Packaging World November 2020

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NOV2020 packworld.com

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A ‘Cottled’ Wine for Every Occasion 30

Cannabis Brand Takes Page from ‘Big Confectionery’ 36

A French Take on Paper Bottles 48

Gable Top Filler Benefits from Servo Precision 56

Coffee Pod Co-Packer Realizes ERP Perks

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Don’t Let This Season’s Styles Become Next Season’s Clearance Now is the time to streamline your warehouse returns process.

An increase in order fulfillment also means a greater amount of returns. If you have a mountain of returned goods still unprocessed, chances are you’re wasting profits, labor resources, and valuable warehouse space.

Get returned items back on the shelf faster with the AUTOBAG® brand 650 horizontal bagging system designed to immediately increase labor productivity and reduce operational costs.

See how the new AUTOBAG® brand 650 horizontal bagging system helps you repackage your returns.

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10/12/20 3:19 PM

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Wine in a ‘cottle,’ or a package that is a cross between a can and a bottle, is beginning to pop up on shelves across the country. Offering the same functionality and eco-friendliness as the can, the cottle also allows for unique shapes, greater differentiation, and resealability.

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FEATURES 30 Cannabis Redesign Takes Page from ‘Big Confectionery’

48 AUTOMATION Servos Come to Gable Top Filler

As attitudes toward cannabis push toward mainstream, brands like Green Thumb’s incredibles are beginning to apply more traditional, mainstream CPG packaging and branding techniques.

Greatly improved control over positioning capabilities, better filling accuracy, and advantages in cleaning and sanitizing are all gained from new controls platform.

36 SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING A French Take on Paper Bottles 36

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50 Co-Packer Ramps Up Coke Variety Pack Project

When this CEO learned of a paper bottle that would both differentiate his new line of household cleaners and be more sustainable, he had to have it for his new line.

Co-packer Bonded Pac puts the company’s core values into play to bring on the capabilities needed to produce print-registered club-store multipacks for Coke-Consolidated in record time.

38 COVER STORY A ‘Cottled’ Wine for Every Occasion

56 Coffee Pod Co-Packer Benefits from ERP Perks

With canned wine now mainstream, wineries are looking for even greater differentiation, introducing products suited for a range of lifestyles, in uniquely shaped aluminum bottle cans with equally arresting graphics.

Between limiting downtime, speeding up throughput, and a host of soon-to-be realized improvements based on ERP data harvesting, Pod Pack is making the most of its new Enterprise Resource Planning system.

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EASY AND SMART CONTROL Control and monitor all functions in the gluing process from the location of your choice. Robatech Control System – The best approach to straightforward system integration. www.robatech.com/easy-and-smart-control

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DEPARTMENTS 8

packworld.com PACKAGING TV

COLUMNS

Trending Topics at PACK EXPO Connects

7 Lead Off 26 The Legal Side 28 Sustainable Packaging 60 Shelf Impact!

64 Professional Perspective

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NEWS/EVENTS

VIDEO

8 News 20 Quotables/By the Numbers 61 Industry Watch 60

Bumble Bee Brand Reinvention pwgo.to/5785

INTERVIEW

22 First Person PRODUCTS VIDEO

49 Automation Technology 62 Technology

Nestlé Waters: Do You Speak Bioplastic?

ADVERTISING

63 Advertiser Index

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Aladin Alkhawam Director, Packaging Operations, Par Pharmaceutical Jan Brücklmeier Technical Application Group Packaging Technology Expert, Nestlé David France Packaging Research Fellow, Conagra Foods Patrick Keenan R&D Packaging Engineer, General Mills/Annie’s Organic Snacks Mike Marcinkowski Global R&D Officer, GPA Global & Hub Folding Box Co. Paul Schaum Chief Operations Officer, Pretzels Inc. David Smith, PhD Principal, David S. Smith & Associates Brian Stepowany Packaging R&D, Senior Manager, B&G Foods, Inc. Jasmine Sutherland President, Texas Food Solutions; Vice President, Perfect Fit Meals

Connect with a Leaders in Packaging supplier and support packaging education!

ON-DEMAND DEMOS

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Connect with us:

www.packworld.com/leaders

Packaging World® (ISSN # 1073-7367) is a registered trademark of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. Packaging World® is published monthly by PMMI with its publishing office, PMMI Media Group, located at 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611; 312.222.1010; Fax: 312.222.1310. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices. Copyright 2020 by PMMI. All rights reserved. Materials in this publication must not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Applications for a free subscription may be made online at www.packworld.com/subscribe. Paid subscription rates per year are $200 in the U.S., $285 Canada and Mexico by surface mail; $475 Europe, $715 Far East and Australia by air mail. Single copy price in U.S. is $20. To subscribe or manage your subscription to Packaging World, visit Packworld.com/subscribe. Free digital edition available to qualified individuals outside the United States. POSTMASTER; Send address changes to Packaging World®, 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611. PRINTED IN USA by Quad. The opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of PMMI. Comments, questions and letters to the editor are welcome and can be sent to: editors@packworld.com. Mailing List: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we don’t include your name, please write us at the Chicago, IL address.

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Visit our virtual showroom pe.show/158 at PACK EXPO Connects November 9-13, 2020

IMPROVE EFFICIENCY WITH INTEGRATED END-OF-LINE SOLUTIONS. Introducing the CP eMerge™ Combo, WestRock’s newest automation technology for food bowls that combines sustainable secondary and tertiary packaging into one system. The singleoperator, end-of-line solution manages multiple SKUs and minimizes downtime by allowing for quick changeover between a range of bowls and trays. The integrated combo design is uniquely suitable for those with footprint constraints.

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westrock.com/automation ©2020 WestRock Company. All rights reserved.

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EDITORIAL Matt Reynolds Editor Patrick Reynolds Vice President, Editor Emeritus @Packcentric Iris Zavala Managing Editor Anne Marie Mohan Senior Editor @PackagingTrends Aaron Hand Editor-at-Large Jim Chrzan Vice President, Content and Brand Strategy Kim Overstreet Content Strategist, Alignment Eric F. Greenberg, Ben Miyares, Sterling Anthony Contributing Editors

ART David Bacho Creative Director

AUDIENCE & DIGITAL David Newcorn Senior Vice President, Digital and Data Elizabeth Kachoris Senior Director, Digital and Data Jen Krepelka Director, Websites & Digital Design Strategy

ADVERTISING Wendy Sawtell Vice President, Sales • wsawtell@pmmimediagroup.com Lara Krieger Production Manager • lkrieger@pmmimediagroup.com Kelly Greeby Senior Director, Client Success & Media Operations Alicia Pettigrew Senior Manager, Product & Revenue Strategy

PMMI MEDIA GROUP Joseph Angel President, Publisher Susan DaMario Director, Marketing Amber Miller Senior Marketing Manager Bea Greany Brand Operations Manager Sarah Loeffler Director, Media Innovation Janet Fabiano Financial Services Manager Lloyd Ferguson Founding Partner

Packaging World • PMMI Media Group

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Staff at PMMI Media Group can be contacted at info@pmmimediagroup.com

Cama Group is a leading supplier of advanced technology secondary packaging systems, continuosly investing in innovative solutions. /user/Cama1Spa

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LEAD OFF

HORIZONTAL Miss PACK EXPO Connects? No Problem

This November 2020 issue of Packaging World will have landed in your mailbox about a week after the industry’s most engaging 2020 event, PACK EXPO Connects from PMMI Media Group (PMG).

