Reaching for the AmeriStars

Ameristar logo

Surprising designs that often combine innovations—such as sustainable improvements and convenience or efficiency features—pervade this year's Ameristar winners. Many of the innovations were obvious, such as ConAgra's microwavable popcorn bag that transforms into a convenient eat-from bowl. Others were less so, such as the die-cut plastic sheet that holds and protects medical devices and presents them for easy removal in the operating room. But a close look, hands-on trial and careful reading of the entries uncovered the worth of these packages.

The annual competition critiques new packaging developments based on six stringent criteria: innovation; product protection; economics; package performance; marketing; and environmental impact. More than a dozen packaging professionals in mid-February evaluated nearly 90 entries in 14 categories (not all categories had a winner).

The full list of 2011 AmeriStar winners can be seen at www.iopp.org. The two packages that also won Best of Show (sponsored by Lansmont) and the 3M Sustainability Award (sponsored by 3M) are described here in detail.

Flat-out innovation

HAVI Convertible Clamshell

HAVI Convertible Clamshell

Developed for use in McDonald's fast-food restaurants, the Convertible Clamshell is a multi-use package that starts as a flat food prep tray that converts (hence the name) when folded into a protective, portable clamshell package for a flatbread sandwich. Once served to diners, the clamshell opens flat to become a premium-looking plate-like surface. It can be refolded-a snap-fit design provides an audible signal to consumers that the clamshell is properly sealed-to transport any leftovers.

Through design features in both the contours and radii of the structure, the clamshell is intuitive, easy to close and opens without a dramatic "pop" so consumers have a relaxed, comfortable encounter.

The package was created for a potential new menu item that McDonald's is test marketing. Made of PP, the package's clarity and embossed logo (arches) creates a premium appearance that aligns with McDonald's brand shift to a more contemporary, upscale experience.

According to J.P. Zurek, director, product development-packaging services at HAVI Global Solutions and leader for this project, "While PP does offer good contact clarity, through the design, thickness and manufacturing of the clamshell, we were able to achieve substantial non-contact clarity which allowed us to really highlight the fresh ingredients of the sandwiches. Seeing the food was a critical feature that the consumer was looking for here—it promotes product freshness cues and brand trust, as well as an enhanced premium perception of the food product."

Product visibility—unique for a wrap-style product in the quick-serve restaurant industry—also helps differentiate the premium flatbread product from competitive tortilla wraps.

The non-hinged design—achieved through structural design and thin-gauging—contributes to the customer's dining experience. Zurek says, "The ability to dine on a flat, non-hinged surface simulates the experience of eating off of a reusable plate. Per focus group feedback, consumers feel this type of dining experience is more appropriate for a premium product."

The non-hinged design also facilitates sandwich assembly and integrates seamlessly into McDonald's process. The package design and coefficient of friction lets the clamshell slide easily across the stainless steel prep table within the restaurant and enables a one-step closing procedure that simultaneously closes the clamshell and the flatbread sandwich. Foodservice workers have experienced a 15 to 20 percent reduction in the time it takes to build a sandwich and as much as 75 percent time reduction in packaging compared to the typical paper or paper/foil wrap.

The debossed surfaces of the restaurant's famous arches on the front provide branding-but they also serve a practical function: They provide pressure on the sandwich while in the folded position and ensure consistent product presentation whether the package is opened or closed. Zurek explains: "The inherent memory of a thick piece of flatbread normally would cause the bread to fall open when any package would be opened, thus exposing the ingredients of the sandwich and causing the customer to have to refold the sandwich closed. The debossed arches—in consort with the debossed ridges on the opposite panel—exert the right amount of pressure on both sides of the sandwich when the packaging is closed to allow the cheese to melt and to create enough adhesion so that the bread remains closed when the packaging is opened."

Slits on the front panel function as vents when the clamshell is closed. Zurek explains that the vents were precisely calibrated through testing to alleviate a significant amount of fogging (to allow for product visibility) while maintaining an ideal moisture level (which affects bread texture) and temperature (which affects overall experience including the cheese melt) of the sandwich. This was validated through consumer testing, which measured certain food characteristics in sandwiches that were stored in the Convertible Clamshell and a variety of alternative substrates and structures.

The PP clamshell offers a number of environmental and economic benefits:

• It is reusable (top-shelf dishwasher safe) and recyclable where facilities exist for PP.

• Proper sidewall contours allow the flats to nest for efficient shipping and storage.

