A patent has been granted by the European Patent Office, effective from 13 February 2008, for Tergal Industries' monolayer light barrier PET resin, LacPET. The patent application was posted in 2004. LacPET, produced and commercialised for the packaging of long shelf life milks by Tergal Industries (the sole French PET producer) is one of the most innovative and revolutionary packaging solutions for the dairy industry. After more than three years of research and development, Tergal Industries succeeded in developing a new process that enables the production of a modified PET resin, one which offers an adjustable light barrier property to the manufactured containers. Conscious of the innovation of said technology, Tergal Industries applied for a worldwide patent four years ago. This patent protects a process for manufacturing monolayer packaging articles, such as opaque bottles, from a composition comprising a polyester matrix and opacifying white mineral filler. It also protects monolayer packaging articles obtained by this process, as well as the use of said articles for storing milk or dairy products.

Tetra Pak, the Swedish food processor and provider of packaging solutions, and the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF), announced today that Ulla Holm, Global Director of the company’s Food for Development Office, has joined the board of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF). This commitment marks another step forward in Tetra Pak’s long history of supporting sustainable school feeding, agricultural and dairy development programmes around the world. “Tetra Pak has more than 40 years' experience in school milk programmes, and extensive knowledge on how to link such programmes to development of a whole dairy sector," said GCNF President, Gene White. "This experience is a tremendous asset to us as we strive to ensure sustainable solutions for providing children with adequate nutrition. We’re very pleased that Ulla Holm has accepted our invitation to join our board, and we look forward to our continued partnership." Global Child Nutrition Foundation The GCNF is a sister organisation to the School Nutrition Association (SNA), whose activities goes back to 1946. Building on the long experience of the SNA, the GCNF was created in 2006 with the mission of expanding opportunities for the world's children to receive adequate nutrition for learning and achieving their potential. It promotes child nutrition internationally through sustainable school and community based feeding programmes. “The GCNF is unique among non-governmental organisations in its focus on knowledge-sharing and support to governments to develop policies and guidelines for the creation, implementation and management of school feeding programmes based on public private partnership,” said Ulla Holm. “We’re committed to continuing to work with the GCNF to expand school feeding programmes, which can then act as a catalyst for agricultural and economic development,” she added. Through its school feeding partnerships, the GCNF and Tetra Pak are aiming to help meet the first of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Millennium Development Goal 1 is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. For more information on UN Millennium Development Goals, please see . Tetra Pak has supported school milk programmes around the globe for more than 40 years, through its Food for Development Office (FfDO) and in partnership with governments, development agencies and its customers. In 2007 alone, around 45 million school children all over the world received milk or other nutritious drinks in Tetra Pak packages. Approximately 22 million of these children live in developing countries.

The two varieties, Semillion/Chardonnay and Cabernet/Shiraz, will be sold through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) in two different bottle styles, both featuring aluminum screw caps from G3 Enterprises. The bottles also feature Sig Plasmax, a commercially proven, transparent, internal silicon oxide (SiOx) barrier coating technology that protects the wine inside the bottle and is easily removed during the PET recycling process. "LCBO works with suppliers to offer more products in alternative packaging, such as PET plastic bottles, because each plastic bottle contains significantly less material than each comparable glass bottle," said Artisan Wine Co VP Operations David Fallis. "The combination of the PET bottle and screw cap closure give our customers a more convenient, environmentally friendly wine packaging choice. Also, because Ball's PET bottles are approximately one tenth the weight of the average glass bottle, they can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the supply chain, plus the Plasmax barrier coating Ball uses makes these bottles very easy to recycle in the existing PET infrastructure." Ball is the only North American PET bottle manufacturer to offer Plasmax barrier coating technology and is currently using it in many commercial applications, including wine, beer and flavoured alcoholic beverages. Plasmax provides an FDA compliant, enhanced passive barrier for oxygen sensitive products. This ultra thin (less than 100 nm) material is transparent and resists cracking, abrasion and delamination. Furthermore, a recycling study conducted according to the European PETCORE protocols demonstrated that Plasmax is removable during the recycling process and does not negatively affect any of the test requirements. These results were shared with the Association of Post-Consumer Plastics Recyclers (APR), the trade industry representing over 90% of the post-consumer plastic processing capacity in North America, which raised no objections to the results.

