Many convenient options are available for companies launching new products or looking to repack their existing product offerings. And convenience isn’t just about an easy-to-open pack – convenient packaging is relevant throughout the supply chain.
“We continuously strive for innovative and more sustainable packaging solutions,” says Birgitta Farago, marketing manager of Ospelt in Switzerland, which has recently relaunched its Malbuner sliced meat range in recloseable packaging from Amcor Flexibles Europe.
“By using Amcor ReClose, we help to reduce food waste, as our product stays fresher for longer,” says Farago. “The reduced thickness of the lidding film results in packaging weight reduction and therefore has a positive impact on CO2 emissions. Furthermore, Amcor ReClose ensures brand recognition of our Malbuner range throughout the products’ life cycle, as the meat doesn’t need to be repacked in plastic boxes or foil.”
The Amcor ReClose top web is highly transparent, which provides good product visibility for consumers, and is puncture and tamper resistant, which provides added security for retailers and consumers. Developed in conjunction with Amcor, the ReClose packaging for Ospelt’s Malbuner range can be peeled off and easily stuck back down after use.
Easy opening coupled with the benefits of added communication opportunities were behind United Biscuits’ choice of tear tape from Payne, which specialises in tear tape technology. The larger tear tape solution now provides easy opening in combination with cost-effective communication for United Biscuits’ Jacob’s Cheddars cheese biscuit packaging.
By cutting a larger, U-shaped horseshoe tab into the film during the application of the tear tape, it’s possible to create a tab that protrudes beyond the seal area to deliver a prominent opening feature that’s easily visible to the consumer and which can also carry a message, according to Payne. The tab tear tape can be used on roll wrap and flow wrap packaging for biscuits.
“Roll wrap is already one of the simplest and most efficient forms of packaging,” says Paul Cheeseman, United Biscuits’ packaging systems manager, “and we believe that with the addition of Payne’s communication tab system, we’ve managed to improve and enhance the overall product for the consumer.”
In seeking an easy opening and resealing solution for its nut assortment range, The Dutch Nut Group was concerned that the solution would be easy and convenient for consumers, but a challenge in production. However, the company worked closely with Faerch Plast, as well as the machinery producer Sealpack and the sealing film supplier Maag, and the result was a clear aPET dispenser container with resealable lid that provided maximum stability and display on-shelf.
It comprises a tray sealed with a perforated sealing film, together with a perforated recloseable lid that bends at a 90-degree angle and stays open while the contents are poured out.
“The biggest difficulty was to make the lid easy to open while at the same time ensuring that it remained tightly closed during distribution and display,” says Bastiaan Bekkers, director of Faerch Plast sales on continental Europe. “It also had to be easy to handle during production. Perry Van Otterloo, CEO at The Dutch Nut Group, proposed the initial idea, which entailed making a cut and perforation of the lid along the flat part of the pack, which is normal, and also along the side of the lid, which isn’t.”
The resulting easy-open/reclose packs are now thermoformed at Faerch Plast in Denmark and transported to The Dutch Nut Group’s manufacturing plant at Bergschenhoek for filling, and are said to meet the production convenience also required.
“We import nuts directly from producers around the world,” says Perry Van Otterloo. “Quality and uniformity are key for us. The dispenser tray and the lid combination is just what we were searching for.”
Microwaveable meals remain a key area of development for convenience, and Sirane has recently entered this arena with a range of bags, pouches and films for packaging foods that can be cooked in the microwave or conventional ovens.
Sira-Cook M for microwaves and Siro-Cook R for ovens can be heated to 160°C and 230°C respectively and are available in pure film or a natural-look, ‘old-fashioned’ papery style film. Each is supplied on a reel and has excellent barrier properties.
“The food typically cooks inside the bags in its own juices, but where there’s any excess fat generated, we can add an absorbent skillet tailor-made for each application,” says Jeremy Haydn-Davies, sales director Sirane, who explained that the Sira range of films can be printed, are very low in weight and can be produced through form, fill & seal machines as well as run as reels on flow-wrappers.
For convenience in the production of its new convenient-for-the-consumer range of microwaveable meals, Marie Surgelés in France has recently installed an Ishida line for weighing and packing the product.
The company awarded the contract for the new tray line at its Airvault plant to Ishida due to Ishida’s project capability and its new QX-1100 Traysealer technology, which was installed for the first time at Marie Surgelés.
The new line includes two tray denesters, a multi-head weigher with distribution system, the Ishida QX-1100 Traysealer, a volumetric dosing system for rice and pasta, a 20m chain-and-peg conveyor, a converger and a central control point for all the equipment. Two existing sauce-dosing systems were also integrated into the line.
The QX-1100 operates at speeds of up to 200 trays per minute, with rapid, easy changeovers and exceptional control of the sealing process and of the atmosphere within the tray. It also accommodates most types of sealing materials. The 350g meals, such as Marie Surgelés pasta & prawns in a sauce with diced courgettes, emerge from the traysealer at a rate of more than 90 packs a minute. They’re converged into a single line for sleeving and secondary packing.
“The line is very user-friendly and offers simple changeovers, as well as being easy to clean,” says Julien Le Garrec, sector manager at Marie Surgelés, which also benefits from the single control point of the Ishida line as an additional point of convenience for production.
For retailer convenience, a new tape-based solution for Shelf-Ready Packaging has also been developed by Payne. It provides the benefit of easy opening while maintaining the integrity and appearance of the transit packaging.
A purpose-built applicator applies two tapes to the corrugated board during production. The first tape, a Rippatape, is applied to the inner liner of the board and acts as the opening mechanism providing quick and easy access to the box contents without the need for knives. The second tape, an Edge Tape, is applied to the outer liner of the board, just below the point where the box is opened by the Rippatape and performs two key functions:
The Payne solution gives retailers a shelf-ready packaging system that can be opened safely, quickly and easily without damage to on-pack graphics or branding. Both tapes are easily separated from the board during the disposal, ensuring that the recyclability of the pack isn’t compromised. And throughout the design, convenience and functionality are key.
As with all trends, convenience takes many forms, and taking a holistic approach to it can make a significant difference not just to the product and consumer, but also bring benefits in production and on the retail shelf.
Claire Rowan is managing editor of Food & Beverage International magazine. Subscribe here.
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