recently when two, completely different, US companies brought their products to the market in a PaperPouch-like stand-up pouch. Whether they are legitimate applications of the original PaperPouch or (illegitimate) copiesI don’t know as the companies in question decline to name the suppliers of the paper stand-up pouch. Whatever the case it is an interesting and promising development in stand-up pouches.

Brad’s Raw Chips and Gummy Owls of Green Forest Nutrition. When you look at the products, the stand-up pouch in paper is a perfect fit for these products.

Brad’s Raw Chips, Hot Kale, claim to be the ‘world’s healthiest chips’. The company states that the chips (or crisps) are dehydrated and neither baked nor fried, and are said to retain healthy, active enzymes and nutrients that aid digestion. These vegan raw chips are also gluten-free.

Green Forest Nutrition introduced Gummy Owls, described as ‘the world’s first family friendly weight loss gummies’. They’re said to be made with a yam super fibre (konjac mannan), clinically proven to safely reduce body weight and fat in adults and children.

But what is interesting us, is the pouch. Although the companies decline to give material specifications, we know that these stand-up pouches are made from a laminated kraft paper. The laminate probably is a polyethylene.

Regarding the plastic inner-liner, tests in Brazil resulted in polyethylene as the best possible protection to the product, due to its sealing performance, and its mechanical integrity. The versatility of polyethylene combined with other materials embeddable by co-extrusion or lamination enables a stand-up paper pouch to be used for dry grains, cereals, coffee beans, pet feed, cleaning powder and many others. The possibilities of incorporating other materials are virtually endless, further opening a market for the most diverse applications.

There is one more. In Australia I came across a paper stand-up pouch for fish.

Australian company Australis claims that preparing its Barramundi healthy seafood has never been faster or easier. The fish steam cook in the microwave in less than 10 minutes (40-45 minutes in a conventional oven), while its patented unbleached paper pouch retains the steam to ensure uniform cooking throughout.

So, that was the paper pouch, or was it? When I was searching the internet, I also discovered that there are, in limited editions, stand-up pouches made from rice paper. Well, before I show the examples, let’s talk about rice paper.

Rice paper usually refers to paper made from parts of the rice plant, like rice straw or rice flour. The term is also used for paper made from or containing other plants, such as hemp, bamboo or mulberry.
In Europe, around the 1900s, a paper-like substance was originally known as rice paper, due to the mistaken notion that it was made from rice. In fact, it consisted of the pith of a small tree, Tetrapanax papyrifer, the rice paper plant.
The plant grows in the swampy forests of Taiwan. In order to produce the paper, the boughs are boiled and freed from bark. The cylindrical core of pith is rolled on a hard flat surface against a knife, by which it is cut into thin sheets of a fine ivory-like texture.
It is used for origami, calligraphy, paper screens and clothing. It is stronger than commercially made wood-pulp paper. Less commonly the paper is made from rice straw.

Note: Don’t confuse it with another kind of rice paper, which is edible paper made from starch and especially used for Vietnamese cuisine. Edible rice paper is used for making fresh summer rolls or fried spring rolls, where the rice paper is called bánh tráng or bánh đa nem. Ingredients of the food rice paper include white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, and water.

Time to have a look at some rice paper stand-up pouches.

Ma Snax Superior Dog Treats, are said to be sustainably handmade organic products for dogs. The new packaging is a rice paper pouch with a little window. They have an elegant and supple hand-feel to them and the colourful labels stand out. The stand-up pouch is claimed to be an eco-friendly packaging option. It is recyclable, but not compostable, as they are lined with polyethylene for stability and to make them food grade.

And even in the non-food sector you find a rice-paper stand-up pouch. The company offers a Paint Kit with Brushes, including 6 colour packets, 6 compostable jars with lids, and 2 bamboo brushes (cruelty-free), in a rice paper pouch. I can’t confirm the claim of the compostability of the jars and the stand-up pouch made from rice-paper, as I don’t have specific information of this company.

If the claims are correct, both companies did a good job.

Although still a concept so far, Sidel claims to provide with its new stackable bottle, Stack & Pack, the first stacking solution of its kind for mid-size bottle capacities from 250 ml up to 1 L.
A deeper-than-usual concave indentation at the base of each bottle, realised through Sidel’s patented “stroke base” technology, enables efficient stacking. The neck of the bottle below fits into the base of the bottle above, significantly reducing the required amount of stacking space and eliminating any need for interlayers.

According to Sidel, the technology is up and running at its production facility and is ready for field tests at customers’ plants. The company also states that, when a customer buys into the concept, the bottles could easily hit the shelves in 2013.

The concept as such where a bottle, a big bottle, can be stacked is already on the market in Canada for Nestlé Waters, but for a bottle of the size of 500ml, or 1 litre, it did not exist.

The difference in manufacturing between the big and small bottles is that on bigger bottles it can be done by just blowing. The smaller bottles need a special step in the blowing stage to achieve that effect with the bottle. With bigger bottles it is just the mould where the shape of the bottom dent is incorporated to have the space for the cap. With a smaller bottle this is not possible.

Without disclosing any technology, Sidel states that it applies a patented step during the pre-form blowing process so that the space in the bottle is formed. It’s not standard blowing with the mould.
The, so called, Stroke-base technology also cuts blowing pressure by up to 10 bars during production. The reduction of blowing pressure using the stroke base solution during production generates energy savings.

Once the bottle is filled and capped, a stretch sleeve is wrapped around to form a pack of six bottles just like an elastic band. The compact stack enables 10 layers instead of six, to fit on a standard Euro pallet, increasing the number of bottles on a pallet by 40%.

Stack & Pack is suitable for sensitive products like juices, liquid dairy products, and milk.
Sidel claims, that while the stackable bottles could be produced in different shapes (including round bottles) and sizes, the surface area of square bottles offered strong branding potential. The stacking puts an end to crushed bottle necks.

But although more square bottles could be fitted on a pallet, Sidel notes, that there is a PET weight premium trade off vis-à-vis round bottles. What is gained on logistics thanks to packing and stackability will be upset slightly by the additional weight, and weight is a big issue.

This design of Sidel, reminded me of a student design back in 2010, when Andrew Seunghyun Kim, a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, came up with design for an eco-friendly Coca-Cola bottle.

The environmentally responsible, rectangular bottle, which if empty, can be pressed like an accordion to 34% of its volume, features a bottle neck in one of the corners out of the middle, which facilitate pouring.

But what reminded me of this bottle was that Andrew came up (two years ago) with the same concept for stacking the rectangular bottles, as the neck of one bottle falls into the bottom of the other bottle.

Nice improvement in PET-bottles.

Bottle with Deep Grip Handle

Note 1: As Sidel didn’t have photos available of the small bottles, I asked Andres Hutten Czapski, Project Manager at Sidel Canada Inc., to shoot some photos of the 4L bottle of Nestle Waters in Canada, which bottle is in the supermarkets. The principle of stackability is the same for the big and the small bottles. The detailed photos in this article show the Canadian 4L bottle. With many thanks to Andres.
Note 2: Notice the grip of the 4L Nestlé Waters bottle. The Deep Grip is the result of an industry collaboration between Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI), French machine manufacturer Sidel, and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble (P&G). Last year I wrote about this development, see my article: “Deep Grip – Next Generation Large Container Handles”.

It always is fascinating to see the results of packaging and design students. Their ideas are fresh, sometimes impossible to imagine in the real world, but always stimulating and setting the “old” professionals to think twice.
The world’s largest collection of student designs is, undoubtedly, with the German iF Design organization. The iF concept design award, aims at discovering young professionals, and is open to students and recent graduates of design-related departments. This year 10,665 entries were submitted from over 50 countries, according to iF Design.

The competing works come in four categories – product design, communication design, fashion design and architecture. They come from all over the world, but Asian universities and design schools are well, very well represented. Besides Korean and Chinese students, Taiwan is a very important supplier of packaging ideas.

This year, Taipei’s National Taiwan University of Science and Technology led the country’s 14 participating universities, with five works selected for the “Best 100” list. Since 2007, NTUST students have bagged 33 awards at the annual competition, giving it top-ranking status ahead of more than 100 universities worldwide, iF said.

Of course we only take a look at the ideas in packaging. If your interest is wider go to the website of iF Design.
I selected 6 packaging design ideas. I don’t add a word and let the students explain their innovation themselves.

A magnifier lid / Medicine bottle cap
Designed by Zhao Xiaoguang and Song Diying of the Hohai University in Changzhou, China
The medicine bottle lid is transformed in a magnifying glass, which makes reading the particular instructions easier. Mainly because it is an integrated part of the bottle, it is easy to use and also convenient to carry.

Many people in their senior years have to take any number of medicines to maintain their health or cure diseases. Most of them, however, share the common problem that their vision and their memories are declining. As a result, it is often difficult for them to distinguish between different medicines and to remember the frequency and the dosage. In order to deal with this problem, an ordinary medicine bottle lid has been turned into a magnifier lid, making it easier to read the instructions and other information on the bottle. It is also very convenient to carry and to use.

Medicine Bottle with Magnifier turns the lid of an ordinary medicine bottle into a magnifying glass, which can assist the elderly with reading the instructions on the bottle.

Anyway Spray / Spray bottle
Designed by Fan Wu of the Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan, China
It is often difficult to get the last few drops out of a spray bottle. This bottle uses the force of gravity to ensure that the suction mouth is always kept below the level of the liquid contents.

Container / Kitchen tool  
Designed by Cornelius Comanns of the Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften, Fachhochschule München in Germany

When adding salt or spices to your foods, it is very practical to use your fingertips because this gives you perfect control over how much is added and where. This newly designed container incorporates this “fingertip” feeling. It fits snugly into your hand while you gradually open or close your fingers to release the contents as desired.

The silicone skin where your fingertips are placed is very thin to provide haptic feedback on how much of the contents have been released. This container allows the user to spread salt, spices, etc. in a very intuitive way, is more hygienic and can be used with only one hand.

Blister Container / Convenience Food Packaging
Designed by Hyewon Kim, Jieun You (Kookmin University), Younsung Lee (Kunkuk University), Gyujung Lee (Sungshin Women’s University) all in Seoul, South Korea

Ramen noodle dishes often include separate spices and seasonings, which can be added as desired. These small packages can be difficult and inconvenient to tear open and sometimes the top of the container is damaged as well when it is opened to remove the seasoning. This new blister Ramen container solves the problem. You simply press down on the blister and the seasoning is dispensed into the container.

Pill Jar for PD / Pill Dispenser
Designed by Ming-Chieh Yeh of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Danshui Township, Taiwan

Many patients suffering from such illnesses as Parkinson’s disease (PD) have great trouble in controlling their shaking extremities, which can make actions that are normally easy very difficult. This includes getting the medication they need out of the bottle. Pill Jar helps the sufferers of PD (or the elderly) to get the pills out of the bottle easily, even when their hands are shaking.

They get one pill out at a time, simply by pressing and releasing the top. In addition, the main part is reusable and, thanks to its silicone ring, it can be adapted to fit on differently sized pill jars. Using the Pill Jar requires no detailed instructions.

Angle Eyes / Cap of Medical Bottle
Designed by Kun Li of the Hunan University in Changhsha, China
“Angle eyes” is a bottle designed specifically for the elderly or the visually impaired. Simply remove the bottle cap and then use it to magnify the information on the bottle. This can effectively prevent serious mistakes in taking medication.

That was the packaging part of the iF concept design award.

On the same day as the Awards Ceremony on 31 May 2012, the exhibition of all 10,665 qualifying entries was also opened. The works will be on display on paper in the Kunsthaus Hamburg, Klosterwall 15, 20095 Hamburg until 17 June 2012.

Furthermore on 20 May, 2012 iF opened its first permanent exhibition on Hainan Island/China. The long-term exhibition at the Haikou Creative Design Park will run for at least three years and will focus on new design themes every six months.

As flexible pouches are getting more and more popular and their attack on the position of the glass jar, the beverage can and even the beverage carton, is significant, it is time to look at two recent developments in Form-Fill-and-Seal (FFS) machines as they are the basic processing units for flexibles.
Bossar Packaging from Spain introduces its modular “mirror” HFFS machine range, while Huhtamaki of Finland introduced in Thailand the “pouch that’s a can or the can that’s a pouch”, using a FFS machine designed and manufactured by Bulgarian company Mechatronica.

The modular “mirror” HFFS machine
At the Interpack 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Bossar Packaging, a manufacturer of horizontal Form, Fill and Seal machines in Barcelona, Spain, showed its BMK 2600 L STU 2 CV horizontal pouch machine with a new feature for producing small and narrow “snack size” pouches with spouts, as well as the larger pouch sizes. The new design applies the spout at a 35-deg angle (rather than standard 45-deg angle), increasing the available pouch opening for easier product filling.

