Packaging Digest

Spring and Interpack are in full bloom here in Dusseldorf, Germany. The Interpack show, which is said to be the world`s largest packaging show in 2008, is well underway. There is a spectacualar array of packaging technology on display at the show, with exhibits spilling across 18 halls at the Messe Dusseldorf Fairgrounds. 

Almost everything you can imagine in materials, eqiupment, services and finished packaging is on display. There are many companies I have never heard of, (most European). Yet they are showing advanced equipment designed with European flair. There is a distinct international flavor at the show. You would expect to hear German, French and Italian at a European show: Still; in the expected crowd of more than 170,000; you a...Read More

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Some numbers are staggering. Consider that the total worldwide sales for the Top 250 consumer product companies exceeded $2.65 trillion in 2006.  

That's the result of Deloitte's inaugural Global Powers of Consumer Products Industry report. When you think of that amount in terms of millions of packaged items, how can you put your mind around that sum?

North American companies dominate the list in terms of numbers and size.  There are 94 North American companies in the Top 250 with average sales figures over $11 billion, the largest average of any of the regions.  However, these c...Read More

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One thing that can be said for the packaging industry: It offers a steady stream of innovations. Some are so painfully obvious that you're tempted to smack yourself in the forehead and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" Other packaging innovations are patently absurd. Some are just plain difficult to classify.

For instance, Batter Blaster now offers pancake batter in a pressurized can, similar to that used for whipped cream. It sure takes the mess out of making pancakes and can save valuable time when you're trying to get moving in the morning. Some say the product even tastes good! 

On the other hand, frozen pancakes can be popped in the microwave and be ready in seconds. One must al...Read More

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Considering it has the world's largest government bureaucracy, it's amazing how fast China can move when it wants to. Stung in 2007 by exceptionally bad PR for lead paint on toys and chemically tainted foods, the Chinese government has promulgated a host of new laws to shore up confidence among consumers of its exported products. 

With the start of the new year, China has launched campaigns to explain what it's doing to correct these problems. The linked video on safe food packaging shows an example of how they're trying to achieve this. 

Will this help China gain status as a safe, low-cost provider of consumer products? Or is it too little, too late?

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The annual holiday assault is nearly over. Every newspaper, Website, TV and radio station has had some type of report on packaging that is difficult to open or considered just plain wasteful. It's interesting reading. Perhaps you've even experienced some of the packaging frustration yourself.

The most common stories are complaints about plastic clamshell and blister packs. Why are they so damned hard to open?  In the packaging industry, we know the purposes these products serve: To clearly display the p...Read More

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As a teenager, I worked in my brother-in-law's grocery store, where I was frequently asked to help in the meat department. This usually meant helping to unload the trucks. It's not easy to lug a beef quarter from a truck and try to hang it on a meat hook in a walk-in freezer with a slippery floor -- especially when you're 16 and only weigh 150 pounds. : Sometimes I got the easier jobs, like putting the ground hamburger on trays, weighing it and slapping on a price sticker. Or, I'd cut frozen chickens in half using a high-speed band saw. You had to focus doing this. They'd always warn that it would be easy to cut off a finger. You probably wouldn't even notice because your f...Read More

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Promotional merchandising drives many of the packaging changes we see each year. It seems these changes are coming more frequently, on more everyday products and in more and more dramatic designs. Promotional packages are everywhere. In movies, on TV and now on soup cans. The tie-ins are becoming more clever, too. Check out these examples: Campbell's Soup cans are a grocery icon. Pop artist Andy Warhol even immortalized the red-and-white cans. Campbell's Soup hasn't changed labels on their mainstay items like chicken noodle or tomato soup in years. Starting in October, Campbell Soup Co. will distribute cans of condensed soup in limited-edition, pink-and-white cans to support National B...Read More

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Perhaps a battle is about to end as another enemy of packaging appears close to being vanquished. That's right. The evil remnants that remain in a food bottle -- no matter how hard you shake it or pound the bottom -- may have met their match. As I sat down to the table recently, a new label on the Hellmann's Mayonnaise bottle captured my attention. It promised a non-stick package that is "Easy Out" and "No Waste." You couldn't miss the message. It took up about 60 percent of the label. I was enthralled. I sat and read it like a kid reading a cereal box that promises a treat inside. I was tempted to pour out all the contents of the new bottle, just to see if it really worked. But that would have defeated the purpose of the design, which is meant to ensure ...Read More

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When you go to the store to buy toothpaste, how can you make a decision? There are at least six or seven major brands, and maybe one or two unknowns. Each of those probably has another half dozen or so sub-brands or flavors. Well, if you've been using Colgate or Crest since you were a kid, you know those brands. It's highly likely you'll choose the one you recognize most. This is called the "recognition heuristic," a term coined by psychologists Dan Goldstein and Gerd Gigerenzer. The recognition heuristic is used as a model in the psychology of judgment and decision making. As the doctors say: "If one of two objects is recognized and the other is not, then infer that the recognized object has the higher value." This is the basic statement o...Read More

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In the past week, I've been on the road, visiting a variety of companies working to make their way in the world of packaging. From small suppliers to giant corporations, one topic they all wanted to talk about was packaging sustainability. So, as I was lying in my hotel bed trying to sleep, a question kept rolling over and over in my head: Is sustainability a fad or a trend? Fads can be taken up with great excitement, but it's only for a brief time. On the other hand, trends show a series of events leading to eventual - and frequently lasting - change. The danger of jumping on a fad is that you may be the last one to board the plane, and you've paid a high price for the ticket. However, if it is a trend, you know that it is going to be around awhile. It deserves attention and planning. Getting on board early can help you enjoy the benefits of a long ride. So, my conclusion before I fell ...Read More

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