E-Commerce Supplement 2022 by PMMIMediaGroup

PRESENTS

JUNE 2022

Brands developing packaging for e-commerce must strike a balance between form, function, and sustainability. EC_Cover_0622_DigitalEdition.indd 1

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JUNE 2022

D2C SIOC Shoes Make Sustainable Statement

D2C Transformation: A Tale of Two Bakeries

Blockchain’s Role in Tracking Food Across E-commerce

PetPlate Personalizes the Unboxing Experience

Advertisers in this issue BEUMER Group GmbH www.beumergroup.com Fibre Box Association www.fibrebox.org PAC Machinery www.pacmachinery.com

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PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies www.pmmi.org

Ryson International Inc. www.ryson.com

Shurtape Technologies www.shurtape.com Texwrap Packaging Systems www.texwrap.com Weber Packaging Solutions www.weberpackaging.com WestRock www.westrock.com/aps Wexxar/Bel www.wexxar.com

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JUNE 2022

D2C SIOC Shoes Make Sustainable Statement Micah Heftman hadn’t yet heard the acronym SIOC (ships in own container) when he designed a shoebox for his new product line. He was just pleased to have eliminated the ‘box within a box’ experience. Only when he heard about SIOC did he realize there was a name for what he had just created. By Matt Reynolds, Chief Editor

ustainable footwear startup Kengos kicked off its e-commerce journey as soon as it first hung out a shingle in early 2021. There are a few others in the marketplace already, including entries from heavy hitters Nike and Adidas—Space Hippie and Parley, respectively—and a challenger brand in All Birds. But partners Dave Costello, CEO and Founder, and Micah Heftman, Chief Product Officer, say Kengo’s has a unique niche in the market identified. “How could the market need another sustainable shoe brand?” Heftman asked the audience at Smithers’ E-Pack event in Chicago in November 2021. Kengos shoes’ most visually striking design element stems from the whip“Kengos exists to be a force for good stitching that mechanically attaches the sole to the upper without adhesive. in the fight against climate change, and That design element is reinforced in the packaging design, which is also we do that by producing the world’s most entirely mechanical. sustainable shoe. We chose footwear as our first product because it’s globally ubiquitous and it’s personally expressive—everyone has container) e-commerce story began to unfold. Ultimately, shoes, and everyone wants more shoes. The dirty secret Heftman and Kengos decided that if Kengos was going to in the industry is that it’s a wasteful and resource-intensive disrupt the shoe market with a commitment to sustainability, product to produce, and if we could just produce them in a it’d have to walk the walk with its packaging. more sustainable way we could have a huge impact since Packaging follows there are so many of them produced.” the product’s ‘North Star’ This upstart challenger brand without a doubt has an According to Heftman, the driving force for the entire interesting product and a unique entry into this market. A Kengos concept was to follow two North Stars: “One is to visit to the website will explain why in more detail, but the use the fewest varieties and lowest volume of materials big picture is that the shoes are made from plants and can possible; to take away as much as we possibly could while be considered vegan, using no animal products. They are still giving someone a shoe that’s incredible and comfortable mechanically held together with no glue or other adhesive, and wearable,” he says. “And the second one is, of the and only use five discrete components compared to the remaining materials that we do have to use, make the industry average of 30 to 50 components. highest percentage possible of materials used plant-based. But my packaging-trained ears really perked up when I Those two North Stars are what created the shoe, so when heard Heftman mention the amount of greenhouse gasses I went to create the packaging, we applied the exact same produced by the footwear industry, and how he believes two driving forces. that truly sustainable footwear requires drastic changes to “After all, I only make two things, I make shoes and I existing supply chains and packaging norms. make shoeboxes,” Heftman says. “I’m a D2C e-comm brand; And that’s where Kengos’ unique SIOC (ships in own

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there are no other touch points. I have to have my packaging be just as good as my shoes. The package is the product. The shoes are more complex to manufacture than is the shoebox, but the shoebox is just as important.” In a brief describing his vision for a shoebox, a memorable unboxing was identified as a key, as it can reinforce the brand for weeks or months in the customers’ mind. The shoebox would also have to serve as billboard space; other than the website, the shoebox is the only physical space that Kengos has for branding. He needed all surfaces doing branding work. Further demonstrating that the packaging is the product, the shoe doesn’t have any glue or adhesive, so the kraft corrugated shoebox couldn’t either. The same applied to size; since the shoes were as minimalistic as possible, the shoebox had to use as little material as possible. And finally, Heftman early recognized the inherent wastefulness of shipping “a box within a box.” All those factors combined to shine a spotlight on SIOC as the answer.