The system is able to produce small-size (3- to 3.5-oz), single-serve pouches with a side fitment for better cube efficiency. Today this pouch size is commonly with a top centre fitment, which requires wasted headspace in the secondary packaging. The pouches can be designed with a variety of “canoe-style” fitments, including screw-on/off and push-pull.

The Bossar BMK series of HFFS machines are designed with a modular concept, versus the traditional mono-frame machines. The logical next step was the design of the modular ¨mirror¨ machines range that performs the same process of forming, filling and sealing the bag but in the reverse direction.

The forming, filling and sealing processes of the bags are carried out in the opposite direction (from right to left) to that of traditional packaging machines. This enables clients to place one packaging machine in front of another with just a single operator to control them, as machine parts will be facing one another.

The range is made up of BMK-model machines and can include full shape, top valve application and laminar flows for application of hydrogen peroxide for cap sterilisation.

The pouch that’s a can or the can that’s a pouch
In May consumers in Thailand saw the launch of Maxx Drink’s range of fruit-flavoured products in 200ml Cyclero pouches – or DrinkBags, as Huhtamaki likes to call them. This is the first time that the all-flexibles version of the Cyclero design has gone into full commercial production.

Huhtamaki, the inventor of the Cyclero design, claims that the packaging is similar to the packs for products such as Capri Sun, but it is not a stand-up pouch. There is a peel-off lid, and the consumer can drink direct from the aperture, as with a can. There’s no need for a straw or spout.

The company characterises the format as “the world’s only round flow pack”, and stated that the combination of an 8-micron aluminium foil layer in the laminate and a 90°C pasteurisation process gives these products a year’s shelf life. Laminates and barrier can be customised to meet the needs of any non-carbonated beverage.

The form-fill-seal (FFS) machine installed in Thailand was designed and manufactured by Bulgarian company Mechatronica with a speed up to 170ppm, achieved on a four-station machine.

The fact that the empty pack weighs less than 4g, handled must have made the design challenging. In the video you can see that Mechatronica cleverly solved this problem.

Although the lightweight package might be an attractive option for many first world markets for reducing packaging and lowering carbon footprints, Finland-based Huhtamaki is looking to developing markets for growth. Huhtamaki has doubts whether this pack is appropriate for Europe and other first world markets, as it may look rather cheap. And indeed when you look at the packaging (in detail see below), you must agree it looks a bit amateurish. Not quite of the 21st century for a sophisticated market.

The DrinksBag for Thailand is the latest and most simple addition to the Cyclero system, which always have been basically a logical optimisation of conventional stand-up pouches with the aim of avoiding the sealed seams on the sides that determine the appearance and haptic properties to a very crucial extent, while at the same time maintaining the advantages of flexible packaging over conventional can, jar and paperboard formats. As many different combinations are possible, the system is very much modular enabling the creation of tailor-made packaging solutions.

For the base element, there is a choice between round and oval, flexible or rigid. The body itself is made from a multilayer laminate, which can have a transparent, opaque or metallic finish and can be produced with or without aluminium. For the top section there is a choice, between screw closures with various diameters, reclosable lids or simple film/foil peel solutions. The top section also can have tamper-evident features. Barrier properties of the material for all elements can be varied according to the product.

At the present time, the diameter range is 25 to 100 mm, while the height range is 50 to 350 mm and the volume range is 80 to 2,000 ml.

Because Cyclero packaging is produced from a laminate just before it is filled, it can be produced on-site, since the material is supplied in reels.

Basically the Cyclero process is a simple VFFS process as a section of film with the appropriate dimensions is cut off the reel to produce the body and is shaped into a sleeve on a forming mandrel before being sealed. The base is then cut out of a second reel of material and is sealed to the body ultrasonically. After this, the rigid or flexible, reclosable lid is sealed to the laminate can.

Those were the two recent developments in FFS machines. There are quite some technological developments in flexible pouches at this moment and I will describe them in my next article.

I know, it is in Africa and parts of Asia no different, but in Central and South America, where the iconic Coca-Cola single serve glass bottle is very much in use and very popular, it is custom that when you buy a Coca-Cola (or any other brand or flavour for that matter, as long it is bottled in a single-serve glass bottle) at a street stall or a kiosk or from a vendor at the beaches and you haven’t an empty bottle to trade-in, the soft drink is poured into a plastic bag and you walk away with a bag with a drinking straw, leaving the empty glass bottle with the vendor.

Note: It is the same when it is a home-made regional drink, often sweet and made from fruit and water, but then there never has been a glass bottle in the first place. But it is sold in plastic bags with a drinking straw.

A strange custom? Not at all, as it is very effective. The vendor of soft drinks has to secure his glass bottle against all odds. Charging a refund (whatever the value) doesn’t help him, as the distributor of soft drinks wants to see empty bottles. He will replenish the vendor’s stock only in relation to the number of empty bottles he trades-in. No empty bottles means: no replenishment with full bottles. An eye for an eye is translated into one empty for one full.

With this system in place the bottler always has the guarantee that his bottles are coming back for a refill, and rather clean at that, as the consumer doesn’t have the chance to urinate into the bottle or use it for the storage of chemicals.

Of course you could ask yourself, why not the single-serve PET (or HDPE) bottle or the aluminium can? Well, there are several reasons. The first is the famous myth about the taste.
“Why does coke from a glass bottle taste different? It doesn’t. That’s what Coca-Cola’s spokespeople say, anyway. “The great taste of Coca-Cola is the same regardless of the package it comes in”, they insist. Nevertheless 99% of the time every one prefers the glass bottles over all the other types of coke packages.
But it is not only for the taste, but Coca-Cola in a glass bottle is the cheapest option, as the consumer doesn’t pay for the costs of the plastic bottle or the alu-can. But it creates the “bottle-problem”. Street vendors, street stalls and kiosks all over the world found the solution for the glass bottle, which they couldn’t let taken away by the consumer. They introduced the plastic bag, and unanimously and without question, the moment you buy a bottle of soft drink, they pour the soft drink into a plastic bag stick a straw in and hand it over to you.

However for world famous brands with iconic packages this market format is quite a problem. Imagine, the moment the soft drink is dumped into a simple plastic bag, while the iconic bottle stays with the vendor, nobody knows that you drink a genuine Coca-Cola. It can be any fancy brand. For brands as Coca-Cola that’s quite a frustration.

Consequently some clever chap at Coca-Cola in El Salvador found the most brilliant answer I have ever seen. Apparently he understands his consumers (wherever they live) and is keen to emphasize the values transmitted by the brand. To adapt the product to this market reality, he initiated a campaign offering plastic bags in the form of the iconic glass bottle, even with its logo. See the video.

In other words, Coca-Cola is now supplying the vendors in street stalls, kiosks and all other places a plastic bag in the format of the iconic Coca-Cola glass bottle. It is said that “The Coca-Cola Bag”, is made of bio-degradable plastic.

Brilliant, simply brilliant.

I know it has little to do with packaging technology, but this type of developments is as important as the most complicated discovery of a plastic substitute.

Rest me to say: Who is the first to copy this idea? Here in the north of Brazil even beer (which comes in 0.6 litre glass bottles) is dropped into one or two plastic bags with drinking straws if you haven’t an empty bottle to trade-in. Ever drank beer through a straw? Personally I don’t like it, but here it is quite common practice. So, tell me, one of the beer giants (all AmBev here) gets an inspiration? Coca-Cola hasn’t introduced it here yet. So there is some room to say that you are “innovative”.

The Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2012, which takes place this year on September 10-11 in Chicago, is branded by its organiser AWA as offering the latest trends and solutions in Anti-Counterfeiting. This year, speakers will address in particular fraud activity in foods and wines, the imaging supplies industry, and premium sports shoes.

Brand owners interested in learning more about the challenges and solutions of protecting their products from counterfeiting and diversion are invited to attend the conference without charge.

I wonder whether the anti-counterfeiting industry with all its hi-tech solutions finally has accepted or will accept and  incorporate the one and only ingredient, they always have left out, neglected if you want, and as such never solved or will solve the problem. That ingredient, crucial for success, is the consumer.
I have argued before that the consumer is the number one person who really has an interest in detecting counterfeited products the moment he wants to buy.

Many products targeted by counterfeiters are very easy to copy due to their simple-to-copy packaging. That’s not the case with perfumes and up-scale alcohol beverages, where designers have all the freedom to create the most fantastic and sometimes exclusive bottles.

But we are talking about the consumer goods of quality brands, ordinary consumer goods of high quality, every consumer finds in the up-scale supermarkets and department stores.
The danger of being illegally copied is not only the undifferentiated simple-to-copy packaging, but also confusion.

In 2009 (the most recent data I have), worldwide 274,273 new products were introduced. This is 22,856 packages per month, 761 per day or 32 per hour.
This wave of new products for ordinary consumer products creates consumer confusion as a wide variety of high-quality brand products are constantly changing their image or are re-introduced to attract the potential buyer. Marketing slogans as New Recipe, Improved Packaging, etc., are the order of the day.

Confusion, a strong ally of the counterfeiter, occurs when the consumer is confronted with many different, ever-changing versions of the packaging. How is the consumer to know when a new product packaging isn’t legitimate? Just do a Google search for some upscale brand to discover how many different bottles and packages the brand is carrying, and with what frequency new ones are introduced.
Look at the supermarket shelves, wait 4 months and look again. There is a completely different appearance of obviously the same products.

Let’s be clear, counterfeiting isn’t restricted to the high-end consumer products and not even to the pharmaceutical and medical area. The problem is already signalled with ordinary consumer products from well-known brands. What is simpler? I create a simple low-quality soup, label it as Campbell’s or Heinz, and all the profit is mine.

And the consumer? He has nothing other in his hands to qualify a product as genuine, than his confidence in the retailer. As counterfeit products are unstoppably turning up on shop shelves with fakes simply being knock-offs, relabelled sister products, a mix of fake and genuine product, or a refill masquerading as a virgin product, the consumer may become victim of a do-it-yourself counterfeiter or of a vertically integrated international operating counterfeiting organization. The consumer’s trusted store could be an unsuspecting conduit or complicit in the crime.
One thing is clear: the problem is getting worse.

For a counterfeiter, success is having every non-complicit person handling the product downstream to accept the fakes as legitimate products. The products do not need to be exact copies, only good enough to fool those handling or buying the goods.

To this problem the industry answers with a most fantastic, mouth-watering technological and intellectual tour-de-force, entirely forgetting, what the real goal is in its battle against counterfeiting. The goal should be the consumer and not exposing the counterfeiter. A common misconception is that a counterfeiter will quit the practice if he gets caught ……..

I once read an interview in which a vice-president of operations argued why he wanted to incorporate a batch code into the diversion-tracking code.
[and I quote]
“Removing a diversion-tracking code so that product can be diverted is not illegal, but defacing a batch code is. That takes it out of civil court and puts it into the criminal court system. That’s huge, because in criminal court, the identity of the distributor who is doing the diverting will be revealed. That doesn’t happen in civil court cases”.
[end of quote]

And that is exactly what happens with the ‘war against drugs’. Catch a guy, get him convicted, turn around and discover that he is replaced by ten others. Counterfeiting doesn’t go away by putting the tugs in prison.

All hi-tech solutions, as inks, authentication, tracking and tracing are useless. You can only track and trace your own genuine products, not the counterfeited ones as you don’t have their codes. So, what happens? You discover a non-coded fake. What does it give you? In the meantime consumers have bought a fake and are disappointed by the quality, taste, fragrance and never buy your brand again.

The industry has to go back to the basics. And the basics are its consumers. When starts the industry to realize that the solution to counterfeiting is the consumer. That means that the industry, suffering under counterfeiting attacks, has to supply a tool to the consumer. A way the consumer can easily verify whether the product is genuine or false. All covert security measures are useless and are only of interest to the company itself, the consumer needs an overt system which enables him to check the authenticity of the product.

Back to the basics implies a simple, but secure tool the consumer can handle and always has available.

So what is the answer?
Why don’t I leave it to the smartphone and scanning-apps? Several reasons.

First: Consumers are often let down when scanning barcodes. A study of CapGemini showed that 91% of mobile barcode scans returned incorrect product descriptions and 75% returned no data, while 40% of the processed requests through a trustworthy application could not be authoritatively connected to a product. In this situation the study found that 38% of consumers will not purchase a product if they don’t trust the information they get and 35% may stop using an app if they get the wrong information.

Second: 2D barcodes, QR and AR codes, as well as anti-counterfeiting codes can easily be faked and if the consumer has to use his smartphone to scan a code, the downloaded app might direct him to a fake company website, being the website of the counterfeiter confirming the authenticity of the product.

So what to do, when the smartphone isn’t the trustworthy tool to supply the correct information and apps can be made and offered by anybody, including the counterfeiter.

We all are acquainted with the barcode reader, strategically positioned in supermarkets and department stores, to tell the consumer the price of a certain product. Now, imagine one, but this time with a screen, not as simple as the barcode reader has, but technically a full computer screen. We shall baptize this device, Info-Dome.

