Plastic packaging continues to evolve

Convenience, functionality, durability and portability are only some of the key benefits emanating from the winning entries in the 2006 DuPont Awards packaging competition sponsored by DuPont Packaging (www.dupont.com/packaging). Announced on Aug. 11 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, the winners, judged earlier this year by an eight-member panel, honor innovations in food processing and packaging across the supply chain, from technology, processes and equipment to converters and esthetics. Entrants must incorporate plastic materials as an essential component. The judging panel considered criteria such as packaging material and structural specifications, marketplace acceptance, impact on consumers, function, improvement from current packaging and the degree of design, engineering and technical expertise. Among the 26 international food and nonfood packages that were recognized, nine received Gold Awards, 10 won Silver Awards and seven won Special Citations. Two were deemed the most innovative and were granted the top award or Diamond Award. Presented here are the two Diamond Awards and the Gold winners.

Diamond Awards

The first Diamond Award went to Tetra Pak, Inc. (www.tetrapakusa.com), which claims its standup pouch, called the Tetra Wedge™ Aseptic Clear 200 Slim (1), is the world’s first clear, aseptic standup pouch. Designed especially for children’s on-the-go drinks like the one for Mundo Nautix from Jumex Mexico (see PD, Jan. ’06, p. 6, or www.packagingdigest.com/info/designtrends0106), the Mexican beverage company that launched the package on the market, the new flexible pack has a soft, “squishy” feel and a unique appearance that kids aged six to 12 find fun and cool, according to market research in North America and Europe. The package also won a Gold Award in the food category.

Aseptic processing of the beverage helps to ensure convenience and safety of portable products having a quality taste and nutritional value without the need for preservatives or hot filling. The triangular-shaped pouch is a film version of Tetra Pak’s Tetra Wedge paperboard/polyethylene terepthalate barrier package. Jumex rolled out the single-serve package in Mexico in May 2005 for the Mundo Nautix vitamin-enhanced drink line. Containing 6.75 oz, the slim configuration is easy for kids to handle, and it features smooth sides and no sharp edges. It also utilizes a proprietary barrier technology incorporating silicon oxide/PET instead of the Wedge’s paperboard and aluminum foil, yet provides the same oxygen barrier. Accepting of both high- and low-acid products, the pouch can provide a shelf life up of up to 12 months, depending on the product, according to Tetra Pak. With a shelf life pegged at one year, the 200-mL wedge-shaped pouch provides substantial product visibility and barriers that easily protect the product.

Still in market development after the Jumex product launch, the pouch technology could move into the U.S. market through brands looking for a distinct advantage in the competitive beverage category, according to Tetra Pak. Says Jeff Kellar, vp of the company’s strategic business development, “Consumers are looking for portable products that fit into their fast-paced, increasingly health-conscious lifestyles. Packaging from Tetra Pak helps companies to provide consumers with the grab-and-go convenience, superior freshness and quality flavor they are looking for.”

Film wrap lets Labatt keep its cool

Labatt Breweries of Canada, Toronto, together with copacker Alliance Labeling Inc. (www.alliancelabeling.com) and graphics design firm Shikatani Lacroix Design (www.sld.com) won the second Diamond Award (2) for the thermal-barrier can label that keeps Labatt Bleue, or the Labatt Blue Cold One, cold. The technology also won a Flexible Packaging Award earlier this year. PD featured the specially engineered package, which keeps the beer cold and refreshing for longer periods of time in our coverage of that competition (see PD, April ’06, p. 22, Aug. ’05 p. 6 and on our website at www.packagingdigest.com/info/labatt). The thin, insulating film wrap, or coating, stays put on the can and also guards against heat transfer from warm hands, as well as condensation. The technology is DuPont’s Cool2Go™, made by placing a polymer insulation between two layers of DuPont Teijin Films’ (www.dupontteijinfilms.com) Melinex® film, which results in a thermal barrier that locks in coldness.

Also winning a Gold Award in food, the patented technology involves a process that produces a thin, thermal film barrier, making the Labatt cans comfortable to hold. The 473-mL cans of Labatt Bleue Pilsner began appearing in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec) with the new labeling, which is considered smart packaging, beginning in May 2005.

DuPont says that once the beer is chilled, the wrap can keep the beer cold for up to 30 min longer than if the cans were not wrapped. Cool2Go can be used with or without a shrink-sleeve label applied over it.

