Companies constantly innovate with technology and redesign their packaging to get better performance, improve marketability and enhance sustainability. Here’s a look at four recent packaging product launches or redesigns on Packaging Dive’s radar.
Mayo management
Unilever wants consumers of its Hellmann’s products to eat up every last bit of mayo, thanks to a new edible, plant-based coating on the interior of some squeeze bottles in Europe. The “easy out” technology helps the condiment slide out of the bottle, rather than getting stuck inside. Reducing the amount of residue left inside boosts the bottle’s recyclability, according to a news release, while also improving the customer experience.
“We know consumers want to be able to squeeze out as much product as possible — it’s an important cost and value benefit,” Krassimir Velikov, senior science and program leader, science and technology, said in a news release. “[W]ith both the plant-based market and our squeeze bottle formats set to continue growing, improving consumer experience and satisfaction is vital.”
Velikov, who was one of the leads on the innovation team that developed the coating, described challenges with creating a slippery interior that keeps the product moving, without the coating interacting with the condiment. “For example, a tenth of a percentage increase of the plant-based ‘egg’ could add a full 15g leftover portion to the waste,” he said.
The bottles also are “made with 100% recycled plastic where technically feasible,” according to the release. The bottles with the plant-based coating are being introduced in the U.K. and Ireland this year, and the rest of Europe after that.
Making a mark
U.K. grocery chain Tesco is testing new avocado labels that are only skin deep: “the process essentially leaves a tattoo,” according to a company release. Produce supplier Westfalia Fruit introduced the barcode stickers that are laser etched into avocado skin as a replacement for plastic-based stickers.
High-powered lasers are directed by a computer program to remove a tiny portion of the avocado’s top skin layer to create the messaging. The process takes about one-third of one second for each avocado.
Tesco says it sells about 70 million avocados annually, and demand is growing. The tattoo trial will begin in about 270 stores in southeast England and will be rolled out across the grocer’s footprint if consumer feedback is positive. Tesco anticipates the label change could eliminate the use of nearly a million plastic stickers.
Simultaneously, Tesco is testing cardboard containers in place of the traditional plastic ones for two of its avocado lines. The fiber trays are more easily recyclable, according to a news release, and could eliminate up to 25 million pieces of plastic packaging.
Coasting toward pollution reduction
Coast Cannabis is adding an unspecified amount of plastic reclaimed from the ocean to its packaging. The plastic is sourced through “responsible collection and recycling efforts” and undergoes a “meticulous transformation process” to meet packaging standards, according to a news release. The new packaging maintains the same durability and functionality as previous versions while helping to eliminate plastic pollution in the environment, according to the company.
“We began recovering ocean bound plastics by organizing local beach clean-ups and partnering with Save The Harbor in Boston,” Angela Brown, CEO of the Massachusetts-based cannabis edibles company, said in the release. “We were looking to expand our reach, now we are talking trash with AE Global and working together to reduce ocean bound plastics around the hemisphere.”
Stay chill
ProAmpac introduced its patent-pending ProActive Recyclable FiberCool bag that the company says is curbside recyclable.
The insulated bag provides temperature retention for food and grocery deliveries, according to a news release, while offering an alternative to “multi-material and multi-step” insulated packaging. The product’s temperature control properties outperform the conventional paper bags often used for these deliveries, according to ProAmpac. Further details were not shared on the bag’s composition.
“FiberCool is a pioneering one-piece design that enhances insulation properties, eliminates assembly time, saves storage space, and reduces materials and costs,” said Chad Murdock, fiber division president, in the release.