• Using PP aligns with McDonald's substrate strategy and provides savings through economies of scale and raw material sourcing opportunities.

• PP allowed for significant material savings through the ability to thin-gauge while ensuring proper material distribution during package manufacturing. Measuring between 12 and 12.5 gauge, the thermoformed sheet is about 25 percent thinner than the standard 16-gauge sheet available in the industry. Multiple PP extrusion trials were done to ensure a consistent sheet thickness that would function on existing thermoforming production equipment. According to HAVI Global Solutions, this thin-gauge sheet makes the clamshell remarkably lightweight compared to similarly sized packages in other materials, including fiber.

• The thermoform tooling layout was designed for optimal resin sheet efficiencies.

The package was in conceptual and material development for more than three years, and has been commercialized in more than 260 restaurants in the McDonald's system in numerous markets since 2008, including Rockford, IL; Albuquerque, NM; Omaha, NE; and Baltimore, MD. More than 1 million clamshells were evaluated through multiple test markets, an innovation center and test kitchen studies. Consumer feedback was received from focus groups and surveys returned from within the test markets.

HAVI Global Solutions worked collaboratively with its supplier Pactiv throughout development, including design considerations, manufacturing trials and McDonald's restaurant testing. Pactiv has both utility and design patents on the technology, and HAVI Global Solutions owns exclusivity rights.

The Convertible Clamshell has achieved critical acclaim from others, too. It won the gold award in Industrial Design in the 2011 Edison Award competition and two awards from the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) in 2010: the Foodservice Packaging Innovation Award and first place in the Performance Innovation category.

Sustainability in a box

Scholle bag-in-box for automotive fluids

Until now, that had been the case for many automotive fluids, such as motor oil. The now-familiar angled neck on quart containers makes it easier to pour into engines but it doesn't make the best use of space in a shipping case.

Winning the 2011 AmeriStar 3M Sustainability Award is the cube-efficient, bag-in-box (BIB) package for automotive fluids from Scholle Packaging. This award is given to the package that scores highest in reducing impacts on the environment, such as for efficient energy usage, recycling efforts, effective use of packaging materials and recovery.

Automotive chemicals and fluids represent a new use for bag-in-box packaging. Not only does it create supply chain efficiencies and reduce plastic material usage, it offers an alternative package to help differentiate product at the point-of-use (BIB motor oil is available for either retail or commercial sale.) BIB meets the standards defined by ISTA for motor oil packaging, customers' requirements for tamper evidence, and retailers' requirement for stacking and storing.

The BIB package holds 6 gal or as much as 24 quart bottles, yet is about half the size of a case that holds the equivalent volume of quarts. Replacing so many single-use containers reduces plastic resin use by 89 percent.

The BIB's outer shell, which is recyclable, is shipped flat for inbound shipments. The efficiency of incoming (flats) and outgoing shipments (cube efficient) cuts energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Bag-in-box also offers near-total product evacuation (99 percent, according to Scholle), minimizing product waste, without messy surging, foaming or splashing during dispensing. Sending less residual product to the landfill also prevents damage to the environment.

Scholle Packaging partnered with Shell Lubricants to commercialize the BIB package, dubbed the Ecobox, for quick-serve lube outlets. Pep Boys, for one, is using the Ecobox to dispense Pennzoil, the motor oil brand featured at the company's service bays.

"We believe that using the Ecobox system will help reduce the time a vehicle spends in our service centers, increase technician productivity and help decrease the time our customers spend waiting for their vehicles," Tami Presley-Shull, assistant vp of merchandising at Pep Boys told aftermarketNews. "The Ecobox system will also reduce our cost-per-quart of oil and help cut down on plastic waste in our environment."

The Ecobox fits into the typical storage rack at quick-serve lube locations and connects directly to the facility's fluid pump system or easily dispenses oil through the specially engineered valve into a custom-designed pitcher for manual transfer to the engine crankcase. One 6-gal Ecobox requires less handling (and less time to handle) than the equivalent quart bottles, saving labor.

And while this may not be an environmental benefit, the billboard display of the BIB package makes it easier to read the product label to help technicians select and install the correct oil.

HAVI Global Solutions, 630-493-7400.

www.havigs.com

Institute of Packaging Professionals, 630-544-5050.

www.iopp.org

Lansmont Corp., 831-655-6600.

www.lansmont.com

Pactiv Corp., 847-482-2000.
www.pactiv.com

Scholle Packaging, 888-224-6269.

www.scholle.com

3M, 800-362-3550.

www.3M.com/packaging

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