FPA's Top Packaging Awards: Less Material, Better Packages
Green Globe for the Birds
Printpack Bags Two Awards
Fertilizer Spikes Pouch Stands Tall
Glenroy Delivers Mouthwash Pouch
High-Shrink Bag Holds Big Cheese
Rotated Patch TBG Bag Bends But Won't Break
Flexible 'Cantene' Good to Go
Good things keep coming in less packaging.
This, the mantra of the packaging industry in the '90s, is once again evident in the eight packages recently named winners of the Flexible Packaging Association's (FPA) 1998 Top Packaging Awards. The packages, produced by seven leading packaging converters, were recognized for outstanding achievement in flexible packaging.
In one way or another, the winning packages helped improve product protection, reduce costs and materials or open new markets to flexible packaging. Collectively, the flexible containers delivered innovations to the consumer, lawn and garden, and pet food marketplaces.
Green Globe for the Birds
The most coveted of the Top Packaging Awards, the FPA's Green Globe Award, goes to the package that most exemplifies environmental achievement. This year the award was garnered by a new flexible tray package for bird food that uses considerably less material than its predecessor. The "bird suet" package from Flexicon Inc. (Cary, IL), used by Coopersville, MI-based Heath Manufacturing, utilizes a forming web and top web that are run on a horizontal f/f/s Tiromat machine that was refurbished to accommodate this package.
The forming web is an adhesive lamination of 12-mil PVC to a 0.002" PE sealant, while the 3-mil top web is a 48-ga PET laminated to a 0.0025" three-layer coextrusion with a peelable sealant skin layer. This combination provides a hermetically sealed package with no potential for leakage of the oil-based suet cake and provides longer shelf life and little to no bug/rodent infestation. Moreover, the easy-peel package, which is aided by a ¼” flange around the package's perimeter, allows users to dispense the suet cake without getting their hands dirty — a feat not easily achieved with the previous package.
As for environmental advantages to this package, the new forming and top web laminations from Flexicon represent a 30% source reduction in film thickness from the previous package, which utilized a 20-mil PET preformed tray that was filled and overwrapped in 1.5-mil polypropylene film. In addition to being a thinner structure, the formed web uses less square inches per impression vs. the previous preformed tray; the former tray comprised 33 sq in per impression, while the new tray uses 28.2 sq in. — a 14.5% reduction. Also, the new packaging system leaves virtually no trim scrap between packs on the web.
The new Tiromat system, available from Convenience Food Systems (Avon, MA), is also more efficient than the previous packaging operation. Formerly, separate steps were needed to produce preformed trays from PET rollstock, manually transport the formed trays to the filler, fill and cool the suet, and, finally, overwrap and label the package. With the new automated horizontal f/f/s machine, the bird suet packages are form/fill/sealed inline. Prior to filling, six-color paper labels are applied to the lidding.
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Printpack Bags Two Awards
Providing a bag with improved seal integrity along with outstanding barrier properties earned Printpack Inc. (Atlanta) one of its two Top Packaging Awards. When Kettle Foods of Salem, OR, decided to improve its packaging for tortilla chips distributed nationwide the company had several demands: a window in the bag, seals that would hold up when shipping at high altitudes, improved clarity, stiffness and barrier, as well as a film that wouldn't wrinkle.
Printpack's Kettle Tortilla Chips Package meets all of these criteria, plus expands the shelf life of the product by 30%. This is achieved with the bag's oxygen barriers of less than 0.05 cc per 100 sq in per 24 hrs at 0% RH and 23°C, along with a clarity of 6.8% haze. The package's structure consists of 1.38-mil OPP laminated to a 1.5-mil, five-layer coextrusion that includes EVOH, LDPE and a metallocene-based polyethylene with a layer of LDPE as the laminant. Matte-finish inks, used to flexographically surface-print the outer OPP layer in six colors, provide a natural paper look consistent with the end-user's potato chip line.
Kettle reports sales increased 30% with the new package over the previous structure.