The Info-Dome is connected to an outside secure central computer, in which only renowned suppliers can store their basic data and through which the correct company website is securely linked.
This system allows for an effective authentication verification as the info request can’t be diverted to a fake website. It is even possible to read a covert authentication code, without showing the code on the screen, as the consumer only wants to know, whether the product is genuine or not.
Is the authentication code for exclusive products and medicines complicated, for high-end brands of consumer products the system can be much simpler.

I am not saying that this is the solution. And I certainly will not abandon either the use of the smartphones and apps, or the implementation of secure printing technologies. But an Info-Dome is, in my opinion, the direction in which the consumer goods companies in their battle against counterfeiting should move.
It is worth a serious discussion.

Note: There is much more to the Info-Dome in regard to labelling, but that’s for a following article.

In the July edition of Plastics News I read that 12-year-old girl Abby Goldberg from Grayslake, Ill., stool the plastics industry’s thunder — and quite possibly spoiled prospects for an industry-supported bag recycling bill in Illinois.

Her change.org website, which has more than 155,000 signatures to date, is called “Governor Quinn: Don’t Let Big Plastic Bully Me!”

“My name is Abby Goldberg, and as a 12-year-old girl who, after seeing the devastation that millions of plastic bags have caused the environment and ocean life, I made my school project this year to be getting a local ban on single-use plastic shopping bags in my home town Grayslake, IL,” she writes.

“My friends and I were making great progress, until the oil and chemical industry pulled a dirty trick to kill my campaign; these lobbyists used the politicians that they bought to pass a bill that would make it illegal for towns across Illinois to create plastic bag bans! Even worse, they’re trying to make it look like a green environmental bill, by putting in a few ridiculously-low requirements for so-called ‘recycling’ of plastic bags, and are bragging they’re going to make it ‘a model bill for all states!’

“Now it’s in the hands of our Governor to stop them with a veto, but he needs to hear from all of us!”

Last week Goldberg went to Chicago to urge Gov. Pat Quinn to veto the recycling bill that would prohibit any city in the state, with the exception of Chicago, from implementing a plastic bag ban.
The Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune both have reports about the meeting.

The Sun-Times reported: “After receiving the petitions, Quinn wouldn’t reveal whether he would sign the bill. “You’ll have to wait and see”, he said. He pledged to “do things right for the environment”.

We all know that everywhere in the world “bag-ban-bills” are in progress or already implemented. Also in Brazil.
In Brazil the large supermarket chains were very quick to kick the free distribution of plastic bags out of the shop. Not because they care about the environment, but it saves them money.

However a judge in the federal state of São Paulo decided last month that supermarkets should return to distributing free plastic bags to consumers.

The court decision on Monday, 25 June, determined that the necessary steps have to be taken to return to an adequate and sufficient supply of plastics bags in 48 hours. Of course the supermarkets appeal.

Judge Cynthia Torres Cristófaro, of the 1st Court in the capital, decided that it is “prohibited to charge money for bags used for packing the consumer’s purchases” and that companies have 30 days to provide, also free of charge and in sufficient quantity, packaging made of biodegradable material or appropriate paper, also free of charge.

In her decision, Cristófaro said the interruption of free distribution of sacolinhas (plastic bags) “clearly disproportionately burdens the consumer”.
She reasoned that “it is a well-known customary practice that the shopkeeper provides for packaging so that consumers can take the goods they bought with them”.
She, furthermore stated, that the termination of supplying carrier bags by supermarkets to consumers “caused great frustration”.

This court decision might feel as turning the world upside-down, but note that the judge expressly ordered the supermarket chains to supply biodegradable or appropriate paper bags within 30 days and free of charge. Maybe the best solution there is.

Almost everywhere in the world it is holiday time and people are baking their bodies on the beach or are burning first class meat on their barbeques for everybody to enjoy. Summertime is a wonderful season with incredible aspects.
But let’s go back to packaging. What I wanted to say is that the summertime invites us to write a light-hearted article. So, today, just some new developments and designs.

Flânerie of the House of Krug
Champagne of the House of Krug, called Flânerie, comes in a luxury leatherwork bag. Bearing the Krug stamp, its adjustable shoulder strap gives the option of carrying it slung across the shoulder or held in the hand. It is the latest packaging novelty from the House of Krug.
Arranged in the form of stars, the strips of natural cowhide interweave to form a slouch bag, while subtly recalling the numerous vintages that make up the rich blend of Krug Grande Cuvée.
They reveal glimpses of the deep cherry-red interior, evoking the emblematic colour of the House of Krug, and in which a detachable cooler encases Krug Grande Cuvée, preserving it at the ideal temperature of 10ºC for two hours.

I guess it is a perfect accompaniment for the barbeque burned meat, as it only cost USD 200.00.

Ecological Pomelo Packaging
In the same style as the Flânerie of the House of Krug, is the packaging of the Thai Pomelo of Chainat province. Brought to market by Yod Corporation Co.,Ltd  the packaging is made from water hyacinth.

The main material used in packaging’s structure is made of a local plant found in an area of the product’s origin. Together with the knowledge of the local people who excel in handicraft without relying on manufacturing, it is more environmentally friendly than a plastic net.

The packaging did think me of the Densuke watermelon, I wrote about some time ago. The same stands here. The amazingly simple, but effective packaging, which looks as if there is no packaging at all. No packaging at all? Well, look at it. It has all the necessary functions: label, ventilation, carrying handle, visual product presentation, protection. Simple and beautiful craftsmanship.

The Nibble-Box
A Keynote’s Bread and Bakery Products Market 2012 report points to research that showed that 70.8% of lunchbox meals are now consumed by adults, who are taking their lunches to work to save money. These consumers want choice when preparing their meals, said the report.

But when you want a choice and want to conserve your food properly till lunchtime, you need an appropriate packaging. UK supplier of packaging and disposables to the food and drink market, TriStar launched the new Nibble Box. A stylish rPET pack that is perfect for holding a vast array of foods, from breakfast fruits and pasta salads to more exotic options like tapas, meze, and tortilla wraps. It’s a perfect option for eating delicious but messy food while on the move.

Offering visibility and freshness, the Nibble Box boasts a 1,000cc capacity and is manufactured to BRC-approved standards for food grade packaging. It can be configured with three different insert options to accommodate various product types, and finished either with a flat lid for eating on the move or with a domed lid for bakery products.

Laser-etched fruit
Using a carbon dioxide laser, Importer W.Jonckheere SPRL from Brussels has a first in Europe when selling their melons. To get the ‘tattooed’ fruit on the market they’ve produced permanently-visible labels, etched into the skins of the fruit.

The laser only penetrates a tiny way into the skin, causing no damage whatsoever to the fruit itself. Significantly, these labels produce a permanent reminder of the fruit’s origin, highlighting and verifying the start of the product’s supply chain so consumers can see exactly where it’s come from.

The arrival of the Natural Light Labelling technique won’t be the first time this type of system’s been used to label fruit. Previously, though, it was pulled over fears that it could produce prematurely-decayed fruit. But Greg Drouillard states that this laser-etched fruit labelling technique which is his brainchild, “works with any fruit or vegetable, other than leafy greens and corn on the cob”.

Zenith DuoBag compliments the product
PFM Zenith DuoBag is a new VFFS vertical packaging machine which produces packs with a pocket for putting in gadgets or accessories needed to use or consume the product.

Patented by PFM of Italy, the machine in this exclusive configuration for the production of the DuoBag packs produces two packs in one, starting from a single reel of packaging material and a single forming tube, which has been specially designed for this application.

An automatic loading system inserts the accessory in a pocket within the pack. The method of loading has to be determined according to the accessory and the specific packaging needs. The accessory never comes into contact with the product since it is placed in a sealed inner pocket.

So that was July when everybody was lying on the beach. Back to work.

I collected a selection of developments in Aerosol Technology, introduced into the market over the last six months. Aerosol Technology is a very interesting technology with a wide and amazing range of possibilities and applications. For a long time it has been seen as a “not-moving-forward” packaging format and it even met (and sometimes still meets) strong opposition and rejection due to its history of air-pollution and negative effects on the environment. Before we go into the new developments, let’s have a look at its history, the negative aspects and the oppositional claims.

For the ones not intimate with aerosol technology a short definition:
An aerosol is a dispenser that holds a substance under pressure and that can release it as a fine spray (usually by means of a propellant gas). This is obtained with a can that contains a liquid under pressure. When the spray valve is opened, the liquid is forced out of a small hole and emerges as an aerosol or mist. As gas expands to drive out the payload, only some propellant evaporates inside the can to maintain an even pressure. Outside the can, the droplets of propellant evaporate rapidly, leaving the payload suspended as very fine particles or droplets.
Note: An atomizer or spray pump is a similar device that is pressurised by a hand-operated pump rather than by stored gas. About this system, which is the forerunner of the airless system, to be discussed later in this article.

A brief history
Although there is proof that a with gas pressurised container has been used some 400 years ago, it is generally agreed that the forerunner of the modern aerosol is the in November 1927 by Erik Rotheim in Norway patented aerosol can and valve that could hold and dispense products and propellant systems. During World War II the US government funded research into a portable way for service men to spray malaria-carrying bugs and in 1943 researchers of the Department of Agriculture developed a small aerosol can pressurised by a liquefied gas.

The first aerosol cans made of aluminium were produced in Germany in 1954. These were 2-piece cans based on a patent of Ernst Kohl. Their principle draw-back was the domed base which was still made of tinplate, and often led to leaks around the seam.

In 1955 the commercial advance of the aerosol can started with the introduction of the first hair spray in Germany. Various industrial branches discovered this packaging system since then leading to considerable growth figures for aerosol can manufacturers.

Environmental aspects
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were once often used as propellants, but since the Montreal Protocol came into force in 1989, they have been replaced in nearly every country due to the negative effects CFCs have on Earth’s ozone layer.

While aerosol containers no longer contain chlorofluorocarbon or CFC, these thin-walled steel or aluminium vessels are pressurized with one of several volatile hydrocarbon propellants, such as carbon dioxide, propane and butane.  These propellants are “greenhouse gases” that contribute to global warming and smog formation.
Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide are used as propellants to deliver foodstuffs (for example, whipped cream and cooking oil).
In general it can be said that an aerosol can never is completely empty, consequently the post-consumer spray cans, however, are considered hazardous waste because they contain ignitable or chlorinated solvents or other toxins such as pesticides and phthalates.

Note: An atomizer or spray pump is a similar device that is pressurised by a hand-operated pump rather than by stored gas.

In answer to the unattractive environmental aspects of aerosols with a propellant, we have seen a notable increase in airless packaging in recent years.

Airless technology
Before airless technologies existed, brands chose atmospheric, or dip-tube pumps. When a dip-tube pump, often called atomizer or spray pump, is actuated, it creates a low-pressure area in front of the product inside the bottle near the pump intake. The atmospheric air behind the product moves toward the low pressure and pushes the product in front of it until it is dispensed by the pump.

There are two main types of airless systems, but the most used is the piston airless system. A piston airless system uses a moulded piston in the bottle, to help push the product out of its package. Airless systems by design create a vacuum. The piston helps maintain that vacuum.

Recently the pouch airless system is getting popular, capturing a significant percentage of the airless market. A pouch system is made of a rigid bottle containing a soft pouch with an airless pump. When the product is expelled, the pouch shrinks so that there is no air intake inside the pouch.

After this introduction we can have a closer look at the new developments recently introduced into the market. It is a mix of developments in airless systems and in the pouch airless system. We will see the Airless Paper Blow from Yonwoo, the Bag-On-Valves from Coster, the dual-chamber dispensing bottle from Gidea, and Eggs packaged in aerosol can.

But before we go to the specific applications, let’s have a look at the recent developments in aerosol manufacturing technology.

Stahl Monoblock aerosol can
Aerosol cans are traditionally made up of three parts. The development of new coating systems around 1960 made it possible to produce one-piece aluminium cans – the Aluminium Monobloc aerosol can. Last year Mall + Herlan GmbH in Germany developed a prototype made out of one piece tinplate. This Stahl Monoblock aerosol can features all the advantages of a monoblock aerosol can, previously only available in aluminium. The prototype represents a high technological innovation performance with this difficult moulding technology. Using tinplate, the cost factor becomes much more advantageous than with aluminium and thus increases the economic viability of aerosol production.

Recycled-content aluminium aerosol can
Currently, almost all extruded aluminium aerosol packaging is made from virgin aluminium slugs, which are impact extruded to produce packaging for aerosol products.
A metal technology breakthrough from Ball Corp. enables the use of recycled aluminium in the manufacture of extruded aluminium packaging for aerosols. The resulting new metal alloy exhibits increased strength and allows light-weighting of the container by as much as 10% without affecting package integrity.
Ball Corp. will use aluminium recycled from Ball’s global beverage can operations to produce the company’s new slugs.