SIOC shoebox

Rather than turning to packaging professionals, Heftman relied on his own shoe business supply chain experience to develop shoebox that he says, like the shoes, are completely unique to the industry. The boxes lock together mechanically—a physical attribute extended from the mechanically stitched shoes themselves—and all available corrugated space is printed for branding and consumer engagement. He initially landed on 180 GSM weight corrugated with fluting between two layers of cardstock. After first experimenting with a lighter gauge, he realized the D2C channel needed to be more robust. And since that first round of kraft corrugated shoeboxes, Kengos continue to iterate smaller. “Over the course of very early development, I was doing a little bit of shipping internationally to test out the box and I was getting a lot of broken boxes,” Heftman says. “I’d gotten to 180 GPM, and now my next box is an even a heavier weight, it’s the next step up from that. That thing is bulletproof. It uses three-tab mechanical construction instead of two. We’re just making it

The corrugated SIOC shipper is printed in three colors on both sides, so all branding and messaging space is used as a billboard.

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A tear strip, printed to reference to the product’s stitched design, gives consumers a satisfying, controlled rip when opening the shoebox. smaller and smaller, and more robust.” Kengos shoes span 12 unisex sizes, and two shoebox sizes cover the whole range—one size for the largest shoes, the other for the smallest. Heftman says that in a perfect world, where he’s able to fully follow that reduced material North Star, he might have six different shoebox sizes, with each optimized to fit only two shoe sizes within millimeters. That would keep material usage at a minimum. But with packaging suppliers needing to tool up for each specific shoebox size, and with MOQs being too high for a single shoebox to work only for, say, sizes 6 and 7, that level of optimization isn’t yet practical. Two shoeboxes for a range of 12, though, was doable, and a good material reduction compromise for now. As the business grows and Heftman’s better able to justify MOQs and paying for tooling, look for Kengos to have six shoebox sizes for his 12 shoe sizes. He points out that this creates wins across COGS (cost of goods sold), since: “less material is always cheaper,” he says. “Less material consumption, less volume, and lower dimensional weight is going to lead to cascading bottom-line wins. You consume lest material, in transit and in storage, you save on last-mile shipping, on labeling, on trim, on collateral, on all of these things that are the status quo [in the footwear industry]. But you don’t need any of that.” All Kengos uses when it comes to labels is a UPC label since costeffectively printing a barcode onto the corrugated has been elusive. Also, a ground shipping label is affixed by UPS in a designated window that’s printed onto the corrugated. This makes shipping label placement mindless for whoever is doing the applying, and the brand knows that placement will be repeatable, never covering any design assets.

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JUNE 2022 Kengos shoes are hand-crafted by an artisan finished goods manufacturer in the North American hub for footwear manufacturing and its attendant shoeboxes: Leon, Mexico. These bulk shoes are bulk cartoned, and sent “down the street” to be hand-boxed in the SIOC shoeboxes for individual orders. “And even my bulk packaging gets customized,” Heftman says. “I customized the last-mile box, but if I can customize the bulk shippers that the shoes ship in from the finished goods manufacturer, to the warehouse, I can optimize even further, and ensure that 100 percent of the internal volume of the larger cartons are used. I can ensure that the footprint of the pallet is being completely filled, and I can ensure that the maximum shipping height is being utilized. This way we can generate wins across the board.” Industry standard bulk cartons for finished footwear usually contain 12-18 pairs of shoes. Heftman gets between 24 and 32 of his shoes into his customized bulk cartons.

Unique challenges of SIOC

As pumped as Heftman is about his unique shoeboxes, he recognizes that SIOC is not without challenges. Since these corrugated boxes are designed to be single-use, that makes return logistics more difficult. If a consumer wants a different color or size shoe and needs to make a return, he or she is likely able to re-close the existing shoebox and shoes with overtape. However, that means an entirely new singleuse SIOC shoebox will be required to send the new shoes.