In Labatt’s case, a shrink-sleeve label is used and is gravure-printed in a striking blue, red, white and silver color scheme, which represents the well-established Labatt brand, highlighted by silver inks. Alliance Labeling applies the combination of wrap and sleeve label using a custom shrink system at Alliance Labeling in Oakville, ON. The cans come in a six-pack carrier in the same color scheme. Creating the bright and distinctive blue hues on the Labatt Bleue Cold One six-pack, shrink-wrap labels are printed using DuPont’s Cyrel® NOW flexible plates, designed for fine halftone, line, screen and solid printing.

Gold winners

Tradewinds Beverage Co., Cincinnati, hopes its introduction of a hot-fillable PET bottle for premium Tradewinds iced tea beverage will have as smooth sales as the bottle has smooth sides. Lightweight and break-resistant, the PowerFlex™ PET container (3), produced by Amcor PET Packaging (www.amcorpet.com), could be the first panel-free, rib-free PET container that can be hot-filled at temperatures up to 185 deg F. To absorb the distortion that can occur as hot beverages cool to room temperature, vacuum panels are used in the molding of hot-fillable PET containers as a conventionally accepted industry practice. But they have occasionally prevented such containers from being adopted in certain markets, including the premium beverage sector.

Amcor’s development of a patented base for the bottle design tackles vacuum issues without requiring the bottle to be molded with ribs or panels in its sidewalls. Through a combination of design and manufacturing techniques, the base incorporates a unique diaphragm that draws upward as the liquid cools. The base has the geometric characteristics to enable the inverted, cone-shaped diaphragm to deflect upward as a vacuum is created. The rib-free, panel-free sidewalls create a premium look and feel and provide maximum freedom for label size, label material and application. PowerFlex may be filled on a heat-set line and needs no special handling.

The same technology is also being used by a California-based, natural-beverage marketer, MD Drinks, Inc., Santa Monica, CA, for a new line of functional drinks created by a group of physicians (see PD, Aug. ’06, p. 34, or view our website at www.packagingdigest.com/info/mddrinks). Launched initially in the Cincinnati area last August in a single-serve, 16-oz size with a 38-mm finish and resealable cap, the PET Tradewinds bottle replaces glass. The fresh-brewed tea product is hot-filled to preserve flavor and quality. Plans for a larger regional rollout this year are underway. Within the test-market area, sales for the product are brewing, rising 6 percent since the PET package was launched. The real impact will come in the months ahead, notes Amcor: “As we enter the summer season for beverage consumption and because of the additional 'drink occasions’ afforded by the new, unbreakable package, Tradewinds anticipates this increase will be even more substantial.” In the meantime, Amcor is developing additional bottle sizes starting at 8 oz.

Cosmetic cards of color

CARGO Cosmetics Corp.’s ColorCards™ card-pack (4) reinvents the term super-portable. Its mini, single-use, powdered eye shadows come in a package the size of a credit card. Produced by Arcade Marketing Cp (www.arcadeinc.com) of Baltimore using a patented printing process that deposits a thin layer of eye shadow onto a proprietary, .012 decorated paperboard cardstock. The cards are multipacked in a decorative tin (also from Arcade) that holds 28 cards including seven of CARGO’s most popular shadow colors (four of each color per tin). Each card has a removable, clear film cover that protects the shadow and can be peeled back to access the shadow. The film can be repositioned back over the shadow to protect it until the next use (consumers can usually get two applications per card, depending on how much they use per application, says CARGO). The shadow can be applied with fingertips or a brush. Each tin also includes “playing cards” with application tips. Toronto-based CARGO declines to reveal printing processes or material specifications.

CARGO and Arcade won a Gold Award for the wallet-sized packaging. It’s flat, so it can be taken almost anywhere, and the single-use doses are not vulnerable to contamination. The cards can be found in North America at Sephora stores and other stores where CARGO cosmetics are sold. The tins retail for $24 each in the U.S. and $28 in Canada.

Jennifer Johnston, director of strategic initiatives at CARGO, says that both the consumer and media response to ColorCards has been tremendous. “It’s one of our top-selling products,” she says, adding that, “at this point, the card is only used for eye shadow.”