Finnish liquid packaging board producer Stora Enso is now offering Natura Platina board for demanding, high-end products. Natura Platina is a bleached liquid packaging board with a shiny, metalised polymer coating on top. The board also has an aluminium foil for the superb barrier properties needed in packaging such extended shelf life products as wine, yogurt and juice. The Natura Platina board is being used in Norway by the dairy company Tine, which sells its Mana Fruit Juice series in one-litre cartons manufactured by Elopak. The juice is a good example of an added value functional food product. "Natura Platina is an attractive liquid packaging board for any market where customers want to have a more exclusive look for their products to support sales and promotional activities," said Liquid Packaging Board Sales Director, Ola Tönnberg. * Exceptional metallic look* The board's exceptional metallic look is achieved by applying a metalised bi-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film on top of the board. The aluminium foil on the reverse side provides an excellent barrier against humidity, oxygen, odours, grease and light. Natura Platina can be used for all typical table-top package sizes, from small portion packs to two-litre cartons. "We have experience in coating for liquid packaging board with all available coating materials and barrier layers, and we're constantly conducting trial runs on behalf of customers and for our own product development. For this application, we have established close cooperation with Elopak, which also developed a white UV-curable ink suitable for printing Natura Platina in their flexographic printing process," Tönnberg said. Aiming at extended shelf life According to Elopak, the extended shelf life (ESL) market in Europe is growing rapidly as consumers continue to demand high quality and convenience. This means that more days of shelf life are needed for various milk and juice products. The ESL technology is expected to affect the future development of these dairy segments significantly. Natura Platina is an attractive packaging material for ESL products and other applications where excellent barrier properties are a must. Packages made of Natura Platina can be recycled like other beverage cartons, and the fibres can be used for producing other fibre-based products. Aluminium and plastic fractions of the package can be fully recovered in an appropriate recovery process.

*Bacardi rum has launched The Bacardi Classic Cocktail Mojito, a ready-to-serve cocktail made with Bacardi Superior Rum, natural lime and mint flavours. * The Bacardi Classic Cocktail Mojito package features a distinctive green cap and light and 'refreshing' design. The 15% alcohol-by-volume (30 proof) ready-to-drink cocktail has a suggested retail price ranging from $19.99 for a 1.75-litre bottle, soon to be followed by a 750ml size. "The Bacardi Classic Cocktail Mojito delivers real mojito taste in a ready-to-drink package," said Joe Metevier, brand director of Bacardi Traditional Rums. "It reinforces our position as the leader in mojito cocktails through executions in all major adult beverage categories." The Bacardi Classic Cocktail Mojito offers the ultimate in flavour, convenience and true brand heritage dating back to the mid 1800s, when Bacardi rum was first used to make the mojito.

Aimed at style-conscious female buyers, Works With Water's latest spring water is Beauty. Beauty is the first spring water clinically proven to improve acne by reducing both the inflammation and bacteria associated with blemishes. It's also the first spring water to contain the ingredient Praventin, which, in medical trials, improved blemishes by 95% within two months.

Up until now, no one had been able to successfully create a commercial, handled PET liquor bottle due to the difficulty of blow moulding around a grip. This industry 'first' is a result of a two year co-operative venture between McCormick and Amcor. “McCormick is the number two domestic vodka brand. With a lot of competition in the value priced category, we were looking for a way to differentiate ourselves,” said McCormick President and COO Jim Zargo. Meeting the challenge McCormick brought its vision to Amcor two years ago and challenged its engineering team to come up with a commercial solution. The project would end up pushing both container and equipment engineering to new limits. “We knew that you can’t blow a PET handle, so we worked with Amcor to figure out how to do it. We even looked at a clip-on version, but found out pretty quickly that it wouldn’t support the 1.75 litre volume,” Zargo says. “This is an extremely difficult process to execute. One of the trickiest elements is to make sure that the grip is perfectly placed inside the mold. If that is not done correctly or if the material isn’t heated just right, you either won’t ‘capture’ the grip or you will puncture the material,” explained Amcor Project Engineer Jonathan Jarman. “The other major issue is that there wasn’t a machine with a proven track record for this type of application.” Purpose-built machine Since there were no commercially available units, a proprietary 'reheat, blow' machine was purpose-built for the project. (The bottle is produced at Amcor’s KY plant in Nicholasville. The facility is known as the 'center of excellence' for liquor production.) With all of those variables in the mix, the bottle design itself also needed to make accommodations for the volume displaced by the grip. “McCormick wanted us to emulate the look of their former 1.75 litre bottle, but we needed to modify that a little to still get the right volume. The solution was to move the shoulder up and reduce the neck height,” Jarman said. Two years in the making, the bottle entered distribution at the beginning of the year. The company has a special section on its website heralding the launch. Since the introduction, McCormick has been enjoying strong feedback from both distributors and retailers. “We are also happy to report that consumers are reacting very favorably to the new bottle. We have already experienced sales growth and are gaining distribution based on the new packaging,” Zargo said.

*Got a craving for coffee flavour? You're in luck, as Swiss Valley Farms dairy cooperative has announced Cravelatte Milk and Coffee. * This new item captures consumer interest in coffee-flavoured beverages at a significantly lower price compared to similar items on the market. Sales of RTD coffee exceeded $1 billion in 2007 and continue to expand. Consumers want to enjoy these drinks on-the-go, and Cravelatte meets that need in clear plastic pint-sized bottles. Consumers are also looking for lower fat options, and Cravelatte contains 1% milk with only 2.5g of fat per serving. Each bottle delivers 50% of the daily recommendation for calcium and vitamin D. Cravelatte is available in grocery, drug, convenience and vending channels, and is typically priced around $1 a bottle. The introduction is being supported with coupon ads, billboards, print, radio and point of sale material.