In addition to producing the tortilla chip bag, Printpack showed its versatility by winning a second Top Packaging Award in a totally different category. The Ortho Fire Ant Killer standup pouch with resealable zipper has helped Solaris, the owner of the Ortho brand name, also improve sales since the package's launch in mid-'98. Featuring fiery red and orange, eight-color flexo-printed graphics, the 4-lb pre-made pouch replaces a spiral-wound paperboard canister with paper label. Not only are the new graphics a vast improvement, but the flexible, crushable pouch takes up less landfill space. The PE zipper, heat-sealed into the pouch, ensures recloseability for this highly toxic lawn and garden product.
The polyester/polyethylene/LLDPE structure of the pouch provides improved moisture protection over the previous canister and allows nursery/garden retail stores to keep the packages near misting devices. The flexible package offers better odor barrier, and the standup feature helps differentiate the product on store shelves. The pouch is filled on a standard multi-wall bag line and then heat-sealed above the zipper.
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Fertilizer Spikes Pouch Stands Tall
Another standup pouch that stood tall in the Top Packaging Awards was Jobe's Fertilizer Spikes, designed by Duralam Inc. (Appleton, WI). Said to be the first standup pouch for fertilizer spikes for the gardening market, the new pouch gave Easy Gardener, the maker of Jobe's, a competitive advantage, a broader market, and dramatically reduced packaging materials. Previously, the tough, abrasive fertilizer spikes where packaged in either a PVC thermoformed tray sealed to a paper pegboard, or a carton with PVC shrink overwrap. The new standup pouches, which come in three sizes — 5”Wx6-1/4”Hx2”bottom gusset; 5-1/2”x7-5/8”x1-1/2”; and 6”x9”x3” — reduce the packaging elements from two to one.
The zippered, recloseable pre-made pouches are waterproof, making them suitable for outdoor display. Strong eight-color graphics are achieved through reverse-flexo printing of an outer layer of 48-ga polyester using fade-resistant inks. The polyester is adhesive-laminated to a tough 2.5-mil white LLDPE sealant. The largest size uses a film structure of 48-ga polyester/1-mil nylon/4-mil white LLDPE for extra toughness to handle the sharp, jagged-edged 6” spikes.
Easy Gardener (Waco, Texas) says that since introducing the new pouches last August sales of some of the Jobe's products are up by as much as 55%.
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Glenroy Delivers Mouthwash Pouch
When Warner-Lambert needed a flexible pouch for sample packs of Cool Mint Antiseptic Listerine to be delivered in newspaper inserts last April, the company listed package integrity and product protection as priorities. The package had to withstand compression inside stacks of heavy newspapers without bursting. Glenroy Inc. (Menomonee Falls, WI) developed a pouch that holds a single, 20-mL dose of mouthwash while meeting the distribution challenges.
The pouch is a laminate of polyester/white LDPE extrude/foil/ethylene acrylic acid co-polymer extrude/Barex film. The reverse-printed polyester is used as a strength layer with seven-color flexo printing. Foil provides the barrier properties against long-term loss of water, alcohol and aromatic oils. The unique heavy-gauge Barex film — extruded from Barex resin from BP Chemical (Cleveland) — is used as a high-strength sealant layer and also retards scalping of essential ingredients from the mouthwash. Marietta Corp. (Cortland, NY) contract-packaged the product.
The Listerine marketing program included the United States and seven other countries. Therefore, eight different language versions of the package were printed.
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High-Shrink Bag Holds Big Cheese
Viskase Corp. (Chicago) developed an award-winning high-shrink barrier bag for respiring cheese for Brewster Dairy of Brewster, Ohio. The pre-made bag employs patented materials and methods that allow the film to maintain high tensile film strength across unsupported areas while shrinking at optimum temperatures.
Most respiring barrier bags for cheese pass through a hot water shrink tunnel set to no higher than 165°F. The unsupported film stretched over the open eyes of Swiss cheese is vulnerable to popping while passing through the shrink tunnel. At 195°F, other respiring cheese bags experience rebag rates near 25%. Packagers producing other cheeses in addition to Swiss are required to stop production and reduce the shrink tunnel temperature before continuing. Viskase's CLEAR-TITE 16 cheese bag is formulated and manufactured for use at 195°F, resulting in reduced food processor downtime while presenting no eyehole-related rebags in the hot water shrink tunnel. The five-layer blown-film coextrusion for Brewster consists of ethylene vinyl acetate/tie/EVOH/tie/EVA. The film allows carbon dioxide out while preventing oxygen from entering and provides a retail package that is smooth and flush across all the surfaces of the cheese.