A solvent-free internal powder coating from Tubex
This year Tubex received the Paris Aerosol Award for a revolutionary and ecologically friendly solution for internal coatings, an application of a solvent-free internal powder coating with the best chemical properties and high mechanical resilience.
German cosmetic manufacturer Beiersdorf AG is currently in the process of changing the production of its aerosol cans manufactured by Tubex from standard to internal powder coating.
Tubex claims to be the only aerosol can manufacturer worldwide which is able to apply internal powder coating industrially.

Tubex introduced a prototype of its “Yes Green Can” in 2010, claiming that with its optimized material input and sophisticated production technology the “Yes Green Can” embodies all characteristics of modern sustainability.
The can was produced from slugs which contain about 20% recycled clean and printed can production scrap, thus reducing the use of primary aluminium. Furthermore volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from the can production process could be significantly reduced by the application of a solvent-free internal powder coating and the use of a water-based base coat and over varnish.

De-bossed cans from Ardagh
The Ardagh Group created a tinplate three-piece aerosol can for the fashion designer Carolina Herrera’s range of fragrances. The aerosol can incorporates a complex de-bossing feature.

This striking embossed new feature complements the subtle colour in the decoration and a transparent cap highlights the reflective dome and matching actuator. The de-bossing feature was designed and developed specifically for this project and required the modification of the existing production lines.

In the next article I will describe some new developments in specific applications for airless and bag-on-valves aerosols.

As said in my previous article I will describe here some new developments in specific applications for airless and bag-on-valve aerosols. To refresh the memory of my readers let me start with a short repeat about airless systems.
There are two main types of airless systems, but the most used is the piston airless system. A piston airless system uses a moulded piston in the bottle, to help push the product out of its package. Airless systems by design create a vacuum. The piston helps maintain that vacuum.

Recently the pouch airless system is getting popular, capturing a significant percentage of the airless market. A pouch system is made of a rigid bottle containing a soft pouch with an airless pump. When the product is expelled, the pouch shrinks so that there is no air intake inside the pouch.

Now a closer look at the Airless Paper Blow from Yonwoo, the Bag-On-Valves from Coster, the dual-chamber dispensing bottle from Gidea, and Eggs packaged in aerosol can.

The AirOPack from IPS Innovative Packaging
Although I already wrote about the AirOPack from IPS Innovative Packaging Solutions AG in Switzerland, in my article “DuPont Packaging Awards 2012 – Part 02” it is impossible to leave this development out of this overview. The AirOPack is a new, innovative technology to dispense fluids, high viscosity liquids and creams by using a patented pressure control device that relies on air instead of conventional hydrocarbon chemical propellants. This system can replace traditional aerosol products that are used today with conventional metal cans and chemical propellants.

This dispenser consists of a blow-moulded plastic container fitted with a compressed air chamber and a pressure control device to protect against pressure drop, improve ease of use and ensure the maximum amount of product can be extracted from the container.
To read about the AirOPack go to my previous article.

The Bag-On-Valves from Coster
Once considered a niche market, Bag-On-Valves (BOVs) are becoming increasingly popular for cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. With the BOV technology, formulations can be dispensed in any form (liquid, gel, cream or highly-viscous substances) and in any position (inverted or upright).

BOVs preserve the product from external contamination and keep it perfectly separated from the propellant (the product is contained inside the bag and the propellant remains outside the bag, inside the can). Moreover, there is no need to add any preservatives as the content is completely sealed from any possible contact with the air. They are also environment-friendly as they can be used in combination with compressed air or with liquefied propellants.

Other BOV features include: the use of either standard aluminium cans or tin plate cans, filling through the valve and the fact that the content is completely evacuated from the container.

The Airless Paper Blow from Yonwoo
Paper Blow is Yonwoo’s eco-friendly 100ml airless pack that conforms to the four Rs, according to the company’s earth-friendly philosophy: Refill, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle.

Provided by Quadpack, the Paper Blow features an overcap and outer bottle made of recycled PCR paperboard, fitted around a tube-like PE pouch attached to a 0.50cc airless pump with a ring neck for easy filling. These are blow inserted into the cardboard bottle using surface friction, for an extra-tight fit. The pump system is the same as an airless tube – the PE pouch collapses in on itself as the formula is used up, preventing air re-entry.

The PCR outer sheath means that no secondary packaging is necessary, reducing the overall materials used. Paper Blow is refillable and for decoration offset printing is available (up to eight colours) using thin paper, which can be laminated before being labelled onto the outer bottle and cap.

The Dual-Chamber Dispensing Bottle from Gidea
While multi-phase solutions have become fairly common, they are often packaged in separate containers even though the products they contain are to be used consecutively or in tandem.

As an alternative Chinese converter Gidea Packaging Co Ltd released a packaging concept that addresses this issue in one container. Gidea’s solution is its dual-chamber dispensing bottle, a concept where the container is split into two distinct reservoirs with complementary dispensing pumps that can be used individually or simultaneously, depending on how the products contained are to be applied.

The bottle is an airless container, small and light, while the company claims that it dispenses evenly from first use through last. The dual bottle is composed of hard ABS with a clear and sterile PP lining to ensure full product compatibility.

Eggs in aerosol can from Lindal
Polenghi-Coltivia launches eggs in an aerosol can. The product is available in a 300 gram aerosol can (equivalent to six eggs) equipped with a ‘cream dispenser’ (the same as the one used for cans of whipped cream). The advanced aerosol technology from the Lindal Group (www.lindalgroup.com) dispenses the eggs as a mousse-like substance; they then quickly reduce to the aspect of an ordinary egg.

The recyclable aluminium aerosol can be kept for several months at room temperature.

The food itself is separated from the propellant and protected from light and air, thus enhancing hygienic appeal. Further, aerosol foods are designed for precise, efficient dosage. The consumer only uses what is needed, when it is needed. There is no waste and value is a huge consumer driver these days.

At the last edition of Aerosol Forum Dispensing, Oriex re-proposed the Paris aerosol restaurant. These are mostly ingredients complementary to the preparation of other dishes, packed in a way that keeps them wholesome and healthy thereby also facilitating the dispensing and dosing of the same. The range of Polenghi products, ranging from fresh eggs (whole ones for omelettes, whipped egg whites and in the formula for browning baked cakes) to chocolate mousse, going by way of vegetable “film” for preserving gastronomic specialties (acting as an alternative to gelatine) and anti-stick solutions to avoid cakes sticking to the mould.

Photo courtesy Waitrose

In its new report, titled “Snacking in America 2012”, market research organization NPD Group, concludes that although breakfast is the most common meal, accounting for 28% of all eating occasions, followed by dinner (27%), and lunch (25%), snacks are not far behind at 20%.

Over half of Americans (53%) snacked two to three times a day, the market researcher found, and those with the healthiest overall diets were most likely to snack frequently.

Historically, changes in consumer eating habits have driven new product development. However according to a report conducted by US trade association PMMI, investment in packaging developments is especially apparent among snacks manufacturers,  predominantly fuelled by retail demands.

The USA are home to an on-the-go population. SymphonyIRI‘s 2012 Consumer Snacking Survey reveals that more than one-third of the population often eats snacks instead of meals when on-the-go. Manufacturers across many food and beverage categories are catering to consumers’ on-the-go eating and drinking behaviours. In 2011, 37% of successful new food and beverage launches touted quicker or more portable attributes, versus an historical average of 28%. Thanks to the escalation of new technologies and new designs, manufacturers are making it faster and easier to enjoy a wide array of foods and beverages at and from home.

For those consumers looking for quick-preparation, yet premium quality, fresh flavours, rich textures, and the comforting taste of a homemade the market recently has been hit by packaging designs with the time-starved consumer in mind.

Coffe Bag
Danish coffee brewer Nordic created a disposable French press, which it called the Coffeebrewer, and that works right inside its own pouch.
The Coffeebrewer is basically a hybrid between a filter dripmaker and a French Press. The design of The Coffeebrewer enables a perfect extraction as the volume of the pouch allows the hot water to interact with the coffee grounds and extract the aroma.
The unique brewing system is designed to preserve the coffee’s natural oils. This enhances the delicate flavours and finer aromas of the coffee, which otherwise can only be achieved by using a French press.

Inside the pouch is a filter with 26 g of freshly ground coffee. To brew 3 cups of coffee, all you need is to open the pouch, pour ½ litre of hot water into it, and let it brew for 5-8 min.

The filter will effectively separate the brewed coffee from the grounds and when you have served the first 1½ cup the remaining coffee will be under the filter and the brewing process will stop. This means that the coffee will not go bitter over time like in a French Press.

The Coffeebrewer clearly uses more packaging material per cup of coffee than most other on-the-go coffee brewing solutions. The pouch size is like A5 paper and the thickness is 1 cm. The pouch weighs 45 g.

The pouch doesn’t use an aluminium layer, but is made from 7.7 g PE, 1.6 g PET and 6.8 g paper coming from reforested Swedish woods. PE isn’t supposed to be harmful to the environment as it consists of coal (C) and hydrogen (H2), which are a natural part of our environment.

Maggi “Moment Mahl“
The Nestlé Product Technology Centre in Singen (Hohentwiel), Deutschland designed a practical collapsible-cup packaging for instant soups. The packaging is remarkable due to the combination of a flexible pouch that contains the product and a folding paperboard part that turns into a convenient cup upon squeezing the bag.

Special of the packaging for “Moment Mahl“ soups is that the soup bowl is already integrated in the pouch. The consumer just has to tear off the top edge of the foil and squeeze the surrounding paperboard ring at the marked locations until the cup clicks, creating a stable soup terrine. Then he/she pours boiling water into the cup, stirs vigorously, waits three minutes, after which the soup can be enjoyed.

The new Maggi “Moment Mahl” soups give each cup a serving of 250 ml.

The packaging of the Maggi “Moment Mahl” soups presents a perfect solution for snacking on-the-go, for a short break at work, or the slight feeling of hunger between meals. Compared to conventional solid-cup packaging solutions, this packaging, going from a flat-pouch to a soup bowl, scores points for excellent space-saving performance in transport and storage.

Batchelors Deli Box
Claiming to have taken inspiration from the stylish paperboard noodle cartons popular in America, Batchelors new Deli Box pasta varieties are ideal for lunches ‘al desko’, for on-the-go and those balancing busy family life. The consumer just pulls back the easy peel top, adds hot water, stirs and leaves to stand for 5 minutes to create a mini-meal of a 75g sized portion.

Although the portion packaging looks like it has some interesting ‘green’ credentials, there is nothing about the advantages of the packaging, its design or its materials used on the company website. It is very disturbing and shows an absolute negligence for the environmental conscious consumer, that Batchelors isn’t revealing anything about the packaging itself, although it might be known that in 2012 the consumer is anxious to have more details. Consumer surveys and market reports all are pointing in this direction.

Alexir is the manufacturer of the packaging. But even that website doesn’t give any proper information, except some meaningless “case story” that goes as follows: “An initial enquiry from Premier, to Alexir Co-Packers, regarding a co-packing project for a new range of dried instant pasta snacks led to a group-wide co-operation including the production of a cost engineered SRP (Shelf Ready Pack) by Alexir International”.
But nothing about the so-called “cost engineered SRP”.

Anyway the packaging looks very familiar and similar to the CFS EcoPlus, I wrote about in my article: “Evolution from Optimum-Pack to EcoPlus pack”.
I will repeat here some details of the EcoPlus, so that my readers at least have some idea what the Batchelors/Alexir Deli Box is like.

CFS Germany GmbH developed the EcoPlus as an inexpensive alternative to the paperboard and prefabricated tray solution. The advantage of this packaging is its simple structure. It consists on the outside of paperboard and on the inside of film. Both parts are separated by an air compartment. The paperboard can be printed all over before it is folded into a box. The film insert consists of rigid or flexible film.

EcoPlus Pack with Machine

If PP film is used there is no reason why it shouldn’t be heated in a microwave (or hot water added as Batchelors Deli Box requires). The paperboard will then only become hand-hot thanks to the “air-cushion” between the paperboard wall and the film. After use the paperboard and the film can be disposed of separately.

As said snacking is a booming industry. The global market for snacks set to soar to USD 334bn by 2015. We will see more interesting packaging solution for this market segment in the future.

Related items:

Dairy products, fruit juices, fortified drinks in single serve bottles are part of one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the drink packaging industry. Actually, in many of the markets such as Japan, Europe and South America, pourable yogurts are, for example, becoming more and more popular as they are much easier to consume than thicker yogurts usually eaten with a spoon and thanks to the general perception of good health associated with dairy-based drinks. The companies operating in this market segment differentiate strongly aiming at various consumer sectors and niches. Some concentrate on the health and active lifestyle aspect, on desserts, or on a high quality product for adults and of course on products for kids.
The large part of this single-serve bottles are made from HDPE. In this production process there have been some interesting developments over the last year. I know, what I tell you today, is not all brand new, but I thought the recent developments interesting enough to relate them.