Painting is on a roll

The do-it-yourself painting process just got much easier, thanks to Sherwin-Williams’ Ready to Roll™ paint container (5) with a built-in roller tray and a handle. Ready to Roll combines a “no-mess,” plastic pail that’s resealable and recyclable and a specially designed tray in one package. Created with help from Group 4 Design (www.groupfour.com), the new packaging helps eliminate the need to transfer paint from one container to a separate tray, which reduces spills, splatters, mess and painting time. The tray portion features drain holes and roller ribs to keep the paint contained in the pail and to make the rolling process more efficient. An integral pour spout and an inner paint well ensure that for all practical purposes, almost all of the paint can be used or recovered and can be directed to any secondary containers without the runoff that often occurs down the sidewalls of a conventional, round paint can.

Group 4 says the rectangular size, volume and shape of the pail were calculated to reflect the use, transport, handling and storage of paint during a typical consumer painting project. The shape helps increase promotional or billboarding opportunities and presents a neat facing on store shelves while it also fits in standard paint-shaking machines. Injection-molded of polyethylene, except for the metal wire bail, the packaging format is stable and compact, and is easy to carry with its oversized carry handle. A recessed grip on the underside facilitates pouring. The lid and base are shaped for stacking during shipping and at retail display. Equally important is a reclosable tinting port that enable retailers to match a full range of colors. Ready to Roll, which has been trademarked by Sherwin-Williams, holds 2.5 gal of Dutch Boy paint, enough for two “average-sized” rooms.

Sherwin-Williams reports that the product is exceeding sales expectations, which paints a pretty picture for the convenient way in which its package addresses consumers’ commonly observed situations regarding typical home-painting projects. Originally introduced in 2004, the packaging is available at major national DIY retailers, including Sears Hardware and Menards as well as independent paint and hardware dealers, and in 2005, it was awarded Best in Show in the AmeriStar competition (see PD, Sept. ’05, p. 91, or visit www.packagingdigest.com/info/idsa05).

Ketchup bottle gets physically fit

H.J. Heinz Company, Pittsburgh, is reinventing its familiar plastic ketchup bottle (6). In mid-April, the company began shipping a new, larger bottle—what it’s calling a Fridge Door Fit™ version—in time for cookout season in hopes that the new size and shape will better fit the shelf space in refrigerators. Not content to allow the ketchup bottle to sit in the back, behind the milk, Heinz wants it in a prominent place where it can’t be missed, with the idea that if consumers see it, they’ll use it and keep more ketchup on hand.

Heinz has boosted its market share by introducing several creative packaging concepts, including multilayer plastic bottles, inverted bottles and amusing label copy. But in the last couple of years, overall ketchup consumption has been flattening and home use is dropping, it says. So Heinz enlisted designer Product Ventures Ltd. (www.productventures.com) and bottle molder Graham Packaging (www.grahampackaging.com) to help with a super-sized bottle redesign that could change consumer perceptions. The Fridge Door Fit bottle and closure provide significantly more convenience in terms of storage, handling and dispensing of the ketchup. Despite bulking up to 46- and 64-oz sizes, the bottles still have an ergonomic grip. The Heinz Keystone shape has been a core Heinz brand equity for more than 100 years.

A multilayer PET-based construction, the bottle has a nylon-based oxygen scavenger for long shelf stability. Each bottle is capped with a custom, polypropylene flip-top closure from Seaquist Closures (www.seaquistclosures.com) that has a lock-back feature making it easy to dispense and keep clean. The cap also replicates the distinctive keystone shape. Design concepts were refined and optimized based on consumer feedback through central location and in-home usage testing. An optimized squeeze panel allows for easy dispensing and rapid re-inflation of the bottle with little squeeze force. The resulting patent-pending package design proved distinctive and has been preferred 70/30 versus conventional designs in consumer studies and focus groups, Heinz says. And while the bottle footprint didn’t change from that of its predecessor, the unique design reduces the amount of PET-based bottle resin needed and uses cube space well, cutting corrugated shipping-case material usage by approximately 20 percent.

Intended also to give consumers more of what they love, the Fridge Door Fit ketchup can be stored upside-down, upright or sideways. The 46- and 64-oz bottles have a suggested selling price of $2.99 and $3.99, respectively.