Tactile tear strip experience

Kengos shoeboxes use a built-in tear strip that consumers use to open the boxes, and people say they remember this unboxing experience because of this satisfying, controlled rip it produces. “It’s a little journey that [consumers] go on that reveals unexpected messaging underneath. Then, they arrive at the shoes themselves, which are in 100% cotton shoe bags, complete with 100 percent cotton closures rope,” Heftman says. “It’s the little touches that are so important.” Speaking of little touches, a few other details on the box help create a full story that connects the features of the product to the shoebox. The visible, one-knot construction that adjoins the sole to the upper body of the shoe is integral to the brand’s entire aesthetic, so Kengos reinforces the same visual on the tear strip by printing it with the shoe’s characteristic whip-stitch closure stitching. Design agency The Working Assembly out of New York City assisted with brand design elements such as these. Despite all the special touches and thought behind the SIOC pack, Heftman realizes that once the unboxing is complete, that packaging will be headed out with the recycling almost immediately. So it’s during that unboxing that he seeks to make a big impression. Between the shoes and the box, he added a branded, reusable cotton shoe bag that can be repurposed, thus live on longer than the soon-tobe-discarded corrugated. The time of the unboxing is also the time when consumers are most likely to share information on their purchase on social media. That’s why the three-color screenprinted corrugated prompts consumers on how to correctly @ and # (‘at’ and ‘hashtag’) the brand on Instagram, or whatever the latest social media site might be. “There’s a call to action,” he says. “Share, tag us, etc. This leads to lots of engagement on social media.”

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Exterior (above) and interior (below) layouts of the first iteration of the Kengos SIOC shoebox. The company has since iterated smaller, more robust versions with three locks instead of two.

CMY

Also, since Kengos decided to go the custom route, that means that printing plates and knives for cutting the corrugated had to be created from scratch by his suppliers. There’s certainly some tooling involved if a D2C retailer decides not buy off-the-shelf packaging, and frankly there aren’t a lot of options that are available off-the-shelf at the moment.

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JUNE 2022 “SIOC is also great for single item orders, but not for multi-item orders,” Heftman says. “What I end up having to do is going to the status quo and overboxing it. I don’t have a current solution on how I take two pairs of shoes, in a twopair order, without overboxing.” Speaking over overboxing, the entire idea is to avoid overboxing altogether, meaning the single remaining box needs to be that much more durable and robust—it won’t have the assistance of another internal box to help it withstand the rigors of the many-touch e-comm channel. Corrugated used for SIOC needs to be more robust than a shoebox sent to retail, and that costs more and uses more materials. Brent Lindberg of Fuseneo, a Chicago agency specializing in e-comm, SIOC, and package design testing for D2C, had created an unboxing video with the SIOC Kengos shoes. Watch it here.

“And finally, these boxes lock mechanically, so once they’re locked, they’re locked,” he says. “Once they’re locked in the warehouse, I can’t check the contents or add collateral. And if I do, I’d destroy the existing shoebox and need to then invest in a new one. … That said, until now, even though

there are improvements that I’ll make and things I need to figure out with SIOC on the whole, it’s been well-worth it from a branding perspective and bottom line,” Heftman concludes.

Consumer reaction makes it worthwhile

Kengo’s customer interviews reinforce Heftman’s belief and reflect that the SIOC packaging hits its mark. These reports indicate that the brand’s larger sustainability goal is well-reflected and recognized in the corrugated, with people noticing that there’s no “box in a box.” Also, the stuffing, dunnage, or product dividers that people are used to seeing in a shoebox are conspicuously absent, and the customer immediately understands why such things aren’t used. People also report that it’s fun packaging, both in its brightly colored appearance and in its engaging, tactile tear strip. “I love tearing the box open to reveal the prize inside,” reported one Kengos customer in the research. This comment, above all others, validated Heftman’s original goal of creating a SIOC shoebox that would act like a treasure chest, with consumers eagerly engaging with the corrugated to reveal a treasure inside—and who knows, maybe even post about that treasure on Instagram? ■

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JUNE 2022

Fresh Food Accelerates its D2C Transformation: A Tale of Two Bakeries Fresh food, including baked products, has lagged other CPG categories in e-comm adoption for obvious shelf life- and cold chain-related reasons. But increased consumer willingness to use the channel after the onset of the pandemic has bakeries doubling down on D2C programs, and packaging optimization naturally follows.

ots of bakeries had D2C programs before COVID-19, including New York’s Levain Bakery. And at Taartenwinkel.nl in the Netherlands, the business model was predicated on e-commerce. But the pandemic so altered consumer behavior—from the initial wave of e-comm during the shutdowns, to the greater familiarity and adoption of such channels thereafter—those bakeries were forced to fortify their D2C programs. In the case of Levain, online business tripled during the pandemic. And Taartenwinkel, a producer of cakes meant to feed entire parties, experienced a shift to

individual treats like brownies and pastries when the Netherlands halted gatherings of six or more people. Meanwhile, during lockdowns, consumers were becoming more cognizant of the mountain of packaging that e-commerce produces, intensifying demand for more sustainable formats. Out of this crucible and unprecedented set of circumstances emerged a new attitude toward, and aptitude for, D2C baked products. What follows are the e-comm packaging journeys of just two bakeries that have reacted to the shift, Levain and Taartenwinkel.