Did you miss it? Or maybe you were able to attend some of it but didn’t get to everything you wanted to. That’s unavoidable with all of the concurrent educational sessions, product demonstrations, trends reports, and real-time interaction with suppliers and vendors.

Real-time interaction is one of the more valuable features of any event, whether it’s in-person or virtual. PACK EXPO Connects was specifically designed with live, brain-to-brain information exchange in mind. Real human product experts manned each demo and booth and were able interact with attendees via chat in real-time. And of course, all of that valuable interaction came without the hand sanitizer, six-foot spacing, and mask.

But the reality is that even online, we can’t be two places at once. Attendees have to prioritize their time at events, in-person or otherwise. PACK EXPO Connects will have held well over 2,500 live demos, so nobody could have experienced it all in a week anyhow.

Fortunately, one of the many benefits of virtual events (besides being able to attend from your couch wearing jogging pants) is that all of the content can be recorded and saved for future consumption. That’s just what PMG has done with PACK EXPO Connects, so even though the event was last week, it’s all still available at your fingertips, and will be available until March 31, 2021.

Here’s what you can still find, at your leisure, at packexpoconnects.com: Product Demonstrations. For most attendees, the bottom-line reason for attending any packaging industry event is to learn about new product innovations that could benefit their businesses. Whether your brand is in need of updated packaging machinery, fresh new design ideas, more sustainable materials, or the latest in robotics or controls, you’ll find it at PACK EXPO Connects—and still will be able to for months after last week’s event. Under normal circumstances, some suppliers may even find it time-, labor-, or cost-prohibitive to bring all of their latest equipment to a physical location, but that limitation disappears in the virtual setting. And even though that live booth attendant that was there Nov. 9-13 won’t be literally ‘there’ to chat, his or her contact info will be right there in the virtual booth. And they’re expecting your call or email.

Innovation Stages. Tune in at your convenience to these 30-minute sessions to hear from exhibitors and industry experts on the latest breakthroughs and trends in sustainability, food & beverage, and more.

The Solution Room will consist of 45-minute sessions led by industry thought leaders and partner organizations, discussing packaging challenges and how to overcome them.

Jumpstart Sessions. These dynamic, news show-style video programs are highly engaging and fast paced, featuring dozens of subject matter experts alongside reporting from our own PMG editors. Daily focuses included sustainable packaging, workforce development, robotics, remote access/monitoring, and packaging for e-commerce, among others.

Daily Downloads. Our stable of PMG editors will be attending as many product demonstrations as they are physically able. Each day they will break down and summarize what they saw introduced at the show, and provide context with how some of these innovations fit into bigger picture trends that drive our industry to evolve.

Trends Chats. In these audio reports, we narrow our focus and drill down to fine detail on buzzworthy topics like cannabis packaging, serialization’s effect on healthcare packaging, and more.

We all miss the cordial, in-person live events that dotted the pre-pandemic packaging industry landscape, but it’s becoming clear that virtual events have their own suite of pretty nifty advantages. While the live, hyper-interactive element of PACK EXPO Connects came and went last week, just like a physical, in-person event would, one feature that’s unique to virtual events is the long-tail durability and longevity of the content, solutions, and innovations contained within. That’s something that not even in-person events can always claim, so take advantage. Visit packexpoconnects.com to find everything listed above and more. PW

mreynolds@pmmimediagroup.com

CARTONING

BUILT TO PERFORM

Learn More | Watch Videos

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NEWS

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Eckrich Deli Meats get a Research-Driven Pack Redesign Eckrich, the premium deli meat brand from protein-specializing brand owner Smithfield Foods, has long been known for its quality products and great taste. Last month, it introduced bold new packaging for its deli collection, which includes poultry, ham, bologna, and hard salami. With market research as its guide, Eckrich and design agency Coho Creative created a design that it says breathes new energy into the heritage brand with a modern, approachable look, all with its key consumer top of mind.

“In 2017, Eckrich, participated in a consumer attitude and usage study which explored target audience expectations and requirements for both Eckrich and the category,” says Laura Koenes, Brand Manager for Eckrich at Smithfield Foods. “Qualitative research was done through focus groups, and quantitative research was done through consumer surveys. Through this research, we learned that there was an opportunity to better convey consumer benefits on packaging to break through the visual clutter at the deli counter.”

Eckrich's legacy end-sealed bags communicated a premium feel, but didn't relate how consumers might engage with the product in the kitchen.

The new designs feature a white background and crisp imagery, displaying the product and information in an organized, eye-catching way.

The imagery also showcases the product in a prepared fashion, allowing consumers to see easy ways to create an Eckrich meal at home.

“We hope to inspire consumers with new and different ways to use deli meat in their everyday lives, while also better communicating the product benefits and the quality that they have come to know and trust from Eckrich,” Koenes says. “We wanted to create an approachable, differentiated, and simplified design aesthetic prioritizing what matters most to the consumer. This includes important product health claims, as well as product photography and flavor cues to inspire the consumer. The designs feature a white background and crisp imagery, displaying the product and information in an organized, eye-catching way.

“One of our key objectives was to ensure that we establish a bold, consistent packaging communication hierarchy to provide the consumer with the information and inspiration they need most. This includes branding, product name, health claims, as well as serving suggestion,” she adds.

The end-sealed bags are printed flexographically on clear films using a double hit of white ink and a mix of spot and process colors. The bags are made up of a multi-layer polyolefin structure with PVdC or EVOH. Color separations and proofing were provided by SGS, and the bags were printed using both Sealed Air and Amcor Flexibles. —Matt Reynolds

P&G, Pigeon Brands, Top 2020 PAC Awards P&G’s haircare brand Herbal Essence landed the top spot for Best of Show— Packaging Innovation at the 2020 PAC Global Leadership Awards for its tactile marked shampoo and conditioner bottles.

With the goal of improving accessibility, Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner bottles are indented with stripes and

circles during the laser marking process.

The touch navigation system alleviates inshower confusion and helps consumers, especially those with vision impairments, confidently perform daily tasks. P&G says it is the first mass hair care brand to introduce tactile markings.

The other highest honor was taken

by Pigeon Brands, which won the Best of Show—Brand Marketing PAC Global Leadership Award for their work with Dainty Foods. According to PAC, the premium black and sepia packaging won judges over for its ability to transform rice into a luxurious product while breaking out in a highly competitive category.

Small details including photography evocative of the country of origin of the variety, improvements to the bag’s

W a a S t h a

performance and easily identifiable brand blocking were catalysts to its success.

PAC Packaging Consortium (PAC), is a Canadian not-for-profit packaging association with over 2,400 members, and has remained a unified voice in the packaging community for over 70 years.

PAC members receive a member rate for their competition entries, as well as all other PAC education and events. For more information on PAC and other 2020 winners, visit www.pac.ca.

—Matt Reynolds

M

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©

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Visit our virtual showroom pe.show/158 at PACK EXPO Connects November 9-13, 2020

INCREASE FLEXIBILITY WITH AUTOMATED SHELF-READY PACKAGING. WestRock’s Meta® Duo offers true multi-channel, in-house automation of one- and two-piece shelf-ready packaging designs and ships-in-own-container units. Utilizing our unique Meta® Systems precision-forming technology, Meta Duo efficiently transitions between 4-sided, 8-sided and half-slotted containers, helping you meet various retailer and e-tailer requirements from a single, small footprint machine.

Meta® Duo

Multiple channels. One solution.

westrock.com/metaduo ©2020 WestRock Company. All rights reserved.