Besides the above mentioned industries the HDPE bottle also is very popular with the pharmaceutical industry.

Compression Blow Forming
Amcor Rigid Plastics is producing single-serve bottles using compression blow forming (CBF) technology, making it the first company to use a CBF machine on a commercial scale. The high density polyethylene bottles are blown on a CBF machine developed by Sacmi Imola S.C.

Left: The CBF process starts with upward extrusion of a “dose”. Right: The dose is sliced off by a rotating tool and deposited in a compression molding cavity on another wheel.

CBF machines combine elements of compression moulding and blow moulding in a continuous rotary process. CBF uses an integrated in-line sequence that does not require station-to-station transfer. Material is extruded, cut and transferred into a compression cavity. A preform is produced, and bottles are then pre-blown before the blow mould cavity closes over the preform. Then, the mould cavity closes and the bottle is blown.

Left: After compression moulding, the preform is immediately pre-blown to release it from the cavity/core and ensure uniform material distribution. Right: Final blowing occurs in the same mold station as the previous two steps, with no transfer of the preform. Stretching can be added.

Instead of using a manifold for melt distribution, an extruded shot of resin is transferred directly into the compression mould, giving producers more control over the quality of the container. Eliminating a manifold also eliminates differences in temperature, so there’s less chance of particulate contamination, resin burning, and other defects, like the black specks seen with injection blow moulding

Each bottle is leak tested before leaving the machine. Left: The next step in the three-stage, in-machine QC system is an IR camera system that checks for dimensional varitiations and contamination on or in the bottle wall. Right: The final in-machine QC step is an atmospheric plasma treatment system that ensures adhesion of full-wrap labels and induction cap seals.

The technology is said to offer more uniform weight distribution, as the weight of each resin shot is controlled with a servo-controlled melt pump.
The pre-blow process allows a more consistent and uniform wall thickness by making it easier to separate plastic from the compression core. The blow process begins immediately after compressing the preform, leaving less chance of material sticking to the metal core rod.

Largely thanks to lower process temperatures the system economises on energy compared to other processes. As the machine’s conveyor features an air conditioner and dehumidifier, the bottles can be taken out hotter, reducing cycle time.

A leak detection is fully-integrated immediately after the bottle is blown, while the system uses infrared cameras to detect surface and internal contamination, like finish variations or metal particulates. Furthermore a plasma surface treatment system is installed as an alternative to flaming. Plasma treatments offer the same benefits of flaming, but cut down on environmental, health and safety risks.

Amcor’s current CBF machine is a 12-cavity unit that can create monolayer HDPE bottles 24-33 mm in size. That machine at Amcor’s Youngsville, North Carolina plant, is, according to Amcor, is a “game changer”, as they offer a higher-output, are more sustainable and produce higher-quality bottles than traditional injection blow moulding machines.

The company states that a 20-cavity unit is in production and should be available for commercial use by the end of the year. The 20-cavity machine will also have the ability to run HDPE, polystyrene, polyethylene, and PET. This would make it the only technology on the market that can use the four main resins used in packaging,

Neck-to-Neck
I am well aware that the Neck-to-Neck (N2N) technology, as well as the side-to-side is not new. But apparently the system is not widely known and never took off properly until recently.

The wheel/rotary blow moulders are the machine of choice for very high volumes of containers for markets such dairy and juices. Wheels are typically chosen over shuttles because of processing ease (and cost) due to the single parison technology and lower cost per container for high volume applications. This is especially true for co-extrusion and multilayer applications. The machine can be designed to handle a wide range of container sizes, but are typically committed to a narrow range of container variations after they are built. Because the containers are blown with a needle (instead of a blow pin), it is not unusually to blow containers in a neck-to-neck configuration to increase the production output. Wheels come in various configurations including indexing, continuous motion, vertical (like ferris wheels) and horizontal (like a merry-go-round). Some even now have the capability to produce calibrated neck containers. Most, however, rely on downstream trimming equipment to trim and finish the container.

Although the wheel/rotary blow moulders are known for their possibility to blow containers neck-to-neck it is the reciprocating screw/intermittent extrusion blow moulding system that got my attention.
The reciprocating screw/intermittent extrusion blow moulding system is the most popular and cost effective method to produce light weight dairy, juice and water containers. In this process the extruder feed screw reciprocates similar to an injection moulding machine. The moulds are stationary under the die-head and simple open and close but do not shuttle. As the screw moves forward, the parison is pushed out into the moulds for blowing. For light weight containers, cycle times can be very fast with some under 5 seconds.

In 2009 Uniloy, which had just introduced its Neck-to-Neck (N2N) UR Series reciprocating blow moulding machines, installed the first two Model UR90-16-N2N machine systems with Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, a mayor dairy company in Russia, to produce white 100-mL HDPE liquid yogurt containers. This N2N machine produced two containers oriented neck-to-neck per cavity in a single cycle, producing over 20,000 of the 6.5 g containers per hour. This is a 30% material reduction in comparison to the previous 9 g.

The Uniloy reciprocating screw design gave primary advantages over wheel and shuttle blow moulding machines including lower energy costs, shorter dry cycle time, lower melt temperature and higher clamp force (90 tons). A wide range of head, clamp and extruder selections allows Uniloy Milacron to configure R2000 machines to desired production volumes and container specifications.

And now in the beginning of this year Uniloy Milacron announced that it sold another two reciprocating screw blow moulding machines to Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods in Russia. The new systems, delivered in March, will enable Wimm-Bill-Dann to add capacity to make 100-millileter containers as well as 200-ml.

In the same market segment, dairy products, juices and water, we see some interesting developments in manufacturing PET-bottles. That will be the topic of a next article.

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Tagged: Amcor Rigid Plastics, CBS technology, Compression Blow Forming Technology, Compression Stretch Blow Forming Technology, dairy market, N2N technology, Neck-to-Neck (N2N) technology, pharmaceuticals bottles, reciprocating screw/intermittent extrusion blow moulding system, Sacmi Imola S.C, Single-Serve HDPE Bottles, Uniloy, wheel/rotary blow moulders, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods

There’s a huge part of the population that won’t go near fish, despite the awareness of the health benefits. And the consumers, who want to eat more seafood, don’t always feel comfortable preparing fish at home. This is underlined by a consumer research done by Saucy Fish, which concluded that “consumer resistance has nothing to do with sustainability. The biggest barriers are around consumer confidence and a perceived lack of convenience”.

It is clear that packaging, not only can help remove the fear and despise factor when it comes to fish, but also can suggest to the consumer just how easy it is to prepare.
While the focus in the UK is on fresh fish and seafood, in other European markets it is often the association with extended shelf-life and a convenient preparation of the fish, which influences the consumer to choose packaged product.

Fresh fish pack concept
As said the focus in the UK is on fresh fish and seafood. Although overall UK consumption of fish per head is just 2% higher today than in 1975, supermarkets are expanding their fresh fish offerings to include more sustainable species like gurnard, mackerel and skate. These fish are cheaper and just as tasty, but customers often shy away from them because they are unfamiliar and occasionally they just look plain ugly.

London design agency Postler Ferguson created a fresh fish pack concept intended for use at fresh fish counters. Constructed from a double layered polyethylene, they are airtight, resealable and can be filled with ice for transport to keep fish fresh.

This fish packaging proposal helps put unpopular and abundant fish more attractive to the end consumer and on equal standing with their more recognized brethren by placing them in an attractive and highly recognizable packaging.

Saucy Fish
Tesco challenged their fish supplier, Seachill, to come up with a sales-boosting product strategy.

The new Seachill’s Saucy Fish line of chilled ready-to-serve products, designed by Elmwood in London, features a range of seafood species offered with unique sauce combinations.
Elmwood uncovered a well-known, but still intriguing market insight. Not only is the fish category seriously devoid of innovation, but also consumers don’t feel confident about cooking and serving fish, while the sales outlet doesn’t give any inspirational hints.

Saucy Fish set out to overcome this resistance by packing portioned fish in easily merchandised skin packaging twinned with an appropriate sauce. Saucy Fish uses Sealed Air Darfresh skin packaging and for some products the Sira Cook cook-in bag from Sirane.
With the skin packaging there are no liquids moving within the pack, there is no need for an absorber, and the consumer gains better bacteriological control.

The packages are using paperboard sleeves or folding cartons printed by Paragon. They can be printed both sides to provide more consumer or product information. Hot and cold foil blocking can be incorporated to deliver a premium finish as well as combination varnish effects to deliver tactile, matte or gloss features.

To underline the introduction of the Saucy Fish packaging the company runs a promotion on packs of fresh tuna with Denny Bros’ 50mm, four page leaflet labels, which includes a unique code allowing shoppers to claim 500 points going towards prizes including £5 and free cinema tickets, an iPad and £100 of iTunes or £5 paid into the consumer’s bank account. Over 24,000 Fix-a-Forms were printed for the promotion.

ParchmentBake
For me one of the best packaging solutions for preparing/cooking fish by the unprofessional consumer is the ParchmentBake.

The secret to Mrs. Paul’s and Van de Kamp’s, brands of the Pinnacle Foods Group, is the unique parchment paper bag.
The ParchmentBake delicately bakes the pre-grilled, 100% whole-fillet tilapia in a sauce locking in the fish’s natural moisture and flavours. Cooking in parchment paper is a classic technique used in restaurants and by professional chefs. The consumer just places the parchment bags on a shallow baking tray and bake at 400oF (200oC) for twenty-two minutes.

The consumer just places the parchment bags on a shallow baking tray and bake at 400oF (200oC) for twenty-two minutes

The convenient ParchmentBake cooking process takes the guesswork out of preparing and serving seafood with no MSG (Monosodium glutamate), no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. ParchmentBake fillets have less than 80 calories, 13g of protein and 0.5 grams of fat per serving.

The puffed parchment bags in the hot oven

It isn’t only the preparing and cooking of fish. One of the main points in the supply of fresh fish to the consumer is the packaging that is shuffled around, sometimes roughly, in the supply chain.

High Liner frozen seafood
North American High Liner Foods markets its frozen seafood to retailers under the Sea Cuisine and Fisher Boy brands. The company switched to a mineral-based coating technology from Smart Planet Technologies.

High Liner’s decision to switch to EarthCoating for its retail packs, represents a staggering 26 million cartons/year and reduces plastic use by 40,000 lb/yr, according to a Life Cycle Analysis of the raw materials performed by Heritage Plastics.

EarthCoating from Smart Planet Technologies, is a relatively new technology that allows up to 60% of the LDPE in a barrier coating to be replaced with calcium carbonate (CaO3). The company claims that this is a very high-performance barrier coating that can be applied to just about any type of paper or folding carton material, using essentially all of the same equipment. The clear coating is said to provide up to a 60% greater Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate (MVTR) than 100% LDPE and offers comparable heat-seal performance.
The mineralized coating has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration for direct food-contact applications.

High Liner’s cartons are made by Clearwater Paper using its Candesce C1S paperboard, Cenveo prints the board. The EC-40 coating, made of 40% CaO3 and 60% LDPE, is supplied by compounder Standridge Color Corp., with the mineral content sourced from OMYA Worldwide.

The Life Cycle Analysis also suggests that by switching to EarthCoating versus 100% LDPE, High Liner will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10% and energy use from 232 kw/ton to approximately 228 kw/ton.

Next time let’s have a look at cheese packaging, another rather conventional segment in regard to packaging innovation.

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Fresh products, such as poultry, red meat and fish product, as well as chilled ready-to-eat products place special technical and technological demands on the packaging.  The products, as frequently is thought, not require to appeal to consumers at the point of sale, but rather have to protect the freshness during transport to the wholesaler or processor. Cost effectiveness, output and hygiene are therefore right at the top of the list of requirements.
But of course the food processor is wrong in his assumptions and the consumer, although requiring a perfect product, also expects an attractive and efficient presentation.

I collected some recent developments in thermoformable film with the accent on products trays. Let’s have a look at the mono-layer food tray from Faerch Plast, the Biopolymer tray from Plantic Technologies, and the Mylar Cook thermoformable films from DuPont.

Mono layer food tray
Traditionally the meat industry has used trays produced from multi-layer or laminated materials to ensure adequate sealing with film, but the plastics recycling industry has argued against the use of multi-layer and laminated materials for food packaging due to difficulties separating them for recycling.

Faerch Plast has created MAPET II, a single layer food tray. MAPET II is said to be the next generation mono packaging product designed primarily for top sealed fresh meat and poultry. It has equivalent properties to APET/PE, but is produced from just one material and offers improved sealability than its predecessor, MAPET. And, since MAPET II has better potential to be sorted and recycled, it is hoped that the plastics recycling industry will back it as the new industry standard.