Levain Bakery Builds a Better E-commerce Box

A four-count box of cookies uses two universal inserts to protect the cookies during transit. Vibrant graphics depict the ‘cookie parade,’ with a mix of individuals reflecting the diversity of the neighborhood in which Levain Bakery was founded.

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neighborhood institution turned national brand, New York City-based Levain Bakery is famous for its decadent, freshly-baked cookies. The bakery’s mostly chocolate chip-based cookie assortment has become so popular, in fact, that when COVID-19 shutdowns hit, Levain’s online business rose by 200%. The boost in e-commerce orders prompted the brand to redesign its packaging, resulting in a more operationally efficient and more vibrant package that also more clearly reflects the brand’s homegrown roots. Levain Bakery was founded in 1995 as a small bread shop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan by two friends, Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald, both of whom were passionate about baking—and about competitive sports. One day, they created a generously portioned chocolatechip walnut cookie to give them energy while training for a triathlon. They decided to sell a batch in their bakery, and the palm-sized, 6-oz cookies flew off the shelves. After that, the cozy shop on West 74th Street became a neighborhood favorite and a destination for epicurious travelers from around the world.

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Since then, the company has expanded its brickand-mortar reach, growing to 10 stores and launching a frozen-cookie retail product, and now offers its decadent cookies online. Prior to the pandemic, Levain packaged its e-commerce orders, available in four-, eight-, or 12-cookie sizes, in cartons that were then placed in corrugated shippers filled with protective packing materials. But the increased demand in online orders required a packaging refresh. “We were already a growing brand, opening new bakeries, scaling our e-commerce business, and expanding into grocery retailers,” says Levain Bakery CEO Andy Taylor. “The challenge was creating a packaging solution that not only ensured our customers would receive our product in pristine condition, but also improved our efficiency to better meet demand. When COVID-19 caused New York—and the rest of the world—to shut down, we saw online orders multiply, and we needed a supplier that had the flexibility to meet accelerating demand on a greater scale.”

Universal insert protects product, reduces packaging

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) was chosen for the project by Levain due to its ability to meet the bakery’s package design, printing, and warehousing needs. RRD’s first task was to design an e-commerce shipper capable of delivering product protection, while reducing excess packaging materials and complexity. Shares Lisa Pruett, President of RRD Packaging Solutions, “We supplied different iterations of packaging and inserts for the Levain team to evaluate. They then thoroughly transittested the prototypes to ensure there would be no tearing or crushing of the packaging, so customers would receive their cookies perfectly protected for the best possible experience.” The structure selected by Levain is a recyclable, die-cut, roll-end lock-front (RELF) shipper made from 200# B-flute corrugated, fitted with a universal corrugated insert that is also 200# B-flute. “The inserts are the same for each pack size,” explains Bill Rizzo, Director of Business Development for RRD. “Having one universal insert for its three different order box sizes—one insert for the four-cookie box, two for the eight-cookie box, and so on—dramatically lowers the complexity of the production process as well as the quantity of SKUs used.” When the corrugated insert is formed, the structure becomes rigid and builds a lip of material along the bottom that guides the cookies to “float” when they are placed inside. In this way, the cookies are not flat on the bottom of the package, so when the packaging is moved in transit, the cookies bounce instead of getting smashed. Says Rizzo, this “give” offers left-to-right and front-to-back security. “The inserts also fit snugly into the shipper, which limits any movement inside the actual box,” he adds. “Coupled with the insert design, these cookies have excellent protection from breaking.”