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NEWS

Plant-Based, Reusable Water Bottle is Geared Toward Tourists Make no mistake, Amsterdam loves tourists. But the plastic waste they leave behind from water bottles, not so much. Frustrated by seeing single-use plastic bottles increasingly litter the streets and canals around their homes, three Amsterdam-based friends recently came up with a solution: They designed a prefilled, reusable water bottle for sale at supermarkets and c-stores that’s decorated in a way that makes it a collectible souvenir, too.

Described as a “global vision,” Bottle Up first launched the concept in the U.K., where it’s been reported that more than 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles are consumed every year, with such bottles making up half of the plastic waste in the Thames.

“While steps are being taken for plastic reduction in homes, the Dutch-based entrepreneurs want to take the fight one step further by actively encouraging and giving people on-the-go and tourists the opportunity to buy inexpensive, reusable bottles prefilled with water for the duration of their stay to avoid the ‘grab and go’ culture.” That’s from Braskem, which supplies Bottle Up with I’m green™ sugarcane-based polyethylene resin for the reusable containers, which makes the bottles carbon-neutral, as well.

Shares Bottle Up co-founder Andrew Eversden, he and his colleagues met Braskem at a trade show where they were able to learn about the bioplastic material and its benefits. “We also heard of positive experiences from other brand owners using I’m green from Braskem,” he adds.

Because sugarcane is a source of renewable carbon, Braskem reports that for every kilogram of I’m green PE used, around 5 kg of CO2 is saved. “We’re very happy that Bottle Up decided to use our I’m green polyethylene for their bottles and are contributing to developing a way to transition from a single-use solution to a multi-use solution as well as significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the product,” says Marco Jansen, Circular Economy & Sustainability Leader for Braskem Europe & Asia.

First launched in July 2020 in 438 WHSmith retail locations across the U.K., including train station, airport, and hospital locations, the 500-mL bottles are available in two options: one with the word “LONDON” embossed diagonally down the side, and one embossed with the word “WATER” in the same format. The former is available in either blue or red, while the latter is offered in pink or black.

Bottle Up adds that the removable label found on the bottle

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at retail is made from a mix of 80% bio-based calcium carbonate, derived from marble mining waste, and 20% recycled high-density polyethylene. “Marble-based labels give a paper-like material feel that is tear-resistant and waterproof,” says the company. “No trees, water, or bleach are used during the production process, and the material can be recycled in the conventional recycling stream.”

Also recyclable are the bottles themselves, at end of use, although Bottle Up hopes they will be refilled and reused “again and again and again.” Says the company, “You can reuse the bottle as often as you like. The bottle is BPA free and made to last if treated well.”

But the packaging for Bottle Up is just one part of the brand’s sustainable equation. The company also takes into consideration the environmental implications of water bottle distribution. According to Braskem, production and transportation of bottled water uses the equivalent of 160 million barrels of oil each year. To mitigate this impact, the Bottle Up London bottle is made in Wolverhampton, England, by a proprietary supplier and is filled with English spring water from Elmhurst spring in Staffordshire.

Taking its social mission even one step further, Bottle Up also donates 5 pence, or 6 cents, from every bottle sold to a charity that is working to ensure everyone can enjoy clean water, decent toilets, and safe hygiene. The first group the company is working with is charity: water.

Since being launched in the U.K., Bottle Up has also made its debut in the Netherlands, with the Amsterdam bottle, in orange. Currently, the bottles are available in more than 1,500 stores throughout the Netherlands and the U.K., with another 1,000 to be added this year.

Also shown on the Bottle Up site are 14 other bottles that are “coming soon” from major cities all over the world. Dubai, Boston, Cape Town, Ibiza, and Tokyo are just a few. Each one is a different color and uses a typeface representative of the city. In September, Eversden shared that the bottles were scheduled to be launched in these cities within the next couple of months. With their bright colors and city names, the containers are already being collected as souvenirs in the places where they are currently sold, he adds.

While the cost of the Bottle Up bottle varies depending on the location, the company says on average it is €0.50 to €1 (or $0.59 to $1.18) more expensive than a single-use PET bottle.

—Anne Marie Mohan

10/22/20 6:50 AM

Visit our virtual showroom pe.show/158 at PACK EXPO Connects November 9-13, 2020

STREAMLINE YOUR E-COMMERCE PROCESSES WITH INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY. WestRock’s BoxSizer® intelligent right-sizing technology is the only machine on the market that can right-size multiple preloaded box footprints arriving at random to the infeed without the need for changeovers. By ensuring optimal package size and eliminating void fill, this solution reduces labor, improves sustainability, and lowers your total cost.

BoxSizer® Right-Sizing Technology

Package variability. Solved.

westrock.com/boxsizer ©2020 WestRock Company. All rights reserved.

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VERTICAL CONVEYOR SOLUTIONS

12 PW NOV2020

NEWS

Workforce Education is Vital to Support Growing Robotics Market By 2022, an operational stock of almost 4 million industrial robots are expected to be working in factories worldwide. These robots will play a vital role in automating production to speed up the post-COVID-19 economy. At the same time, robots are driving demand for skilled workers, therefore educational systems must effectively adjust to this demand. That’s according to a new positioning paper, “Robots and the Workplace of the Future,” from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

“Governments and companies around the globe now need to focus on providing the right skills necessary to work with robots and intelligent automation systems,” says Milton Guerry, President of IFR. “This is important to take maximum advantage of the opportunities that these technologies offer. The post-corona recovery will further accelerate the deployment of robotics. Policies and strategies are important to help workforces make the transition to a more automated economy.”

Says Saadia Zahidi, Head of Education, Gender and Employment Initiatives at the World Economic Forum, “Very few countries are taking the bull by the horns when it comes to adapting education systems for the age of automation. Those that are have long had a clear focus on human capital development. Countries in northern Europe as well as Singapore are probably running some of the most useful experiments for the future world of work.”

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According to the “automation readiness index,” published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), only four countries have already established mature education policies to deal with the challenges of an automated economy. South Korea is the category leader, followed by Estonia, Singapore, and Germany. Countries like Japan, the U.S., and France are developed, and China was ranked as emerging. The EIU summed up the order of the day for governments: more study, multi-stakeholder dialogue, and international knowledge sharing.

On a company level, change hiring is an option as a short-term strategy. “If you can’t find the experienced people, you have to break down your hiring practices to skill sets and not titles,” advises Dr. Byron Clayton, CEO of Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM). “You have to hire more for potential. If you can’t find the person who is experienced, then you have to find a person that has potential to learn that job.”

Robot suppliers can support education of the workforce with practice-oriented training. Says IFR General Secretary Dr. Susanne Bieller, “Retraining the existing workforce is only a short-term measure. We must already start way earlier—curricula for schools and undergraduate education need to match the demand of the industry for the workforce of the future. Demand for technical and digital skills is increasing, but equally important are cognitive skills like problem-solving and critical thinking. Economies must embrace automation and build the skills required to profit—otherwise they will be at a competitive disadvantage.” —Anne Marie Mohan

www.nerconconveyors.com 844-293-2814 News_1120.indd 12

10/22/20 6:52 AM

Visit our virtual showroom pe.show/158 at PACK EXPO Connects November 9-13, 2020

REDUCE LABOR COST WITH RIGHT-SIZED AUTOMATION. WestRock’s Pak On Demand™ Pouch System 3D scans products on a conveyor, creates a custom, right-sized, curbside recyclable pouch on demand and seals the package for shipment—all with a single operator. The streamlined process not only reduces labor cost, it also eliminates unnecessary void fill and shipping charges and increases packing rates up to five times over manual operations.

Right sized. Right now.

Pak On Demand™ Pouch System

westrock.com/pakondemand ©2020 WestRock Company. All rights reserved.