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Rotated Patch TBG Bag Bends But Won't Break
The Cryovac Division of Sealed Air Corp. (Duncan, SC) has developed the Rotated Patch TBG Bag, which provides cost-effective bone protection for vacuum-packaged cuts of bone-in meats over previous packaging alternatives that were either over-packaged or had excessive leak rates. Many bone-in meat products require boneguard protection on the bag edges, and some of these products also require retail display. Therefore, achieving package integrity without over-packaging is a challenge — if the bone protection is ineffective, shelf life can be greatly reduced.
The Rotated Patch TBG (Total Bone Guard) Bag overcomes these problems by laminating a clear multilayer, shrinkable, heat-sealable patch to the outside of the transparent bag. The all-plastic bag structure is a multilayer, high-barrier, heat-sealed shrink bag that also has oxygen barrier layers. The Rotated Patch TBG Bag reduces the square inches of packaging material dramatically by incorporating the patch material on both sides of the bag without covering the middle — a feat not previously feasible, according to Cryovac. In addition, the TBG Bag drops into the current vacuum packaging process with no changes in equipment. The minimal material used for the patch along with its clarity allow consumers to see all of the product without excessive packaging.
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Flexible 'Cantene' Good to Go
Fabricated by Pactech and available from Nalge Nunc International Corp., both of Rochester, NY, an unusual flexible standup pouch container originally marketed to outdoor enthusiasts as an alternative to a rigid, portable container also was named a Top Packaging Award winner. The Nalgene Cantene pouch offers users a wide-mouth, large-capacity, leakproof flexible container that can be boiled and frozen when filled. The package includes a neck-finish assembly that is heat-sealed to the pouch and a threaded closure that's connected to the neck-finish assembly by a strap. The 63-mm wide-mouth screw-cap feature also allows end-users to easily clean and fill the Cantene. The closure, finish and strap are injection-molded of HDPE by Nalge.
The refillable, water-resistant Cantene offers good strength properties, capable of withstanding a six-foot drop test. The clear pouch is constructed of a blend of nylon, EVOH and Ultra LLDPE. The 7-½” milliliter LLDPE blend, multi-layer film provides gas barrier properties that help prevent pH and bio-changes of the bag's contents. The flexible container weighs 50% less than its rigid counterpart, and because an empty Cantene uses 80% less space than that of a rigid container, the impact at landfills is also 80% reduced.
The Cantene's design allows the flexible package to be used alongside rigid containers on the same production line. Pactech constructed special heat-sealing machines for this project. These machines are said to be the only ones capable of sealing a 63-mm fitment to a standup pouch.
For more information:
Suet Package, Flexicon Inc., 165 Chicago St., Cary, IL 60013, Tel: 847-639-3530, Contact: David Bartish.
Kettle Tortilla Chips Package, Printpack Inc., 4335 Wendall Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30336, Tel: 314-731-6700, Contact: Jennifer Green.
Ortho Fire Ant Killer Package, Printpack Inc., same as above.
Jobe's Fertilizer Spikes Standup Pouch, Duralam Inc., 2621 W. Everett St., Appleton, WI 54914, Tel: 920-734-6698, Contact: Sue Vanderloop.
Cool Mint Listerine Pouch, Glenroy Inc., W158 N9332 Nor-X-Way Ave., Menomonee Falls, WI 53051, Tel: 414-255-4422, Contact: Neal Moore.
Clear-Tite 16, Viskase Corp., 6855 W. 65th St., Chicago, IL 60638, Tel: 708-496-4200, Contact: John Mathis.
Rotated Patch TBG Bag, Sealed Air Corp., Cryovac Div., P.O. Box 464, Duncan, SC 29934, Tel: 864-433-2000, Contact: Chip Bolton.
Nalgene Cantene, Pactech/Nalge, 110 Halstead St., Rochester, NY 14610, Tel: 716-288-5480, Contact: Chad Buchta.