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The outside of the box is printed in one color— Levain’s signature blue—with the white of the box creating a ribbon-effect. The shipper style was chosen, says Rizzo, because it’s extremely easy to assemble: It takes approximately 10 seconds to fold the flaps of the shipper and put it together “making this choice a cost-effective option that’s also structurally sound,” he notes. On the logistical side, the shippers can be easily stacked without undermining the strength of the box, which is a significant advantage when handling large order levels. And, it’s lightweight, which gives Levain a cost advantage when it comes to paying for shipping. Lightweight packaging is good, but not if it’s too light, resulting in damage. Says Pruett, “We found that B-flute corrugated was our ‘Goldilocks’ shipper in that it was both lightweight, and the structure held up and performed to our expectations.” “On behalf of our clients, sustainability and efficiency is a key focus of our team at RRD,” she adds. “For Levain, we were able to reduce the use of unnecessary materials per order while significantly cutting down the time it takes to package and ship the product, improving efficiency by 50%.” With the new design, an eight-step process for assembling the box and packing product has been reduced to four steps: The box is formed, inserts are added, cookies—in a cellophane bag hand-tied with a blue ribbon—are placed in the box, and the box is closed. Says Rizzo, “This has much to do with the simplicity of the die-cut mailer shipper style.”

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JUNE 2022

New box delivers ‘surprise and delight’

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Both the box style and its branding were designed to provide consumers with the “surprise and delight” factor that a successful unboxing experience imparts, Rizzo shares. Graphics for the shipper were designed by Levain in partnership with The Creative Pack and include decoration on both the inside and outside of the box. On the outside, the shipper is flexo-printed by RRD in one color, Levain’s signature blue, and looks as if it’s wrapped with a white ribbon (the white being the unprinted portion of the box) bearing the bakery’s logo. The inside is litho-laminated in four colors plus one PMS color and features an illustration of “the cookie lover’s parade,” with a variety of characters of different ages, abilities, ethnicities, and genders making their way across the inside flap. Said Pentawards, which honored the design with a Gold Award for E-Commerce, Branding & Consumer in its 2021 competition, “It [the design] presents a more wholesome and inclusive view of NYC, where the bakery is based.” Regarding the structure’s contribution to the unboxing experience, the shipper is designed with thumb notches that allow the consumer to stick their thumb under the crease and easily open the box. “This is another functional area that contributes to the ‘wow’ factor of the opening experience,” says Rizzo.

Replenishment model saves space

The last part of the project was to address Levain’s limited warehouse capacity. Explains Pruett, a new system put in place by RRD allowed Levain to manage its own inventory and determine a reorder point based on its forecasts, while RRD met the bakery’s warehousing challenge with a replenishment model. “Because of the fluctuations in demand during the pandemic, RRD acted as a resource to make sure Levain was always stocked with the packaging they needed, as they needed it,” she says. This included providing Levain with partial orders as necessary for its rolling shipments of 15 pallets per week. RRD kept the balance of the order in close proximity at an RRD warehousing facility [in Pennsylvania] so Levain could tap into this inventory when needed while not overpacking its warehouses. As demand for shipments increased, so did the frequency of shipments. Levain’s cookies, baked fresh daily, are available in five flavors: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, Two Chip Chocolate Chip, and Oatmeal Raisin. They can be purchased online for shipment anywhere in the U.S. and are priced at $27 for a four-pack, $49 for an eight-pack, and $68 for a 12-pack. —Anne Marie Mohan

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The corrugated industry has a long-standing and proven commitment to sustainability and an inherently circular supply chain. Only trees from sustainably managed forests are used to make corrugated boxes, and each year, more trees are planted than harvested. In fact, more trees live on American soil today than 50 years ago, now covering one-third of U.S. land1. With a recycling rate hovering around 90 percent for the last decade, the corrugated industry closes the loop by reusing fibers from recycled boxes to make new ones. Square? Most likely. Circular? Definitely! Renewable. Circular. Extraordinary. Learn more about the renewability, recyclability and responsibility of boxes at boxesareextraordinary.com.