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NEWS

NestlĂŠ Water’s Poland Spring Joins with UMaine on Bio-Based Materials Poland SpringÂŽ Brand 100% Natural Spring Water announced a collaboration with the University of Maine and its Forest Bioproducts Research Institute to evaluate and develop bio-based solutions that could serve as alternative packaging for Poland Spring products. As part of the collaboration, the University of Maine will explore new possible uses of materials derived from sustainably harvested Maine wood, an effort that has the potential to advance the circular economy by contributing to the total utilization of this renewable resource. “UMaine is grateful for Poland Spring’s support of our worldleading research, development and commercialization in this area,â€? says Joan Ferrini-Mundy, University of Maine President. “Forestry is a cornerstone of Maine’s economy, and the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute was created to provide and promote technology validation and partnerships that will meet societal needs for materials, chemicals and fuels in an economically and ecologically sustainable manner. This collaboration serves that important mission, leveraging the expertise of our faculty and staff, and

facilitating the engagement of our students in cutting-edge research with important implications for our state and the wider world.�

Poland Spring is initiating this collaboration with the UMaine to assess biomaterial technologies that could serve as alternatives to petroleum-derived, non-renewable materials. This joint effort evolved after NestlĂŠ Waters North America (NWNA) sponsored a two-day bioplastics summit at the University of Maine in May 2019 that brought together stakeholders representing all sectors of Maine’s forest economy to discuss and explore these issues. “It’s great to see one of Maine’s strongest brands working with Maine’s flagship research university to look at new opportunities that

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are beneficial to both the environment and the economy of the state,â€? says Heather Johnson, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. “Any time Maine’s natural resources, the basis of our heritage industries for generations, are looked at with fresh eyes to promote innovation, it is a benefit to the entire state. Maine further secures a position in the global economy, and the industry is given an option that is better for the planet. This a great example of a strong private-public partnership.â€? “The University of Maine is pioneering new renewable and sustainable wood-based materials and processes that can be used as an alternative to petroleum-derived products, making them the ideal collaborator as we strive for a low-carbon, waste-free future,â€? adds David Tulauskas, VP and Chief Sustainability Officer, NestlĂŠ Waters North America, parent company of Poland Spring. “Their innovative work is already showing how a Maine-based circular economy is possible, and this project will identify additional potential uses for the state’s wood fiber byproducts as sustainable packaging or other products. We look forward to the potential innovative advances in packaging and other sustainability areas that may be enhanced and discovered through this collaboration benefitting the environment, the forest industry and the great state of Maine.â€? “The expanded use of forest-based biomass in areas such as packaging, infrastructure, equipment, novel materials and even biofuels is a key development objective for the Maine forest sector,

and this initiative between Poland Spring and UMaine is a great start,� says Patrick Strauch, Executive Director of the Maine Forest Products Council. “Diversifying the uses of Maine-harvested biomass is essential to the growth and sustainability of our state’s forest economy. UMaine is a longstanding partner in these efforts and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with them on this project.�

In addition to exploring alternative packaging, Poland Spring parent company NWNA has committed to achieve 25% recycled plastic across its U.S. domestic portfolio by 2021 and reach 50% by 2025. As NWNA’s most iconic brand, Poland Spring has called Maine home for 175 years and announced it would be the first major bottled water brand in the U.S. to reach 100% recycled plastic across its still water portfolio by 2022. Poland Spring 1-L, 1.5-L, 700-mL, and 20-oz bottles are already available in 100% recycled plastic.

Over the last decade, Poland Spring has given more than $9 million to local Maine community organizations, causes, and events through its Good Neighbor Grant Program and has donated more than 800,000 bottles a year to fire and rescue departments, non-profits, and communities in need. As the state’s fifth largest manufacturing employer, Poland Spring employs nearly 900 Mainers across three bottling facilities—Poland, Hollis, and Kingfield–plus ReadyRefreshŽ, the direct-to-consumer home and office delivery teams. —Matt Reynolds

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10/14/2020 2:45:34 PM 10/22/20 6:54 AM

16 PW NOV2020

NEWS

Agitator Pouch Shakes Up Precision Nutrition Precision nutrition products personalized through genomic and diagnostic testing to maximize readiness, resilience, recovery, and longevity, delivered in a unique pouch format with agitator for on-the-go preparation and consumption: that’s the proposition being delivered by Boulder, Colo., startup Me Biosciences. It’s a product platform that’s so compelling, it has not only been rolled out for everyday consumers wanting to optimize their health, but it has also caught the attention of the U.S. Air Force, where physical and mental health are imperative.

Me Biosciences’ first retail product was launched in early March. To receive a personalized nutrition product, consumers can request a test kit that includes a saliva test and two blood tests, along with instructions, a biohazard bag, and other items to assist in gathering and sending the material. From these samples, the company’s lab performs an Optimal Performance and Health Panel that is used to determine the consumer’s wellness needs and develop a personalized supplement.

The resulting powdered nutrition product is packaged in a pouch that allows consumers to “meet their needs at any given time and place,” says Aaron Beach, co-founder, President & COO of Me Biosciences. “With easy, on-the-go pouches, our customers are able to bring their supplements with them without worrying about the mess that your normal shaker bottle can make.”

The package is the Go Mix™, from Denver-based Go Mix Tech. Cofounded by Joe Hansley and Paul Sorbo, the company is a full turnkey contract manufacturer that developed the distinctive package to “revolutionize the way people consume their on-the-go powdered formulations.”

The patented pouch holds a plastic ball that was designed to break up powder—“very similar to your typical blender ball,” explains Hansley.

“As an athlete growing up, I always had complications when it came to consuming powdered products with a typical blender bottle. Powders are messy and a hassle to prepare and deal with, and blender bottles were always dirty or not accessible,” Hansley relates. “The agitator was added to ensure an even mix of the powder after the liquid is introduced.

Introducing powders to liquid without any sort of agitator often causes complications with clumps and an uneven mix. It’s unfavorable to the consumer experience as a whole.”

The ball was engineered Hansley Sorbo, who own the custom FeedersConveyorsAd.qxp_Layout 1 3/13/20by2:15 PM and Page 1

mold for the piece, which is manufactured overseas by a proprietary supplier. While Hansley will not share the exact dimensions of the agitator, he says it’s larger in diameter than the spout to ensure it can’t be removed and accidently consumed. The ball is made from a recyclable plastic, which he says makes the whole package recyclable.

The pouch itself is made from layers of polyethylene and nylon. In the future, Sorbo relates, the film will include 60% recycled material. To ensure the functionality of the pouch for each end-user application, Go Mix Tech runs quality control testing on all the completed product runs, including testing each barrier for stress, pressure, and moisture at different levels.

The pouch, in 10-, 12-, and 16-oz sizes, is also produced overseas by a proprietary manufacturer, but Sorbo notes that Go Mix Tech is in the process of bringing the entire operation state-side. The package is fitted with

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a child-proof cap, which Hansley says is essential when dealing with supplementation. “Many of the formulations that are going inside the pouch, such as CBD or pre-workouts, contain ingredients not recommended or suitable for younger children,” he explains.

Me Biosciences’ Beach says the company looked to Go Mix Tech for packaging in 2019 because they had worked with the founders on other projects and were aware of their knowledge and passion for human health and performance. He adds, “The relationship has paralleled both companies’ mission and values.”

The company is using the 12-oz shaker bag for three retail products: a pre-workout and two post-workout formulations, one with whey protein and another with essential amino acids. Beach shares that it will soon be launching other products, including formulas for sleep, immune, and skin health. Me Biosciences supplies Go Mix Tech with the formulas for the products; Go Mix provides the finished product with assistance from an Orem, Utah, manufacturer.

pouch will further enhance the solution, making it possible for them to easily mix and consume the nutrition products on base and in the field.