Instead of adding a top layer, a small amount of special adhesive suitable for food packaging applications is applied around the rim of each tray to ensure that it can be sealed easily. The quantity of adhesive, which has been approved for direct contact with food at temperatures up to 40°C, is so low that there will be no contamination of the waste stream.

MAPET II is produced by extruding an APET mono sheet, thermoforming the tray and integrating a robot station at which the adhesive is rolled on to the sealing flange. The trays are made using post-consumer recycled materials.

Biopolymer tray for refrigerated ready meals
It is believed that, following the trend of the European market, in the US frozen food products are starting to dwindle or be eliminated from the retail mix altogether while fresh ready-to-eat products are growing. Several (multinational) food processors have already left this market segment by selling their frozen food division.

This development will show us in the near future several interesting developments in packaging. The introduction, this year, of the refrigerated prepared foods line, called Comida del Sol from Excelline Foods is one example.
For both the flautas and the burritos of Comida del Sol the thermoforming film for the trays is a Plantic eco Plastic high-barrier material from Plantic Technologies. It’s made from corn starch. Although corn crop isn’t seen as the best ingredient for non-food products, Plantic Technologies states that due to a highly efficient conversion rate, there is minimal crop space required, and the crop has no impact on food-growing land space requirements. The company’s patented polymer technology is based on the use of high-amylose corn starch, a material derived from annual harvesting of specialized non-genetically modified corn, supplied by Corn Products International. The biopolymer is comparable in cost to other conventional plastic packaging materials.

Plantic eco Plastic consists of a core layer that is extruded in a conventional manner. Laminated to this core layer are skin layers of polyethylene (largely for heat-sealing purposes) and polypropylene (for moisture barrier). Total thickness in the Excelline Foods application is 450 microns, and of that, 410 microns is the Plantic material at the core. According to Plantic, the Oxygen Transmission Rate is less than 0.05 CC/sq m/24 hr at 23°C.
Plantic eco Plastic is not biodegradable due to the presence of the non-biodegradable skin layers that surround the starch core.

The trays for the flautas and the burritos of Excelline are made on a modified-atmosphere Multivac thermoform/seal system.
The, with flautas filled, trays are back-flushed with nitrogen to drive out ambient oxygen, before a clear barrier lidding material is applied. Refrigerated shelf life is about 37 days.
The trays for the burritos, however, are packaged under a partial vacuum and then sent through High-Pressure Processing (HPP) to give it a 60-day refrigerated shelf life.

Thermo-forming Mylar Cook films
Mylar Cook films are thermo-formable films, which were especially developed for the preparation of food in the high temperature range up to 218o Celsius (425o Fahrenheit). The food product is cooked in the oven or in the microwave in its sealed pack.

Due to this process, the aromas, vitamins, minerals and inherent moisture of the product are largely retained during the cooking process. When a certain pressure is reached, the seal seam of the pack opens by itself. The food is then browned in the open pack.
The constant heat transfer during the two cooking phases ensures that consistent cooking results are achieved and reduces the cooking time by up to 30%. Mylar Cook film is an ideal food packaging solution for sous-vide applications.

The Mylar Cook concept is now supplied in a cooperation between DuPont Teijin Films and machine manufacturer Multivac. Multivac states that its Application Centres are making capacity available for processing trials and customer consultation with Mylar Cook. In addition, DuPont Teijin Films and Multivac are supporting the scale-up of Farmland Oven Perfect Fresh Pork products “Dinner’s in the Bag”.

Mylar Cook films can be used reliably on Multivac’s thermoforming packaging machines. Short forming and sealing procedures enable a high cycle output to be achieved. The wide forming and sealing temperature range of the films makes their processing simple and reliable.

The market of bottled water is beleaguered with a number of issues including the growth of cheaper-priced private label bottled water, consumer criticism of the industry’s high carbon footprints and consumer unwillingness to drink high-calorie enhanced/flavoured water. Nevertheless, the most conspicuous trend in the bottled water market still is the seemingly never ending array of new bottled water products.
Even though innovation has reconfigured the bottled water market, the leading revenue source for the US bottled water market is still the single-serve PET-bottle. Throughout most of the 1990s and 2000s, still water in single-serve polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, experienced an exceptional growth.
But times are changing. During the economic challenges of the late 2000s, bottled water, like many other beverage categories in the United States during the depths of the economic recession, suffered reversals.

It is clear that due to this economic recession, recovering or not, the consumer is looking at less-expensive and more environmental friendly alternatives. And I don’t talk about the tap water alternative and the refillable bottle, but alternatives to the current, still dominating, single-serve PET-bottles in the market.
Let’s face the facts. In the eye of the consumer the single-serve PET-bottle has lost its ‘green’ credentials. With, according to American Demographics, women constituting the majority of bottled water drinkers, the bottled water industry faces a consumer group famously known to be sensitive to the environment. PET-bottles are seen as a waste of valuable natural resources and a huge polluter. At top of this, we see several law suits with regard to banning the use of single-serve PET-bottles for mineral water. Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the PET-bottle for water, as we know it, will be packed in the catacombs of history.

So, tell me, what is left for the bottled water industry? Let’s walk through the various packaging formats and see what options out of the ordinary are or will be available to differentiate a brand from the bulk and at the same time may satisfy the consumer in his/her search for a less-expensive and even green alternative to the standard PET-bottle.

Single-serve plastic bottles
In the recent years the plastic water bottles have been subjected to light-weighting. Typically, when bottle weight is reduced, ribs are added to brace bottle walls. These bottles are brittle and noisy when compressed, which reduces shelf appeal and premium image. The ribs also limit the possibilities for light-weighting.

Sidel’s NoBottle

To solve this problem, Sidel came up with the NoBottle, a very light 9.9 g per 500-ml PET bottle for water. Sidel’s Flex technology combines plastic’s flexibility with shape memory eliminating the need for ribs allowing designers to create all sorts of shapes, even for extremely lightweight bottles. The bottles are easy to grip, supple, and substantially less brittle than conventional bottles.

Krones’ NitroPouch

With the light-weighting process going on, we near the area of the pouch. Krones pushed that boundary between a rigid blow-moulded bottle and a flexible pouch, with the NitroPouch, a 500-ml PET bottle of only 6.6 grams.
The bottle concept eliminates the traditional neck ring and incorporates reconfigured threads engineered to accept a 1.1-gram closure. The concept optimizes material distribution with wall thicknesses of less than 0.1 millimetres.
The bottle diameter narrows at the top to enhance grip-ability. Grooves reinforce the grip area to stiffen the sidewall so the bottle can be labelled, even when empty. Nitrogen pressurization ensures that the container does not collapse during transport and handling.

Hybrids
The distinction between a bottle and a pouch is even getting greyer with Amcor’s neither-a-bottle, nor-a-pouch AquaFlexCan. An easy open, non-spill flexible beverage pack for still water.

Amcor’s AquaFlexCan for Iconiq Water

Consumers simply Tear-n-Sip, as the bottle/pouch utilizes laser perforation, to easily tear off the top of the mouthpiece, so that the water can be consumed directly from the pack. No straw or scissors are required. A special seal geometry of the mouthpiece allows consumers to easily control the liquid flow and limits spills if the pack falls over.
The AquaFlexCan offers environmental benefits, among which lower carbon footprint (compared to PET and glass bottles) and less waste (the weight of one pouch is only 3g).

We go even deeper in the world of the hybrids as we have a look at the flexible can.

The 200ml Cyclero pouches or DrinkBags, as Huhtamaki likes to call them, is not a stand-up pouch but an all-flexible version of the Cyclero design. There is a peel-off lid, and the consumer can drink direct from the aperture, as with a metal can. There’s no need for a straw or a spout.

Huhtamaki characterizes the format as “the world’s only round flow pack”. The DrinksBag is the latest and most simple addition to the Cyclero system, which always have been basically a logical optimization of conventional stand-up pouches. The Cyclero aims at avoiding the sealed seams on the sides that determine the appearance and haptic properties to a very crucial extent, while at the same time maintaining the advantages of flexible packaging over the conventional can, jar and paperboard formats.

And this brings us to the flexible pouches.

Flexible Pouches
The prediction that the term “bottled water” will disappear began to take shape, after the introduction in October 2005 by Jumex in Mexico City of its 200-ml Nautix line of kid-oriented flavoured waters in a transparent Wedge Aseptic Tetra Pak with SiOx barrier.

Nautix was followed up by Wasatch Icewater, which entered the market with its Ampac PET stand-up pouch with a silicon valve.

Wasatch IceWater stand-up pouch

The material composition was a PET film, with a bi-axially oriented nylon with a coextruded organoleptic inner layer. Seaquist Closures provided the three-part closure, a PE base frame with silicon valve nozzle closed by an EZ Turn Screw Cap. The patented system doses in two ways, by turning the valve to suck or by squeezing the bag so that the water sprays from the valve.

The slender, lightweight alternative to water bottles set the development of the market of water in stand-up pouches, with the sporting enthusiasts and other “on-the-go” and “outdoor-loving” consumers in mind.
Don’t forget! It’s so easy to slip a couple of pouches into your pockets or back-pack when you are skiing, jogging or biking. You can also freeze the pouches, use them as portable ice packs and drink the water later. And when you are done, you have a flat empty pouch that can be easily disposed of.

And that’s exactly the market 82Go Water is targeting.
Recently launched by PlasTech Innovations in the US, the 8-oz low density polythene (LDPE) pouch, dubbed “The Bod”, uses some 2 grams of plastic resin, “less than the average bottle cap”, and is designed for convenient on-the-go hydration.
The product offers users the ability to have a disposable water source with a rip-top opening (you open 82Go by using your teeth on one of the corners) and takes up almost no space after consumption. Both of these things are key for users who are on-the-go, like running or jogging.
The pack of RO purified water is tough enough to withstand freezing and is fully recyclable.
It is clear that the bods are not meant to replace traditional water bottles, but an alternative for those occasions when a water bottle is not convenient.

Is the drawback of the 82Go, that the consumer can’t sip, the pouches can’t be closed and can’t stand up, that’s not the case with the AguaSac. Introduced by Envision Flexible Packaging the 8-oz of water sits in a side gusset multi-layer pouch with patented spout.  Basically the pouch as well as the spout aren’t special, but used for water it is a very welcome addition to the market.

In a market where the disposable plastic water bottle is under pressure by attacks from local authorities and consumers, regarding its ‘green’ credentials, it is worthwhile to take a look at alternatives. The (multi-layer) flexible pouch is one of the most viable packaging formats in every aspect, except recycling,  it is probably the preferred packaging.

Conclusion
There is much more to tell, particularly in terms of developments in material with interesting ‘green’ credentials in comparison to PET. As these new developments, among others a new PEF-bottle, are mainly entering the market with the expected legal and environmental laws and regulations in mind, I come back to this item in a next article.

Agua Ouro Fino in TetraPak for the patients of Hospital Santa Paula in São Paulo/Brazil

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Although the position of beverage cans have been threatened by HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, advancements in packaging technology have seen the introduction of improved functional features, a major factor for growth in the beverage end-use sector.

Two holes made with a church key

The early metal beverage can was made out of steel and had no pull-tab. The can was opened by punching two triangular holes in the lid – a large one for drinking, and a small one to admit air. For punching the holes often a so called church-key was used. As early as 1936, inventors were applying for patents on self-opening can designs, but the technology of the time made these inventions impractical. Later advancements saw the ends of the can made out of aluminium instead of steel.

Pull-tab
In 1956 Mikola Kondakow of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, invented the pull tab version for bottles (Canadian patent 476789). Then, in 1962, Ermal Cleon Fraze of Dayton, Ohio, invented a similar integral rivet and pull-tab version for cans (also known in British English as ring pull), which had a ring attached at the rivet for pulling, and which would come off completely to be discarded. He received U.S. Patent No. 3,349,949 for his pull-tab can design in 1963 and licensed his invention to Alcoa and Pittsburgh Brewing Company. The latter introduced the design on its Iron City Beer cans.
The pull-tab got a lot of critics as it littered the roadside and caused injuries due to the very sharp edges of discarded tabs on beaches and in parks.

Stay-on-tab
The pull-tabs were eventually replaced almost exclusively by the stay-on-tabs we still use today. Stay-on-tabs (also called colon tabs) were invented by Daniel F. Cudzik of Reynolds Metals in Richmond, Virginia, in 1975.
The mechanism uses a separate tab attached to the upper surface as a lever to depress a scored part of the lid, which folds underneath the top of the can and out of the way of the resulting opening. This design reduced injuries and reduced roadside litter caused by the removable tabs.

Beverages began using this new type of tab in the United States by 1977. Such “retained ring-pull” cans supplanted pull-off tabs in the United Kingdom in 1989 for soft drinks.

Top end or lid
To support the mechanism of the tabs, the lid is made of a slightly different alloy than the aluminium for the base and sides of the can. The inward bulge of the bottom of the can helps it withstand the pressure exerted by the liquid inside it, but the flat lid must be stiffer and stronger than the base, so it is made of an aluminium with more magnesium and less manganese than the rest of the can. This results in stronger metal, and the lid is considerably thicker than the walls.