Chips Ahoy! cookie pack is now reclosable

Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL, has swept into stores with a barrier-film package structure for Nabisco® Chewy Chips Ahoy! Chocolate Chip cookies (7) that it claims boosts product freshness and addresses a number of consumer concerns. A collaboration between Kraft, Sonoco Products Co. (www.sonoco.com) and Spear, Inc. (www.spearinc.com), the new packaging, dubbed Snack ’n Seal, is a patented, resealable structure that’s easy to open and helps prevent tearing. Unveiled nationally in June 2005, the package incorporates a thermoformed tray inserted into a horizontal, flowrapped film, the latter of which incorporates a reclosable top panel with a precision die-cut opening to which a pressure-sensitive label is applied. The label can be grasped by a tab having an adhesive-backed, “clear” film printed with “Lift Here” and peeled back to reveal the opening. The adhesive strip on the tab is 1 in. at its widest point.

Consumers can then access the cookies and reclose the package without having to open the end seals. The package contains a widely used, high-barrier film structure with technology borrowed from the baby and homecare wipes market. Kraft’s Laurie Guzzinati, senior manager of corporate and government affairs, says that the Snack ’n Seal design addresses feedback from consumers about their frustrations with opening and closing overwrapped trays and tearing the packaging film. The tears can lead to transferring the cookies to another container for storage. “With Snack ’n Seal, this is eliminated, resulting in a reduction in material waste,” Guzzinati notes.

Since the initial launch, the new package has baked up nearly double the cookie sales of the previous packaging, says research firm IRI, as noted by information supplied by Kraft. Subsequent cookie line extensions, including packs for three varieties of Chunky Chips Ahoy! cookies, went into the market in July 2006. Also, Newtons cookie packs featuring the Snack ’n Seal technology were launched in April 2006.

Creative effects with caps

Bi-injection and electroplating techniques that create translucence and a metallic finish won RPC Beauté-France (www.rpc-beaute.com) a Gold Award for Lancôme’s Color Fever lipstick case (8). The tall, rectangular cap for the case is the main innovation because it’s bi-injection-molded in silver-tone and a clear, rigid plastic, pigmented in a rose color and then electroplated in a shiny white/bronze to capture both a translucent and a metallic look at the same time. Developed by RPC, the effect has a smooth, high-quality appearance that requires mastering the bi-injection, overmolding and electroplating processes. It also requires an ability to define the almost appropriate resin to fulfill highly specific constraints. PD hears that the resulting package provides the esthetics Lancôme wanted, along with ease of use at an affordable price.

First marketed in France in March, the lipstick packaging incorporates an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene base produced through bi-injection molding, which RPC says provides a “crisp geometry” without sinks, despite large wall thickness variations between the center of the faces and the corners. The barrel with a swivel mechanism is Risdon’s ColorTouch®, a patented unit with an anodized aluminum shell offering a superior feel. The cap is bi-injection-molded of copolyester and ABS and then electroplated in the shiny white/bronze; only the ABS portion of the cap is electroplated, resulting in a dual-material look. Hot-stamp decorating in foil is protected by a clear coat of UV varnish tamp-print-applied locally to cover just the decorated areas. The challenge was to obtain clean surface panels to hot stamp, precisely matching the cap edges and uniform panels of such large dimensions.

Producing a two-part cap with a U-shaped, plated part assembled with a transparent part can create challenges in achieving clean assembly at the junctions, notes RPC’s sales and marketing director Gerald Martines. “Even the best made joint could have been visible and could have possibly become loose after repeated usage; this assembly method would have been significantly more expensive than the bi-injection process,” he says.

RPC says it’s developing several other applications that use this innovative molding process.

Another novel process earned the same molder, RPC-Beauté, a second Gold Award for the same customer. Lancôme’s exotic Hypnôse fragrance bottle (9) has a distinctive, twisted clear-glass body and a luxurious, twisted, square cap molded of DuPont Surlyn® with a decorative aluminum plate affixed to the top. Lancôme wanted the plate to have a silvery, mirror-like finish that would show through the clear Surlyn. So RPC tamp-prints a layer of silver ink on the surface using a special ink containing metallic pigments, creating the mirror effect without any visible fixatives. The plate is glued with an invisible glue and the plate is screen-printed in gold with a pad-printed Hypnôse logo.

The fragrance cap is substantial and weighty, so it takes time to injection-mold (about 100 to 120 sec each). RPC’s proprietary molding technique meets Lancôme’s production needs for the three bottle sizes by reducing the cycle times by about one-third and by reducing by same proportion the number of machines involved, which RPC says helped to increase the esthetics at an affordable price, which appeals to Lancôme.