Apuro is launching its ACIS range of water coolers into Europe. After successful sales into Spain, the company is focusing on expanding its export business in other EU countries and is actively seeking distributors. "We've successfully established the ACIS brand in the UK market," said European sales manager, Nigel Elwick. "This is a natural progression for the range. The technology used in developing our latest models, notably the DC (direct chill) units, is helping us open up the continental market." Apuro’s ACIS 800 Series of direct chill units offers a continuous supply of chilled, filtered mains water, using a refrigerated coil to chill incoming water directly instead of chilling water held in a reservoir tank. "The models are stylish and practical," said Elwick. "They're perfect in situations where a traditional tank-model can't cope, such as in colleges where there are peaks of demand between classes." Special deals on floor-standing ACIS models The price promotion that Apuro has been running on the ACIS 700 Series of floor-standing bottle coolers is due to finish at the end of April. The special deals mean that dealers can get large discounts off the standard trade price of the bottle coolers. There are two floor-standing water coolers in the promotion, offering a choice of chilled and ambient or chilled and hot water. The top-of-the-range A/SWC710D Floor Standing unit has a tank capacity of 3.9 litres of chilled and 1.9 litres of hot water. The ACIS floor-standing bottle coolers have a variety of unique selling points, including built-in cup dispenser and single-tap outlet for increased hygiene and ease of use.

Sustainability and the environment are to be the focus of heightened activity at the International Dairy Federation, the organisation’s board has decided. In its first full meeting, IDF’s new directors approved an ambitious programme aimed at improving the global dairy industry’s environmental positioning. A work schedule is being drawn up by IDF’s Science and Programme Co-ordination Committee (SPCC) and additional resources have been earmarked by the board to give the initiative early impetus. IDF President, Jim Begg said: “We are acutely conscious of the potential impact on the dairy industry around the world of issues such as climate change and carbon footprinting. There is a global role for providing good balanced information in this area, particularly on the environment, so that developments are influenced by sound science. We aim to secure a leading role for the IDF in this area. “We also intend to develop best practice in the key environmental areas relevant to the dairy industry. We shall do this using our own resources and by working in partnership with other organisations active in this area, such as the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform.” IDF Director-General, Christian Robert, said: “IDF is already leading projects on environmental issues such as fresh water treatment, re-use of processed water, cutting on-farm emissions of greenhouse gases, effluent treatment and reduction of dust emissions from dairy plants. “But this new initiative should add to our understanding of the issues and improve our ability to guide the dairy industry down the path of sustainability.”

Bottlers who purchase ProStack and TierStack racks do so to improve bottle life, production efficiencies and safety throughout their operations, and to reduce truck damage. Proper forklift handling is a critical aspect to achieving these goals. According to Steve Kurth, director of North American sales: “This video will allow our customers to educate new and existing forklift drivers in the safe handling of our products. Also available with the DVD are written reference materials and a test."

Campina has recently started making vla (custard), the traditional Dutch dairy treat, using Campina milk with a more balanced fatty acid composition and a lower sugar content. The sweet taste so popular with millions of Dutch consumers won’t change, however. The new custard has been developed in response to the trend for tasty yet more responsible products that tie in with people’s daily consumption patterns. As well as Campina custard, there's now Campina yogurt and traditional Campina porridges made from Campina milk, with a more balanced fatty acid composition. These have been available on the supermarket shelves since last spring. * Other healthier options* Following on from the changes it has made to its milk, Campina is also making its custard, yogurt and porridges using healthier Campina milk. The litre packs of Campina yogurt and Campina custard have also acquired a large screw cap for greater ease of use. These large caps are already in use on litre packs of Campina VlaFlip, allowing consumers to see the product attractively pouring out of the container. Less sugar, no artificial sweeteners Campina is also responding to the trend for a more healthy lifestyle by reducing the sugar content in its custard. This was achieved through months of developing the product without the use of artificial sweeteners. Campina is confident that this innovation will make an important contribution to responsible nutrition. "By extending the range of Campina products made with our healthy Campina milk, and by adding less sugar to our custards, we're responding to consumer demand for responsible products which are also very tasty," said Bas van den Berg, Managing Director of CPE Nederland. Typical Dutch dessert treat Dutch consumers eat an average of eight litres of custard each year; it’s usually taken as a dessert after the main meal, especially in winter. The combination of its sweet taste, thick pouring consistency and shape of the packaging (a half or full-litre family pack) makes custard a typically Dutch dessert treat. Campina is also an important supplier of sweet desserts to other countries, such as Germany and Belgium, but most of these are sold in individual portion packagings.