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JUNE 2022

Dutch Bakery’s E-Comm Pack Keeps Cakes Cool

aartenwinkel.nl is a popular Dutch bakery and e-tailer with a single location in Utrecht, Netherlands. Since its entire line of cakes, pastries, and petit fours are produced in-house in a single commissary bakery, the company controls its product completely, and enjoys a lot of freedom to innovate when it comes to pivoting to the latest trends and developments in baking and sweets. While consumers can certainly order a single cake for a family occasion, a large portion of its business is B2B. Businesses can upload logos, photos, or corporate messages that can then be printed onto the cakes, transforming them into marketing tools for clients, rewards for a successful product launch, treats for a company retirement party, or just about any corporate special event you can imagine. The Netherlands is about twice the size of the state of New Jersey, a manageable enough size that most any e-tailer ought to be able to easily serve the entire nation without air freight. And Taartenwinkel’s Utrecht bakery is mercifully located in the center of the country. Still, freshly baked products aren’t shelf-stable, durable, robust products that other e-comm outlets might be selling and delivering. These are delicate items that need to be delivered promptly and gently, all the while maintaining a certain temperature. For years, the company had relied on refrigerated trucks to maintain a cold chain temperature not to exceed 7°C (45°F) upon delivery. This system served its purpose well, but in recent years, customers began getting all-too used to the Amazon experience, and its attendant level of order management. “The refrigerated trucks worked great, but the only thing was they were not able to give us the service that consumers are used to at the moment,” explains Eric van Noort, Taartenwinkel’s owner. “If you order something from Amazon, you want to know where it is at any moment, and if it is on time. All of that is very important to our customers ordering cakes for an special occasion. And refrigerated trucks couldn’t give us that.” Watch the That’s why two years ago, van Noort WrapPak selected courier service PostNL, a central Protector European mail, parcel, and e-commerce system in delivery corporation, to transport product. action. Soon after, he upgraded to a new secondary packaging system by Ranpak, Recycold, and Akarton Innovative Packaging. “This system makes it possible to deliver the cakes, on time, with the e-commerce standards people expect,” he says.

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First tries

It took a bit of trial and error to arrive at Taartenwinkel’s current, entirely recyclable and waste-free packaging format. The company began with a secondary packaging format more familiar to catering businesses: expended polypropylene (EPP) thermal regulation boxes. These large, black boxes are intended to be returned for repeated use. “They use EPP a lot in the Netherlands to deliver food,” van Noort says. “The only the thing is you need a whole big warehouse to store all of them. And for the system to work, the boxes have to return to us.” The returns piece of the equation was a big drawback for Taartenwinkel’s courier partner, as that added layer of return logistics was fraught with extra work, requisite storage, and potential error. And EPP boxes that weren’t returned were simply lost inventory of a durable asset. Finally, when the EPP boxes were thankfully returned, they required extensive cleaning, equating to expensive (and wasteful, van Noort argues) water usage. Return logistics headaches aside, where van Noort really drew the line was in EPP boxes’ impact on product quality. It quickly became evident that using the same boxes repeatedly (even washed) to deliver fresh baked, one-off products wasn’t good for the cakes’ flavor and aroma. Fresh baked products— especially those with whipped cream—can both emit and pick up strong smells. The EPP boxes began to carry odors of their own; not of the fresh butter, cream, or shortening used in the fresh-baked product they presently contained, but of all smells the materials picked up over the lifetime of the EPP. And then there was potential for the many-use boxes to impart their own odors to the fresh product they contained, especially whipped cream cakes. Van Noort even cited smoking as a worst-case scenario—if someone was smoking next to a whipped cream cake, that cake will pick up the smell, and then that’s introduced into the boxes that carry the cakes that also can pick up odor. To van Noort, the EPP solution wasn’t feasible for freshly baked cakes and pastries. “Our [delivery] partner said, ‘I want to deliver for you, but I don’t want to do it with these boxes,’” van Noort recalls. “I said, ‘Me neither.’”

A better solution

Going back to the drawing board, van Noort got in touch local Dutch company Recycold Cool Solutions, a thermal refrigerant company that uniquely produces entirely recyclable cold packs for thermal transport of food, ingredients, and pharmaceuticals. Recycold introduced him to Ranpak and its WrapPak Protector system, designed to

5/20/22 13:55

Cool packs used by Taartenwinkel are made from a drain safe, plant-based gel, and the paper-based pouch containing the refrigerant is recyclable.

an entire box surface with just one insert. Wrapping, blockingand-bracing, and interleaving are also possible with the pads. According to Ranpak, the features listed above mean the WrapPak Protector unit can replace a wide range of existing packaging materials that a company like Taartenwinkel might’ve chosen instead, including dunnage, aluminumcoated plastic films, tapes, and inserts. The WrapPak Protector converter is also highly programmable to match evolving needs, and it’s small enough to use at a pack table, either inline or as a standalone unit, according to the company

Functional and sustainable

Waved paper pads serve both as blocking and bracing for a delicate carton board cake box, and insulation to keep things cool.