The centre of the lid is stretched upward slightly and drawn to form a rivet. The tab, a separate piece of metal, is inserted under the rivet and secured by it. Then the lid is scored so that when the tab is pulled by the consumer, the metal will detach easily and leave the proper opening.

And that’s roughly the situation we still have. Over the years since the introduction of the stay-on-tab only minor modifications have been seen. Let’s have a look at the most recent and significant ones.

In a busy, saturated market, it is sometimes the seemingly simplest changes to a package that can make a difference. From the moment consumers started to drink straight from the can, there have been two complaints.

The first of course is the restricted flow of liquid and the “glugging”, the second is the effect of stilling of the beverage after a can is opened and not emptied at once.
Over the last years we have seen some innovations to answer these consumer complaints.

Vented Wide Mouth Can and the Punch Top Can
Coors is a company known historically for taking innovative leaps with its cans. In 2008 Coors Light launched of its new Vented Wide Mouth Can. The modified, so called SmoothPour End features a large opening and a vent tube which directs airflow into the can.
With the industry’s first built-in embossed vent (outlined in blue in photo) and a new 8% wider opening, the Vented Wide Mouth Can allows for a smoother pour and intends to deliver a draft-like experience that reduces the vacuum or “glugging” effect. All 12-oz Coors Light and Coors Banquet cans feature the Vented Wide Mouth Can.
The wide-mouth end itself was introduced in 2006 and is 27% wider than the largest opening found on competing brands of domestic light beer.
Ball Corp. in Broomfield, CO, produces the Vented Wide Mouth Cans exclusively for Coors based on design originally developed by Alcoa in Pittsburgh, PA.

To complete the overview of the improvements of pouring launched by the MillerCoors Breweries we have to include the Punch Top Can recently launched for Miller Lite.

Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft 12oz and 16oz varieties are now packaged in the Punch Top Can, where the innovation involves consumers piercing an additional hole in the top to increase airflow, with the company promising a smoother pour.

The beer can has a small indentation that when punched in results in a hole that admits air. Unlike the pull tab, the punch-top indentation does not have a built-in means of activation, therefore, the consumer has to use a tool, such as a house key or a pen.

But the best solution to create a draft-like experience and reduce the vacuum or “glugging” effect came from SABMiller during the World Football Cup in South Africa.

SABMiller’s Castle Can
South African Breweries Ltd., SABMiller’s subsidiary in South Africa, introduced a can with a full-aperture end for the World Cup tournament. It’s recyclable, and it transforms the can into a convenient drinking cup.

This advancement, which Crown Holdings Inc. developed, enables consumers to remove the lid, thereby transforming the can into a drinking cup. The can’s purpose is to reduce lines at bars around events by shortening serving time, removing the need for glassware and draught installations, but without compromising on the drinking experience.
The new full aperture end provides an interesting alternative to traditional cans and glass bottles that are typically prohibited at stadiums and arenas around the world.

Budweiser Gan Bei Can with full aperture

Just last week Anheuser-Busch InBev launched in China its Budweiser in premium metal packaging featuring a full aperture end. Branded the 360 End, the innovation is identical as written above for SABMiller and allows the entire can lid to be removed, turning the can itself into a drinking cup. “The ‘gan bei’ can, developed by Crown, is a brand new product with a very specific goal: enhancing the drinking experience for Budweiser consumers.
The 360 End is produced using a combination of Crown’s food can and beverage can technology.

I think it is a brilliant idea and a very interesting development, I have one objection. One of the reasons the Stay-on Tab was developed as replacement for the Ring-pull Tap was the Ring-pull Tap littering beaches and events. I am wondering what happens with all the (sharp-edged) lids after entirely removed from the can. Are people in these days more aware of the environment and willing to use the trash bin to drop the lid into? I am afraid not, as human beings are notorious polluters.

The second consumer wish is the reclosability of the can or at least a covering of the opening to protect the content. We will talk about reclosability solutions in the next article.

Landfill Aurá in Belém do Pará, Brazil

Some weeks ago I was invited for an interview by Chuck Miller of CTI Packaging & Fulfillment in Libertyville, IL. He runs a company blog at Package Talk. My interview was one of several, as Chuck interviewed a number of professionals highlighting all aspects of packaging. I take the liberty to publish the answers I gave in my interview here, but it is worthwhile to visit his blog and see what all the other professionals have to say. I grant you it is worth a read.
Here is my opinion about some packaging aspects:

1. Will sustainability concerns in packaging level off or continue to rise?
You are aware, I suppose, that a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study unveiled that the term Sustainable Packaging is no longer relevant today as the debate about good vs. bad packaging has moved on. The study concluded that industry has moved toward a shared understanding that “the product, its packaging, and the related supply chain have to be viewed as a single solution”. In other words packaging is only a part of the wider sustainability story, focusing on packaging alone in the sustainability debate is counterproductive and short-sighted.
And now your question: “Will it level off or rise?” We will see a more holistic approach incorporating economic, environmental, and social considerations. Consequently the accent on packaging sustainability will be buried into the solutions of other aspects. This might give the impression that sustainability concerns in packaging level off or even are neglected. But I don’t think that will happen in reality. In my opinion the search for more sustainability in packaging will intensify.

Fresh Produce section in Russian supermarket – photo: Getmansky Andrey

2. With package manufacturing going overseas, do you see a decline in this activity?
I can’t answer this question. I have no data related to package manufacturing overseas. But I doubt it is of any significance. Look, all the voluminous packages are manufactured on the spot. Often in a through-the-wall configuration. So we are probably mainly talking about film and pouches. Well, don’t forget, the innovations are still coming from the USA and Europe. It is much more important that we have the manufacturing of the innovations and novelties and leave the production of the simple items, such as films and pouches overseas. It stimulates innovation. Makes us sharp.

Coffee brewer incorporated in the stand-up pouch – Photo: Brian Green

3. Do you see the package to product size relationship getting closer?
In recent years we have seen CGC’s making the packaging smaller and smaller and skipping the secondary packaging if possible. Minimizing the size of packaging or foregoing the secondary packaging has its advantages in terms (among others) of sustainability, but consequently we face a much smaller printable area for consumer information. That’s the down-side. Where do we put all that increasingly more information the consumer wants to see? There is more. Look at the small objects, which need a proper sized packaging to be handled. You can’t always go for the minimum, you have to consider consumer convenience as well as supply chain requirements. But it is true that the packaging to product rate has been effectively optimised, but there is a final boundary we can’t pass. Again, take labelling. We have to find proper solutions for storing the required product, production and packaging information on or within the reach of the packaging.

DuPont Packaging Award Winners 2012

4. What one trend do you see rising in package manufacturing today?
Ohh, my friend, there is not one trend, there are several trends running alongside each other, and all with equal importance. Let’s start with plastics. We see the transformation from a petroleum-based industry to a renewable biomass industry. The market trend is clearly moving to bio-based polymers (I am not talking about bio-degradability) that are identical to polymers made from petroleum. We’re seeing start-ups in every corner of the world focusing on developing building blocks to make large commodity polymers. If you can make existing polymers from renewable resources, and show you don’t use food-based feedstocks and arable land such as corn and sugarcane, you are a winner.
Then we can have a look at paperboard. With its ‘green’ credentials paperboard packaging will move into the huge beverage and liquid food markets. Take a close look at the LamiCan paperboard can, the variations and developments in Tetra Packs, SIGCombiblocs and EloPacks.
The influence of EPR and recycling are decisive to new developments. That’s why I foresee more integration of the various basic packaging materials into one packaging format. I.e. the integration of, let’s say glass, metal, plastics, paper etc, into one integrated new packaging material. Homogenous mixtures or solid solutions composed out of two or more basic components. Something like a paper-metal material, a paper-plastic, a metal-plastic etc. As one material, not as two components separately recognisable. That will be the most important and significant trend in the next years.

Landfill Mongaguá in São Paulo state, Brazil

5. Is recycling of packaging more successful today than 10 years ago and what do you see for the future of recycling?
It is indeed successful to a certain extent, but the findings that environmental and recycling messages are both misunderstood and not noticed by most shoppers is even more troubling because another recent survey found that most shoppers want to choose environmentally friendly packaging and that more than half of them are willing to pay more – especially those under the age of 40.
The majority of shoppers want to select environmentally friendly packaging, but they are frustrated over how to do it. They are confused and don’t know which package is best for the environment.
Look at the PlantBottle, it doesn’t get the recycling attention it deserves, as awareness of the negative impact of plastic bottle consumption increases. Apparently consumers don’t get it yet. Maybe something to do with credibility, as the image of the consumer goods industry, in general, of course is at an unbelievable low level. If we don’t start labelling honestly and clearly, skip all the ‘green-washing’ and start educating and informing the consumer, and set up proper selective waste collecting systems everywhere, we will not move much further with recycling. Bio-degradability, compostability and all that modern ‘green-washing’ slogans aren’t solving the problem. Only recycling can solve the problems around our growing quantity of waste and recover value from it. There is a lot of money in recycling.

6. Are we better off trying to recycle packaging or design it for repurposing?
The question is not one or the other, but one and the other. If we are able to recycle cradle-to-cradle that has to be the preferred choice, whatever the design. But we can’t always technically do that and then we have to recycle into a lower level consumer product. If you mean by repurposing creating a second life for the packaging after using the product, I must say, I don’t believe in it in general. People have already too much bric-a-brac in their homes, they will throw out this type packaging. A similar situation you see with refill packages. They are not popular at all. Not at this moment anyway.

7. Is sustainable packaging financially affordable or not?
I have already said that sustainable packaging is an integral aspect of a wider sustainability process. The question therefore is not whether “sustainable packaging is financially affordable”, but whether sustainability as a whole is financially affordable. And of course it is, when you look at the limited resources, when you look at the money-value of waste recycling, when you look at the damage done by food-waste, it is evident. Maybe not always in financial terms, but it always is in terms of morality and social responsibility. And if, at this very moment, sustainability (in some details) is not financially affordable, we have to make it financially affordable, with all the technological and financial power we have.

8. How much involvement should government have in regards to packaging?
The industry in general has proven over and over again that ethics and social responsibility aren’t always part of its characteristics. Apparently food safety and responsible use of the world’s resources can’t be led to the industry’s discretion. Look at the transition to extended producer responsibility (EPR), a future where the producer of a product is made accountable for it once it becomes waste. EPR and greater ‘product stewardship’ are critical to ensuring better source and waste management and recycling in a world on an exponential growth curve of consumption. EPR is a challenging ideology for the producers. The number of companies voluntarily adopting product stewardship is desperately low hence the desperate need for government to step in. And that’s only one example. It is like traffic, we need traffic rules in all aspects to avoid a disaster.
I fully agree with Kim Jeffery, president and CEO of Nestle Waters North America Inc., who stated, that
“EPR is what I call a 21st century solution. If we want to collect multiple streams of material and get all reusable packaging back, we have to rethink the recycling challenge [and develop] a system that does that”.
Unfortunately he is one of a few with a broad vision. The stupidity is that with all their lobbying the industry might delay developments in packaging, but they never ever stop it. It is more effective to spend that lobbying money by changing their short-sightedness for a long term vision.

On-the-Go lunch box, the Nibble box from Tri-Star Packaging

9. If you could see one thing disappear today from packaging, what would it be?
It isn’t only what I can see, but what absolutely should be seen. That’s additives. As I have said recycling is money. Additives used in PET, which has a working and profitable recycling business, would ruin the sector. Or as one PET recycler stated: “Even in small percentages, like one-tenth of one per cent, these are just catastrophic for us. They melt at different temperatures. They ruin our product”.
You might be aware that the attorney general of California filed suits against three companies that make plastic bottles or sell bottled water in California, saying those companies illegally claim the bottles – which are PET mixed with a microbial additive – are biodegradable. The problem is, however, that the claims can’t be scientifically supported.
Don’t forget, recycling as an end-of-life option fares much better in the U.S. than biodegradation. As long as there is a viable market for recycled material, it should be recycled and re-used, not wasted away. Additives claim to make a plastic bio-degradable or compostable, but that’s not true. Additives are simply breaking the plastic into smaller and smaller pieces so it can’t be seen. The plastic is still there. And by the way they are not adding nutrients to the soil, the way natural materials do. It only breaks down without any profitable goal, except that companies can use the ‘green-washing’ label.
In general I object to claims of bio-degradability and compostability as they (may) misguide the consumer. Sorry to say, but people are notorious polluters and often ignorant creatures. Bio-degradability and compostability may stimulate the thrown-away garbage along the roads. In my opinion, promoting a Cradle-to-Grave or Composting-an-end-of-life alternative offered by additives and others, is misleading, inefficient and I even want to define it as immoral and only serves the slogans of marketing.