Me Biosciences is now eligible to pursue a Phase II contract with the Air Force, and the company is already in conversations with AFRL, Navy.

—Anne Marie Mohan

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Patent Pending As noted, Me Biosciences is working with the U.S. Air Force to bring its products to the military. In May 2020, it was awarded a U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract through AFWERX— a U.S. Air Force program with the goal of fostering a culture of innovation within the service—and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to advance the development of its precision nutrition technologies.

Says the company, “Although there is a demand to increase the resilience and longevity of the warfighter, the most direct solution for achieving this, precision nutrition, is currently underutilized due to the difficulties of scaling a personalized approach to nutrition. As Chris Young, a transitioning Green Beret and former XO at 10th SFG(A) told our team, ‘Our service members, and society at large, are overfed and undernourished.’”

According to Me Biosciences, through the SBIR contract it will be able to empower defense nutritionists and dietitians to scale their impact to the health and wellness of the soldiers in their care. Use of the Go Mix

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The NECOFLO-G6 has been designed from the ground up and provides the following features: • Controlled valve actuation • Single piece, FDA approved, long life, elastic polymer container seal • Bi-flow, self cleaning vent system • Recipe driven, multiple zone, product settling system • Stainless steel measuring flasks • “Lift Table” for each container • Variable height fill head • Closed loop MAP gassing system • “no-container no-fill” system For more information and specifications call Nalbach at: +1-708-579-9100, go to www.nalbach.com, or scan the QR Code to the right.

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10/22/20 6:56 AM

18 PW NOV2020

NEWS

Walmart Goes ‘Beyond Sustainability’ Since 2005, when Walmart began leading the charge in sustainability, most of its efforts—as well as those of most eco-friendly-minded CPGs and retailers—have focused on maintaining systems without degrading them. At its Sustainability Milestone Summit in late September, Walmart committed itself to going “beyond sustainability” to become a regenerative company, dedicated to placing nature and humanity at the center of its business.

“Regenerating means restoring, renewing, and replenishing, in addition to conserving,” explained Walmart President & CEO Doug McMillon in his opening address. “It means decarbonizing operations and eliminating waste along the production chain. It means adopting regenerative practices in agriculture, forest management, and fisheries, while advancing prosperity and equity for customers, associates, and people who participate in our product supply chain.”

The one-hour virtual event featured a number of Walmart and Sam’s Club executives as well as prominent CPGs and environmental non-profits who shared details on Walmart’s goals and projects moving forward that will be designed to “draw carbon dioxide out of the environment and bring it home,” as McMillon explained. He added that transforming the world’s supply chains to become regenerative involves four critical areas: climate, nature, waste, and people.

As part of Walmart’s new commitments around climate, the company is raising its ambitions to achieve zero emissions in its global operations by 2040, without the use of carbon offsets.

Doug McMillon, President Where nature is concerned, Walmart plans to help transition consumer product sourcing to a regenerative approach to help reverse nature loss and reverse global warming. “That’s why we, along with the Walmart Foundation, are committing to help protect, manage, and/or restore at least 1.5 million acres of land and one million square miles of ocean by

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2030, related to ecosystems that produce food and other consumer products,” said McMillon.

It will accomplish this by: • Continuing to support efforts to preserve at least one acre of natural habitat for every acre of land developed by the company in the U.S. • Driving the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices, sustainable fisheries management, and forest protection and restoration—including an expansion of Walmart’s forests policy.

• Investing in and working with suppliers to source from place-based efforts that help preserve natural ecosystems and improve livelihoods.

Added Kath McLay, President & CEO, Sam’s Club, later in the meeting, “Healthy forests sustain biodiversity.

They also support livelihoods and absorb carbon, playing an integral role in combating climate change. But deforestation continues to occur at an alarming rate. Recent reports show we lost the equivalent of a soccer field of primary rainforest every six seconds last year. That’s why Walmart is taking a holistic approach to addressing deforestation, and we’re on track to achieve our zeronet deforestation goals to source certified, sustainable palm oil, pulp, and paper in our global private brands by the end of this year.

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Jumpstart on demand Learn more about sustainable packaging, along with a host of other on-trend packaging topics presented during the recent PACK EXPO Connects Jumpstart sessions, at packexpoconnects.com.

“…As you can see, degradation of natural habitats and forests is very real. And while we’ve made progress in key areas, we recognize the need to raise our ambition. That’s why we’re expanding our forest goals by aspiring to source palm oil, beef, soy, pulp, and paper 100% deforestation-free by 2025. These efforts can support sustainable economies, biodiversity, and livelihoods, while helping meet our customers’ and members’ growing needs for sustainable food and products. “…I challenge everyone to find ways to help protect, manage, and restore nature. Suppliers can start right now by deepening their engagement with the agriculture and forest pillars of Project Gigaton [a Walmart initiative to avoid 1 billion metric tons, or 1 gigaton, of GHGs from the global value chain by 2030], using new tools, guidance, and progress calculated on our sustainability hub. But don’t stop there. We need bold, creative action across the board in all forms. Together, we can do this, and we will.” —Anne Marie Mohan

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20 PW NOV2020

QUOTABLES

BY THE NUMBERS

$1.3

Billion

The expected value of the molded pulp, or molded fiber, packaging market by 2024, which represents an increase of 6.1% annually, driven by the material’s environmental advantages, according to Freedonia Group

150

The number of experts in the Lego Group’s Sustainable Materials Program employed to create sustainable products and packaging

30-45 microns The thickness of laminated packaging materials that will hold maximum sway through 2030, registering an incremental opportunity worth $1.6 billion, according to a report from Future Market Insights

10,000

lb

The estimated amount of stretch film generated for every 1 million cases (using 50 cases/pallet), according to wood-alternative decking and railing manufacturer Trex Company

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“In line with our mission to make sustainable living commonplace, we are delighted to partner with Amazon on its Climate Pledge Friendly initiative. Amazon’s initiative will drive scale and impact for more sustainable consumption by helping customers easily discover products that are Climate Pledge Friendly and encourage the manufacturers to make their products more sustainable. Unilever is committed to delivering products that provide the best experience for consumers while reducing the impact that our products and our operations have on the environment.”

–Fabian Garcia, President of Unilever North America, in an article on Amazon’s blog, DayOne, “Amazon launches ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ program”

“We believe AB 793 will help solidify demand for rPET across the beverage industry, thereby stimulating the necessary further investments to increase regional supply. It will also help realign end-market use so that more food-grade recycled content is recycled back into food-grade applications. Recognizing these challenges in obtaining enough rPET, NWNA [Nestlé Waters North America] will continue to work collectively with industry, NGOs, governments and consumers to address critical issues related to infrastructure, collection, policy, consumer education, and development of end-markets for recycled materials. We are also doing what we can to encourage and inspire consumers to recycle more.” ​ –A spokesperson for Nestlé Waters North America, quoted in an article from BeverageDaily.com, “California’s 50% recycled content goal: Ambitious – but obtainable, say Coca-Cola, Nestlé, KDP”

“Shipping goods directly home is no longer purely a convenience.

Our B2B customers and individual consumers counted on boxes to deliver products safely and reliably when consumers were sheltering at home. While in the past few years total retail sales have been migrating to online sales about 1 percent a year, this year’s acceleration of more than triple that rate may forever change shopping expectations and habits. We are so proud of our industry and its employees as they have worked nonstop through the pandemic to deliver essential items during unprecedented high demand.”