A two-side printed paperboard carton cake box delights Taartenwinkel customers upon opening. insulate a package’s contents and maintain a prescribed temperature in concert with cold packs like Recycold’s. In fact, in December 2021, Recycold was acquired by Ranpak, though the two were still separate entities during this project. The Ranpak system includes a physical installation of semi-automatic WrapPak Protector equipment. This rollstockfed kraft paper converting system creates waved paper pads, good at trapping insulating empty space, at programmable sizes and increments. For fulfillment centers interested in box lining, the wide paper pads produced on the system can cover

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Taartenwinkel ended up adopting the format it still uses today, which includes Recycold cool packs, the Ranpak WrapPak thermal insulation, and a custom printed corrugated shipper box from local converter Akarton. This secondary packaging system accommodates the two-side printed paperboard carton cake boxes, one element of packaging that the bakery didn’t have to change. “It works well, we’re really happy with it,” van Noort says. “It functions as simply as paper that is printed out of a machine. There’s a lot of air in [the resulting waved paper pads], but we needed it [to maintain] the right temperature, so we did some tests. We tested the product first in temperature chambers to check if it works, that was step one. And we also did it in real life. For example, on one the hottest days in the summer, it also works. So, that’s really good.” At the time of pack-out in the Taartenwinkel facility, the cakes are kept at an ambient temperature of 2°C, so that’s the starting point. These cakes exit the facility at 9 p.m. every evening, and most are delivered to their destination by 1 p.m. the following day, if not earlier. The Ranpak and Recycold system successfully maintains the temperature without breaking 7°C, until after 6 p.m. Knock on effects of the packaging system are that it provides a dramatic unboxing experience. Cakes are usually ordered for festive occasions, so printed secondary packaging with visually appealing branding—Taartenwinkel uses white on kraft corrugated—gives consumers a sense of opening a present. And for the sustainability-minded consumer, which describes a lot of Dutch folks, the entire system—from printed paperboard cake box to cold packs, from waved paper insulation to printed corrugated shipper box—entirely recyclable in the Netherlands. No cleaning of reusable shippers means far less water used in the operation, so, van Noort says, “there’s no waste at all.” Based on the success of this format, Taartenwinkel bought a second Ranpak WrapPak Protector system—not for increased capacity, rather for redundancy in the case of breakdown. “My whole business would shut down without it, so, we have one extra,” van Noort says. “But the first one works so great and we’ve never had to use it before.” —Matt Reynolds

5/20/22 13:55

JUNE 2022

Blockchain’s Role in Tracking Food Across E-commerce

ast October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Section 204 defines stricter recordkeeping requirements (FDA) held a summit to better understand how for certain foods (cheeses, nut butter, fresh herbs, fruits and human and animal foods are sold through business vegetables, fish, ready-to-eat salads, etc.). The rule creates to consumer (B2C) e-commerce models in the U.S. and a standardized approach to traceability recordkeeping. And globally. The meeting was a direct response to the pandemic blockchain is key. and the increasing number of people ordering food online. As This is not a new concept. We’ve written about how such, there is a new need to establish a course of action to Walmart is using blockchain to onboard suppliers to the address potential food safety vulnerabilities, including those IBM Food Trust platform. IBM Food Trust uses blockchain to that may arise in the last mile of delivery. create visibility and accountability in the food supply chain Topics discussed at the by connecting growers, three-day event included processors, distributors, types of B2C e-commerce and retailers through a models (i.e. meal kit permissioned, permanent, subscription services and and shared record of food ghost kitchens); types of system data in an immutable delivery models (i.e. third ledger to ensure quality of party and autonomous products. delivery—such as drones); A reminder of what safety risks associated with blockchain is—and isn’t—in foods sold through B2C the supply chain. First of e-commerce; standards of all, it isn’t cryptocurrencies, care used by industry to like Bitcoin. It is the control these safety risks; technology that underpins regulatory approaches to cryptocurrencies and other food sold online; and labeling applications by providing of foods sold through e-commerce. a secure, decentralized approach to distributing digital This followed the introduction of the FDA’s New Era of information in a way that can be shared but not modified. Smarter Food Safety Blueprint (see pwgo.to/7577) first introThe FDA is encourage more use of blockchain. “More duced in 2020 (and put on hold due to the pandemic), which comprehensive traceability through access to records of identifies future paths of action to address how new business key data elements associated with critical tracking events in models of food delivery impact food vulnerability. The blueprint food production and distribution has the potential to help us builds off of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), pinpoint the exact sources of foods involved in an outbreak,” and states, “The world is changing rapidly and we are in the said Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s safety commissioner for food midst of a food revolution…foods are being reformulated, new policy and response. “Not only does this help us to remove foods and food production methods are being realized, and potentially unsafe products from the market more quickly, the food system is becoming increasingly digitized.” preventing additional illness or death, but it also helps us to To that end, the blueprint is centered around four core conduct root cause investigations to figure out what went elements: Tech-enabled traceability; smarter tools and wrong leading to the outbreak.” approaches for prevention and outbreak response; new The problem has been a lack of data, which can be used business models and retail modernization; and food to not only create more traceability and help to safety culture. provide for predictive analysis. Let’s focus on tech-enabled traceability because The question is: Can blockchain solve food the first step in the FDA’s work will be to complete traceability in the supply chain, which is now Read how the FSMA Section 204 rulemaking to harmonize extended—through e-commerce—to last-mile Walmart the key data elements and critical tracking events delivery to the consumer? Will a consumer receive is using needed for enhanced traceability. Ultimately, the a text message that says the bag of lettuce they just Blockchain. goal is to have end-to-end traceability throughout bought is tied to an outbreak of foodborne illness? the food safety system. According to the blueprint, The answer will likely be: Yes. That’s what the FDA’s part of that is to “implement an internal digital New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint aims technology system, such as blockchain, to receive to do. But it will be up to the food and beverage critical tracking events and key data elements from manufacturers to figure out how to do that. —Stephanie Neil industry and regulatory partners.”