GreenDustries is changing the way people eat fast food with its two proprietary packages: the PleatPak (for burgers and sandwiches) and the Magic Bag (for French fries and finger foods).

10. And if you could see one new thing today in packaging, what would it be?
I don’t quite understand this question. Packaging is a fascinating industry with an incredible and complicated future. There are so many problems to be solved and so much intelligence involved. It is a pleasure to work in this dynamic environment. There are so many new developments going on into all directions at this moment, that you can’t say what is the one thing which strikes you most. If you love packaging the way I do, it is just energising to write about all of it, as I do on my blog.

Tagged: additives, bio-degradability, compostability, consumer information, cradle-to-cradle, downsizing, EPR, green washing, interview, Kim Jeffery, labelling, Package Talk, PlantBottle, PricewaterhouseCoopers, product stewardship, recycling, repurpose packaging, sustainability, sustainable packaging

As I said in my previous article, the second consumer wish is the reclosability of the can or at least a covering of the opening to protect the content.
Some years ago beverage can manufacturers started looking seriously into this convenience wish of the consumer. Only recently the market has seen several developments for resealable can closures not from the large beverage can manufacturers, but from small up-starts and inventors. The Resealable End from Ball might be best known, but we will see the Smart Tab, the Soda Seal and the Can2close, all three very inventive in its design, only they come from unknown inventors and as such it is doubtful they will see the market as long as no large company is picking up the idea.
Let’s start with the Ball Resealable End.

The Ball Resealable End
In 2008 Ball Packaging Europe launched the resealable beverage can. The Resealable End is an aluminium can end into which a flat opening mechanism made of plastic is integrated. A simple rotating movement uncovers the opening. In this way the new beverage can retains its classic shape and also its usual stackability.

As the total amount of plastic material used in the end is small, the company claims that it doesn’t affect the recycling properties of the can. The end is very easy to open, reseal, and is completely pressure stable (up to 6.4 bars). The tamper-proof seal is retained, as the consumer can easily verify that the seal has not been broken prior to first opening. The new can end provides a barrier against light and gas.
The Resealable End is the result of collaboration between Ball Packaging Europe, Coca Cola and Bound2B, a company based in the Netherlands. It was first launched on the French market by Coca Cola for its 500 ml energy drink Burn.

Smart Tab
Recently a Canadian inventor believes his patented ‘next generation’ swivelling beverage can tab will conquer the beverage market. Steve Archambault designed a ‘smart tab’ that consumers can use to open a can normally, but then swivel round to effect a non-watertight closure, stopping debris and insects from entering the can, preventing children from cutting their fingers on can mouths and reducing spillages.

The inventor claims that the existing resealable ones are made from plastic, which means they are not 100% recyclable, plus they are more expensive to produce. His tab, he claims, doesn’t cost anymore to produce than the present ‘stay-on’ tab.
Fact is that the curved end of his design makes it easier to get your finger in to open the beverage, as such an improvement, the benefits of his other claims are a bit doubtful for me.

Foboha’s leakproof re-closure
Foboha GmbH, from Haslach, Germany, a company of the Styner-Bienz Group, developed a production concept for a novel closure system for beverage cans.

The company claims that, for the first time, its closure provides a leakproof re-closure feature for beverage cans. The assembly technology is integrated in the injection moulding process, while the components are assembled in the automated process to produce the finished can top in assured quality.
As often the website doesn’t hold any more technical information or even a proper description about the working. Failing that, we have to take a look at the similar Can2close can end, which doesn’t help us a lot, as their website isn’t even operational.

Can2close can end
The Cans of the Year Awards 2012, organised by The Canmaker, an international trade magazine for the metal packaging industry, awarded Can2close GmbH in Germany the Promising Prototype Award for its prototype of an aluminium and plastics recloseable beverage end.

This design has yet to be commercialised, but is expected to be taken up by a customer in the drinks industry soon. The developing company, Can2close, is, like a number in the industry, funded by venture investors and expects to offer a complete manufacturing system that will enable drinks companies to buy the lids and incorporate on their can filling systems without modifications.
For this objective the Can2close design comprises a conventional aluminium end shell punched with a larger aperture to accommodate the plastics sealing system. With this design a plastics tab rotates to allow the flap to open, and be reclosed. Key features are the sealing o-ring under the lid and use of a tamper-evidence device.

But there also is the much more interesting Soda Seal.

Soda Seal
Is the Ball Resealable End said to be pressure stable, the Canadian invention only covers the can opening without it closing it tightly. What the Foboha closure and the Can2close can end do, is not quite clear. In accordance with Ball, the invention of the Soda Seal by the Ukrainian inventor, Johan De Broyer, is said to be seal-tight.

Through inspiration of Johan DeBroyer, Robert Davis designed a device that not only prevents spills with its liquid tight seal, it also prevents gas from escaping the once opened cans.

The ingenious “Soda Seal” can appears like a standard beverage can, until it is opened. When the tab is turned the can becomes re-sealed with a water-tight and gas-tight seal, but also revealing a full-colour, high-resolution advertising messaging.

Davis, of Davis Advertising Inc., also sees the marketing potential of his design. He proposes using the surface of the seal to promote all types of ideas. From contest giveaways to corporate branding, the prime location of the seal provides endless promotional possibilities.

The can end as marketing tool
And with this we have left the area of technological improvements and entered the marketing potential of beverage can ends. The potential for using the can end and its closure as a marketing tool is proportionate to the more than 250 billion beverage cans consumed annually. The marketing boys and girls will have a field day with the options mentioned in this article.

Spin Tab
After the more complicated Soda Seal, first a simple one. Designer Zhongren Zhang came up with the Spin Tab, a simple but effective solution to identify one’s drink when multiple people are enjoying a beverage with the same packaging. The Spin Tab concept is a simple improvement based on current can packaging that identifies one consumer’s drink from another.

Each beverage can has a coloured ring painted on its top. Once the drink is opened, the user spins the tab to the favourite colour to differentiate the drink from others. The selected colour can be seen through the hole in the top of the tab and provides distinction between different drinks at parties and at bars.

Designer Zhongren Zhang says the ring can be extended to different designs including mood icons, nations or rival team logos.

Some marketing ideas for can ends came from the Big Three: Ball, Rexam and Crown. It isn’t quite clear which one first started the colouring and lasering of the tabs. So, let’s just look at some examples.

Coloured and lasered tabs
Norwegian beverage company Mack, the northernmost brewery in the world, asked Rexam Beverage Can Europe to create a unique polar bear cut-out tab for its newly designed Arctic Beer series.

The new can design that had to have a strong appeal to young urban males aged between 18-35, positioning the product as a beer for the tough and adventurous.
The new twist is the use of Rexam’s coloured cut-out tab as a subtle but effective way to take their branding to the next level. Mack chose the polar bear as a symbol to reflect the products positioning and reinforce the masculine image in order to appeal to the target audience.

The first to bring the new laser-incised tabs from Ball Corporation to the market was Go Fast Sports and Beverage Co. of Denver, Colorado. The laser-incised tab is a solid, coloured tab that provides space for a small “billboard” for brand identity, advertising or promotional messaging.

Ball using state-of-the-art computer and laser technology is able to engrave letters, numbers, drawings or symbols on the tabs. The laser-incised tab’s technical performance is equal to that of existing tabs.

Many laser-incised tabs are produced under license from CanDO International Ltd., the holder of the U.S. patent and various foreign patents for laser-incised tabs.

Crown Superend Can
Crown claims that the SuperEnd beverage can ends deliver improved performance for the filler and the consumer with greater strength, enhanced appearance and improved pouring characteristics. SuperEnd beverage ends also feature a distinctive message or “billboard” area for marketers to print brand logos, special messages and co-branding promotions, instant win campaigns or to communicate with consumers about issues such as recycling.

This exclusive 45-degree angle countersink wall results from the unique geometry incorporated into the design of the SuperEnd.
Crown’s patented design uses 10% less metal than traditional beverage ends, providing significant sustainability advantages.

Toyo Seikan Kaisha, Ltd. is the latest can maker to license SuperEnd beverage ends. Other Crown licensees include Amcor Packaging (Australia) Pty Ltd., Nampak Limited, Showa Aluminum Can Corporation, Metal Container Corporation and Anheuser-Busch.

That was an overview of the various applications of beverage can ends.

Recently we have seen attacks from local authorities and consumers, regarding the ‘green’ credentials of plastic bottles and aluminium cans for beverages. These activities and some market circumstances give unprecedented opportunities for the beverage cans made from paperboard.

The paperboard can is mostly a round container comprised of a body with two ends made from a variety of materials. This packaging format can be produced in many shapes and sizes. The container body is made from paper, and various liner materials to achieve barrier requirements and completed with a printed label for packaging graphics.

What are the reasons that the paperboard can, at this moment, should be the preferred packaging format? Let’s make an analysis.
1.    Beverage cans, traditionally made from metal, aluminium or tinplate, as well containers made from PET or glass, have become more expensive due to the increase in prime-material and energy costs over the last years, whereas paperboard prices have remained consistently at a same level.
2.    Paperboard cans are favoured by the European packaging laws. The paperboard can is classified as ‘Ecological Favourable Packaging’, a German typification in its “packaging laws”, which add 25 eurocents (a refundable packaging tax deposit) to the price of all metal cans sold.
Although in the USA we don’t see a packaging tax, refundable or not, to protect the environment and stimulate recycling, we see another phenomenon. More and more American municipalities, counties and states are implementing or (minimally proposing) laws which ban (single serve) bottled water in PET. This is obviously only the beginning of a “war” against the existing packaging formats for beverages.
3.    To underline the above argument, SIG commissioned the first Europe-wide life-cycle assessment for UHT milk packaging. Before I continue, let’s be clear. There is, basically, no difference between the material-composition of a TetraPak, a SIG Combibloc, an EloPak or a paperboard can from LamiCan Oy.
The life-cycle assessment conducted by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) confirmed that, compared to disposable HDPE and PET bottles, carton packs have a significantly better environmental profile − particularly with respect to CO2 emission, use of fossil resources and consumption of primary energy.
The study concludes that the good performance of the renewable main raw material and the resource-efficient use of materials are the key factors contributing to the carton pack’s positive results.
4.    The paperboard packaging addresses the consumer fear for BPA widely used in food and beverage cans. BPA (Bisphenol-A) is a building block for polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins used in linings for metal food and beverage cans and metal closures for glass containers. Physiologically, BPA is said to mimic the hormone estrogen and some studies have linked it to increased breast cancer risk, obesity and other health conditions. Apparently the food and beverage companies don’t have the same concerns as the consumer, as until regulations say otherwise, they will continue to use BPA in their packaging.
For a wide range of products the paperboard can from LamiCan could be an alternative to BPA-containing polycarbonate containers.
5.    Wood fibre is under ecological conditions a natural renewable and recyclable raw material. The paperboard packaging is made with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified packaging material. Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations.

The above mentioned advantages are sufficient reason to seriously consider the paperboard can as an alternative for beverages. As I have written several articles about TetraPaks and SIG Combiblocs in the past, the topic of this article is the LamiCan paperboard can.
Let’s have a detailed look at the LamiCan paperboard can.

LamiCan paperboard can
The company, LamiCan Oy, manufactures a full range of aseptic paperboard material products which are fully compatible with TBA filling lines. Lamican Oy is a Finnish based company with production facilities in Valkeakoski, with over 10 years of experience.

Material composition
Lamican packages consist on several laminated layers. The top lid of the can is made from Multilayer Film, Baseboard, Aluminum layer, Tie, Sealing layer. The body is made from Protection lacquer, Printing, Paper, Polymer, Baseboard, Polymer, Aluminum foil and Sealing layer, and the bottom is made from: Baseboard, Aluminum foil and Sealing layer.
This composition translates in a 75% paperboard content.

Manufacturing process of the paperboard can
By feeding pre-printed paperboard from a reel into the machine, the can is formed around a mandrel where, heated by hot air, the side joint is heat sealed.

A reel of the top lid material with the closure tape feeds the die-cutting device. The top lid with the discharge or drinking hole, which is completely sealed with an openable closing tape, is inserted at the bottom of the formed tube. The surface of the seal is activated by hot air and the joint is sealed in the sealing unit. In other words the container is standing upside-down and 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 product filling stage.

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 flow-meters to control the filling valves. The container is closed by inserting and sealing the bottom lid to form a tight container. The seals are activated by hot air and pressed closed in the sealing unit.

The machine is equipped with a foam removal system. Inert gas in the head space of the package is used when required.

So far the Lamican paperboard beverage can, offers an alternative aseptic solution for the beverage packaging market. But not only for still beverages, but also for soups, dairy products and many other liquids, such as coffee drinks, alcoholic drinks (less than 22%), wines.

(This is a sponsored article)

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Tagged: aseptic packaging, beverage cans, bisphenol A, BPA, LamiCan, life-cycle assessment, paperboard, paperboard cans