–Mary Anne Hansan, President of the Paper and Packaging Board, in a release from the organization, “Paper and Packaging Industry Campaign Thanks Essential Workers”

10/21/20 6:35 PM

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10/21/20 6:36 PM

22 PW NOV2020

FIRST PERSON

Bumble Bee Reinvention Relies on Capable Leadership Jan Tharp, CEO of The Bumble Bee Seafood Company, discussed leadership and the direction the company is taking with OEM magazine editor and Packaging World contributor Stephanie Neil, during PACK EXPO Connects’ Jumpstart session Leading Through Chaos, the Story of Bumble Bee Seafoods.

Packaging World:

Are there things that you can point to during the recent challenging times specific to Bumble Bee and even now in the pandemic, that have really elevated the way that you lead or change the way you think about things?

filter your ideas through your own head, but to listen with empathy and compassion to what people are saying, certainly helps design the programs that matter to our employees or our team members. And so, we’ve done that. We did a survey to get a pulse of how people are feeling inside the company. We’ve done the exact same thing in our factories. And from there, we’re using that data to give back programs that help our team members. And the difference here is when this first started, everyone jumped to their own conclusions as to what our team members needed. And it went through our own filters of some of the things that we were thinking about. And what we found is that what they really needed wasn’t any of the things that we thought that they wanted. It was heightened communication. It was a few things that we could be doing better inside of our facility. And so, what our team members are feeling is: not only did we listen, but we’re paying back in programs that matter to them. And when you do that across an entire company, the results are actually remarkable.

Sustainability must be a key element of your identity since your company talks a lot about being advocates for fishermen and for the ocean. What does sustainability mean to the Bumble Bee brands?

We came up with a platform that we call Seafood Future. It’s focused on the fish, it’s focused on the ocean, and it’s focused on people.

We all need to be thinking about sustainability. When we develop a new product, it can’t go through the entire process and then hit sustainability after it gets on the grocery store shelf. It has to be part of the design process.

Jan Tharp: You’re talking about a crisis and leading through crisis. And essentially when you’re in that state, what you’ve lost is predictability and control.

And as humans that’s what we want. Without predictability and control, we all become very anxious.

If you can clearly articulate the plan and explain to your team members how long it’s going to take you to get to your end state, what that end state looks like, and how they can help you along in that journey, well, then you’ve diluted that anxiety and all that energy is moving toward your to-be state. It’s essentially communication. And it happens every single day. And if you can do that effectively, you can manage through a crisis.

Let’s talk about the operations. How have things changed to ensure the alignment, confidence and trust as you move forward in a new strategic direction?

One of the tenants of my leadership style is to listen. And that’s sometimes really difficult because when you’re in a situation and you hear of a problem, you want to solve for that problem, that’s our natural instinct. So being able to take a step back and listen, and don’t

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Ocean plastic is a big concern with consumers. So is the fact that the population is growing. The population should be right around nine to ten billion people by 2050. And what we’re doing today will not sustain that type of growth. Bumble Bee was one of the first companies to get into a plant-based seafood partnership. It doesn’t dilute anything that we’re doing in the wild-capture fisheries, but it certainly is another way of embracing the fact that together we need to do something to protect our oceans.

Are you able to measure whether or not this is something that is important to your consumers and resonating with them?

I would say plant-based definitely is resonating with the consumers from the standpoint that plant-based products in general are up 31%

10/22/20 8:50 AM

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24 PW NOV2020

FIRST PERSON

conversation with you and we can talk about sustainability and you will tell me how important the oceans are. But then when you go and make your purchase decision, is that conversation top-ofmind or are you looking for price? Are you looking for value? And I think that that’s different with each constituent, depending on where you sit on the spectrum.

Tell me about packaging. We’re seeing some different packaging coming from Bumble Bee (visit pwgo.to/5764 for more) and also this new commercial campaign.

Bumble Bee is positioning itself as a champion for sustainable fishing and it advocates for the We’re very excited about our new commercials because they’re people fishing our shared waters. communicating in a different way. Tuna is a fantastic product. [In terms of] the protein per calorie, there isn’t over the last couple of years. In our case, traditional seafood is, prior any protein that is better, [but] we haven’t been talking about that in to pandemic, relatively flat to declining. Again, plant-based seafood is a way that resonates with consumers. Every one of our ads is a use of not going to overtake traditional fisheries, but certainly it can live in education and it comes at it from a completely different perspective. that same space.

Whether you’re hiking, whether you’re at the gym, whether you’re just I think that a lot of consumers are concerned about sustainability, looking for something easy to make at home, we’re trying to bring that but there is a gap between intent and action. I can have a

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relevance back and we’re trying to do that in unexpected ways. I think every commercial that you see from the Yes! Bumble Bee! campaign, you’re not expecting a pouch to show up at the end, or you’re not expecting a can of tuna, and that’s by design.

The unexpected, the provocative, and the bold elements get people to start envisioning seafood in a different way, a new and exciting way. We’ve retired Horatio, our mascot of many, many years, and we have a much more of an adult presence on the shelf with Bee Well for Life. And we’re talking about the health benefits of our products, because there are numerous health benefits.

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You are a co-chair of the PMMI Packaging and Processing Women’s Leadership Network. Can you tell me why that is important to you?

I have always said there is something for everyone in the packaging and processing industry, whether you’re creative or technical. The landscape is so wide that it provides so many opportunities.

There’s something to be said about leadership and really honing in on leadership skills, because it is a completely different skillset and something that you need to work on if you’re going to motivate and influence people to join you on your journey. At the Bumble Bee Seafood Company, we want talent to join us here, and we have to do that through effective leadership skills. So, I think that is absolutely something that we can teach at the Packaging and Processing Women’s Leadership Network.

What is your long-term vision for Bumble Bee? If you would have asked me 10 years ago, I probably would answer, “Bumble Bee’s in the shelf-stable seafood category.” But that’s boring and that’s not going to get you to come to work for us. When you think about it and change the narrative and talk about what we’re really doing here at the Bumble Bee Seafood Company, we’re feeding people’s lives through the power of the ocean. And we are touching people’s lives. We are influencing them, and we are making them better. And that is something that people would want to be part of. People will want to join us on that journey because we are doing something for the planet. We’re fighting for the health of the oceans. We’re elevating lives of people that help us on this journey. And we’re also doing things for our brand, that’s at the core of why we exist. And, we’re trying to create products that resonate with consumers. That journey of feeding people’s lives through the power of the ocean is so much more impactful and so much more heartfelt. So, my wish as we look forward the next 10 or 15 years is that we bring that purpose to life and every team member around the world feels that, believes it, and is so proud to be on this journey with us. —Stephanie Neil

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10/22/20 6:55 PM

26 PW NOV2020

THE LEGAL SIDE

By Eric F. Greenberg, Attorney-at-law

Made in the USA: Easier Said Than Regulated A Martian wishing to read the mind of the American consumer could get a good headstart by reading product labels and advertising. Nowadays, if they did that, they would see that we’re very interested in products that are natural, organic, and, increasingly, “Made in the USA.” As a packager, you may have made the claim on your labels, or had the unwelcome experience of discovering a competitor’s label claims of origin that you suspect are false.

The Federal Trade Commission, whose job is to protect consumers from false or deceptive labeling and advertising, has proposed new regulations to clarify when you can and can’t lawfully make that claim. Those rules could add protection for American makers against unfair competition, especially given the fact that violators would now be subject to hefty monetary penalties. And yet, the proposed regulations wouldn’t make a big change from prior FTC policy.