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5/20/22 09:47

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5/18/22 16:48

JUNE 2022

PetPlate Personalizes the Unboxing Experience

irect-to-consumer pet food company PetPlate makes no bones about it: Its packaging is key to the overall PetPlate customer experience, its service, and the personalization it delivers. That’s according to company COO Jason Sussman who shares that in early 2021, PetPlate took the brand’s customization strategy and the consumer unboxing experience to new levels using personalized marketing technology from UnDigital. Founded in 2016, PetPlate sells ready-to-eat meals and organic treats and supplements for dogs through an online subscription service and the independent pet retail channel. When a consumer purchases a meal plan via PetPlate’s website, the plan is customized to support their pet’s individual health needs, and the food is shipped directly to their door on a recurring basis. PetPlate’s packaging comprises resealable containers, pouches, insulation, and the outer shipper. And now, through the UnDigital platform, a customer’s first order also includes a colorful, personalized insert welcoming their dog to “the PetPlate family” and providing customized feeding instructions for their pet, customer service contact information, and details on how they can receive a discount when they refer a friend. Explains UnDigital, “With the information they collect on their customers and their customers’ pets, PetPlate is able to personalize and customize each insert for every customer based on a variety of factors, including order number, pet’s name, sex, age, weight, breed, and dietary needs, and more.”

Adds Sussman, “This ensures that each and every pet receives the optimal nutrition so that they can live longer, happier, healthier lives.” An example of an insert for a new customer whose dog is named Daisy (see image, top right) includes a reference to “her” in the Feeding Guidelines, as well as instructions to feed her 1⁄2 of an 8-oz container of food two times per day, treats as needed, and two supplements per day. “These are all dynamic elements that populate for every customer based on their pet and their pet’s needs,” says UnDigital. “All sections of the

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insert contain these dynamic, personalized elements.” UnDigital’s automated platform comprises software and Epson on-demand printers that allow brands to personalize the inserts and then measure the results, directly at the fulfillment center. Explains Sussman of the process at PetPlate, “Order data is transmitted from our e-commerce platform to UnDigital via their API [Application Programming Interface]. We have nine locations around the country. Each one has Epson printers supplied and configured by UnDigital.” Shares UnDigital, the software’s dashboard provides real-time conversion information from campaigns. It adds, “Conversions are tracked back to the customer who received an insert, so there is no guessing or misattribution. Merchants can easily see which campaigns are driving more conversions and use that data to optimize performance.” According to Sussman, since PetPlate began using the UnDigital marketing solution, it has seen a 20% decrease in customer inquiries regarding feeding guidelines. There has also been an overall improvement in the customer experience and a clearer, easier transition in onboarding new customers. While PetPlate started the marketing program with inserts in customers’ first orders only, Sussman says the company’s vision is to have an insert with helpful, useful, or fun information in every order, “regardless of whether it’s the first or the hundredth.” —Anne Marie Mohan

5/20/22 09:47

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