Most American consumers want to support American businesses, so the Made in USA claim can be very relevant to their purchasing decisions. Recently, we have seen how political decisions and pandemics can draw attention to the surprisingly large number of products we buy, including drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients, that are made elsewhere, and that in turn has led even more Americans and companies to seek American-made products.

The thing is, there are often complex international supply chains for products or components or packaging, so it’s not always easy to say simply whether a product is made in the USA. The shorthand version of FTC’s position has long been that only products that are “all or virtually all” made in the U.S., with no or negligible foreign content, can lawfully make that unqualified claim.

Such unqualified Made in USA claims are the source of most controversies, because “qualified” or explained claims can provide more complete and truthful information to consumers. That’s why you will sometimes see more wordy claims that, to use an FTC example, a couch was “assembled in USA from Italian leather and Mexican frame.”

FTC’s proposed rules were published in July and the agency invited public comments to be submitted by September 14. Now FTC is looking over the 842 public comments it received. They’ll then decide if any of the comments offer information or arguments that inspire the agency to make changes to the proposal, or finalize the proposal as is.

The proposed rules would declare as unfair or deceptive the labeling of any product as Made in the United States “unless the final assembly of processing of the product occurs in the United States, all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the United States.”

Notably, labeling shown in mail order catalogs or promotional

materials, which the proposal defines to include materials disseminated by electronic means, that is, online sales, would have to comply with those requirements, too. Violators of the regulations would be subject to hefty monetary penalties.

The proposal is short (only five brief regulatory sections) and so seemingly simple, it might not be surprising that during a public workshop on this topic, “stakeholders expressed nearly universal support” for the agency to make a rule on this topic, the FTC says.

However, there has been controversy within the FTC itself. One of the five commissioners, Noah J. Phillips, voted against publishing the proposed rule, saying it exceeded the agency’s legal authority to regulate the information on labels, and another commissioner, Christine S. Wilson, said in early October, she “supports the FTC’s enforcement of deceptive Made in USA claims,” but similarly “ thinks the proposed regs” exceed the FTC’s legal powers over labels.

Three more points of interest about this proposal: First, you might remember a couple of years ago that the Trump administration announced a new policy that federal agencies had to eliminate two old regulations for every new one they make. No such elimination accompanies this FTC action, because, FTC says, independent agencies like FTC are not covered by the new policy.

Second, given what FTC describes as the nearly universal public support of stakeholders, any changes to the proposal when it’s made final would be a surprise, but a legal challenge to the final rule over the question of FTC’s legal authority to apply these rules to online sales would not, given the doubts expressed by the commissioners.

Third, another source of controversy could come from the interaction of the FTC proposal and the approaches of other federal and state regulators. In the proposed regulation, FTC says they don’t want the new rules to “be construed as superseding, altering, or affecting any other federal statute or regulation relating to country-of-origin labeling requirements.” When they wrote that, FTC likely had in mind the country of origin labeling, or COOL requirements, which themselves have been the subject of a fair amount of controversy over the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s approach, which allows imported meats that are processed here to be called a “Product of USA.” And yet, some commenters on the FTC proposal were U.S.based meat producers who do want FTC to help crack down on Made in USA label claims on imported meats processed here.

The proposed rule also says that any State’s requirement that is more protective of consumers than the new federal rules won’t be considered inconsistent with them. Phrases like “more protective” and “inconsistent” are essentially magnets for legal disagreements.

For such a simple-sounding rule with such widespread support, the future could nevertheless hold some U.S.-made controversies. PW

Eric Greenberg can be reached at greenberg@efg-law.com. Or visit his firm’s Web site at www.ericfgreenbergpc.com.

INFORMATIONAL ONLY, NOT LEGAL ADVICE.

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10/21/20 6:28 PM

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28 PW NOV2020

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

By Dan Felton, Executive Director of AMERIPEN

Recycled Content Mandates: Pros and Cons On August 30, 2020, as one of the last acts of the California legislature this year, the Senate unanimously passed Assembly Bill 793 requiring 50% postconsumer recycled content in plastic beverage bottles by 2030. The bill, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 24, has been hailed as the most aggressive recycled content mandate in the world and is expected to serve as a bellwether for other states. Prior to the passage of AB 793, AMERIPEN had already been tracking 17 different bills related to recycled content in packaging across seven states. We recognize that the interest in increasing the supply and demand economics of recyclables is strong, and we anticipate 2021 will see further legislative activity along these lines.

In a time when we are looking at creating circular economies and reducing waste during a period of collapsing government budgets and a downfall of global commodity markets, the idea of using recycled content mandates to increase demand for domestic recyclables appears compelling. Recycled content demands are subject to market economics: When virgin materials are high, recycled content can offer a cheaper alternative, but when virgin prices are low, the opposite can occur. So unless there is pressure from consumers or government, producers (brands and converters) will tend to pick the cheapest option.

Recycled content mandates offer a regulatory push to ensure producers buy recycled regardless of price, thereby increasing and stabilizing demand, as well as increasing the pricing for these commodities. It appears a straightforward logic, but as with most things related to sustainable packaging, there’s a lot of nuance to ensure we don’t inadvertently create unintended consequences.

Mandates operate within a system Recycling comprises a series of interconnected systems: collection, sortation, processing, and end markets. Inconsistent collection and sortation decrease the value of processed materials, which limits endmarket demand and use. Limited end-market demand can reduce investments in collection, sortation, and processing. Considering the complex interplay of systems involved in recycling, AMERIPEN believes policies enacted to create system efficiencies should consider impacts and opportunities across the entire system.

Exploring demand and supply: A 2017 study, “End Market Demand for Recycled Plastic,” from More Recycling noted that the most significant barrier to a converter’s use of PCR material was not always price (as assumed) but an insufficient supply of material that matches their specifications, with quality an issue for many applications. This finding was further echoed in their more recently released 2018 study, where they noted that the quality and quantity of PCR bottle material available to U.S. reclaimers dropped for the fourth consecutive year.

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Quality specifications vary depending on the end use and regulatory requirements; some materials require more robust specifications than others. This variability plays a role in influencing pricing and demand. Mandates that do not consider these factors may inadvertently create market distortions.

Evaluating market opportunities: People often speak of a circular economy as a closed loop, assuming that recycling should be redirected back to the same product. However, when we examine the history of recycling, we find that the most efficient use of a material often includes redirection to another purpose rather than direct reuse.

The 2017 More study also noted that the end markets most capable of absorbing recycled material were not closed-loop systems, but rather examples of remanufacturing into alternative products. Some plastic packaging and containers, for example, may have a threshold of 25% or less flexibility in using PCR content. In contrast, alternative end uses such as plastic lumber and fencing could function with 100% PCR material. This is further reinforced by a study from the Materials Recovery for the Future Initiative (MRFF)—an industry-funded collaborative designed to increase the recovery of hard-to-handle plastics— that found that 48% of the post-consumer plastic material collected through curbside programs and processed domestically is directed toward the manufacture of plastic lumber or agricultural films.

Clothing and carpet are also high users of recycled polyethylene.

The challenges of thresholds, regulatory restrictions, and quality can significantly impact how material is used and will influence whether a mandate creates unintended consequences.

Exploring lifecycle impacts: The ability to absorb recycled materials while reducing environmental impact will vary significantly depending upon the material and on product-specific needs. A study led by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) evaluating the use of post-consumer content within different paper products demonstrated that recycled content produced significant value for less-refined products, such as paperboard and corrugated, but more refined products, such as office paper and magazine sheets, resulted in an increased environmental impact compared to the use of virgin fiber.

Directing recycled paper toward paperboard, for example, resulted in an 85% to 95% fiber usage versus 50% to 70% fiber usage when recycled content was directed toward the manufacture of office paper.

Additionally, the higher processing involved in office paper over paperboard resulted in an increased use of chemicals to “whiten” paper as well as higher greenhouse gas emissions. Evaluating where and how recycled material can drive the greatest economic and environmental impact is a necessary strategy to ensure sustainable value.

Increasing recycling: One of the frequently understated goals behind many state bills regarding recycled content mandates is the desire to increase recycling rates or reduce materials that are

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mismanaged, for example, through littering or ocean debris. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and More Recycling both note that the recycling rate for plastic bottles in 2018 sits between 28% and 29%, indicating that significantly more bottles are discarded by consumers than are recycled. As More notes, “Too many consumers continue to be unaware of the significant usefulness, demand, and value of recycled plastics.”

Mandates can help reinforce the value of recycling, but support in educating consumers to reduce contamination and recycle correctly and increasing recycling through improved access and clear messaging are complementary and necessary approaches.

Qualifying recycled content: We’ve been fortunate to date that the states that do have recycled content mandates have harmonized their required percentages, making it easier for manufacturers working at a national level to create consistency. But as we move to variable rates across different states—led by the recent California bill—the need to qualify and provide assurance of recycled content claims is needed to ensure transparency and accountability within the system. The paper industry has a robust process to verify recycled content claims, but currently no such programs exist for plastics and some other materials. Establishing a methodological verification of claims is needed to ensure confidence.

Save Space and Increase Throughput.

Mandates require careful consideration The packaging industry appreciates the value of recycling. We believe robust waste management systems contribute to the reduction of litter and marine debris and contribute to the vitality of the American manufacturing sector. We understand that as global commodities have decreased in value over the years, the pressure on municipalities to pay for essential recycling services is a challenge. Increasing demand and the economics of material movement is a valued strategy. But if we are to support recycled content mandates, they should support our collective goals and avoid unintended consequences. Policies that incorporate the systemic interplay required across the entire packaging value chain will, at the end of the day, be the most successful.

An effective recycled mandate policy should explore ways to reduce contamination. This can be done through design, such as encouraging the use of The Association of Plastic Recyclers’ (APR) design guides (see pwgo.to/5760) and through consumer education programs like The Recycling Partnership’s bin tags (see pwgo.to/5761) or use of the How2Recycle label (see pwgo. to/5762) to reduce contamination at curbside.

If a significant barrier to packaging manufacturers’ use of recycled content is not finding sufficient volume to meet their specifications, then we need innovation to improve the quality of post-consumer resins. More innovations like the industry-funded PureCycle Technologies, which removes odor and color from resins, are needed. Support through government tax credits and academic R&D, for example, could scale up more innovation in this area.

We also need to understand that the highest and best use for recycled content may not always be in closed-loop processes. Targeting recycled content to other uses may drive more benefits from both a market and an environmental perspective rather than creating mandates that require high processing. In fact emerging data suggest that flexible films may be a valued material in road asphalt.

Lastly, we need clear communication with consumers to encourage their participation to increase the quality and quantity of recycled feedstock and also to provide them with transparent and accountable systems that increase their appreciation for the value of recycled content.

The diversity of the packaging industry creates challenges in aligning different materials and packaging formats around various policies, but we believe recycled content mandates that look holistically at demand and supply from the perspective of sustainable materials management could drive significant change. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), for example, recently released principles around recycled content. These principles support flexibility for many of the concepts we outline, while noting the value in creating improved demand.

Translating these principles into legislative action to proactively help our states develop innovative policies and shared value is needed. AMERIPEN members are currently working through this process. PW AMERIPEN represents the U.S. packaging value chain by providing policymakers with fact-based, material-neutral, scientific information.

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Along with more universal SKUs, each state in Green Thumb’s market gets its own hyper-local chocolate bar variety.

Cannabis Redesign Takes Page from Big Confectionery As attitudes toward cannabis push toward mainstream, brands like Green Thumb’s incredibles are beginning to apply more traditional, mainstream CPG packaging and branding techniques.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Mainstreaming cannabis

Package redesign

Brand identity

By Matt Reynolds, Editor Years ago, fledgling cannabis brands could be forgiven any slow progress in brand evolution, conservative takes at branding via packaging, and lack of a consistent, universal message. After all, consider the sheer number of hoops that package designers needed to jump through (and still do), and the disparate nature of those legal hoops from state to state. Also, it wasn’t so long ago that there were comparatively few pack formats that could do all the required heavy lifting of child resistance (CR), explicit THC and CBD content designations, ergonomics for older or disabled users, and track and trace coding to fit disparate, fragmented markets. And that’s not to mention the more typical food-grade barrier layer and puncture resistance functional needs that any type of gummy or chocolate bar packaging might require.

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But the industry continues to mature as packaging suppliers become more diverse and sophisticated, and new states decriminalize or legalize to open up previously untapped markets. As a result, an arms race is breaking out over pieces of a growing pie, and brand evolution is accelerating at a breakneck pace. This makes cannabis, particularly as it applies to food and beverage, a fun market to watch.

Early packages a reaction to uncertainty about product Given the explicitly outlaw character of pre-legalization or predecriminalization cannabis products—the often-cited image is that of the Graffix brand of smoking pipes, with menacing skull in court

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jester hat—it’s no wonder that the early legal, edible cannabis brands wanted to distance themselves from the outlaw motif. Many gravitated to a much less stimulating visual appeal. Soft, natural tones and gentle, cursive fonts were meant to elicit calm and confidence in the legality and safety of edible cannabis products contained in the pack.

But this justifiable, even smart brand positioning created a glut of similarly branded edible gummies and chocolates that now meet consumers at dispensaries. And it’s hard to differentiate between beige and taupe.

As a case in contrast, take a glance at the grocery store candy bar selection while waiting for a checkout register. There, you’ll find the confectionery category isn’t so buttoned up. Successful brands use colors that pop, make fun of themselves, and love their logos and mascots. Essentially, most big brands making traditional candy bars and gummies can be said to be ‘loud’ brands, and that extends to packaging.

One premium cannabis brand owner is taking a cue from its non-cannabis counterparts and differentiating itself from its more serious-minded competitors on the shelf. In doing so, is driving further evolution in a nascent but quickly maturing market.

One of its brands, incredibles, which Green Thumb purchased from Colorado’s Medically Correct (MC) brand in 2019, is undergoing a massive rebranding to catch cannabis confectionary products up with major store-brand counterparts. The two primary product ranges of gummies and chocolate bars were first up, and all other incredibles product ranges are soon to follow suit.

Jessica Benchetrit, Brand Director incredibles, at Green Thumb Indus-

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Taking a cue from ‘big confectionary’ Green Thumb Industries Inc. is a new breed of cannabis brand owner (read more about its ClioAward winning Dogwalkers brand packaging at pwgo. to/5783) that applies the big brand owner mentality to its stable of cannabis products.

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tries. worked closely with design and innovation consultancy IA Collaborative on the project, seeking to make a colorful visual splash among otherwise calm or unobtrusive pack designs on a shelf or in a display case.

“Color plays a critical role within the context of this redesign,” says Benchetrit. “From a functional standpoint, our bold color pallet allows us to differentiate ourselves on shelf, break through visual clutter, and importantly, communicate flavor. Whether it’s the juicy red backdrop

of our Strawberry gummies, or the warm glow of the Summer Peach sunset, color has a powerful ability to drive appetite appeal and we really lean into it, all while adhering to cannabis packaging regulations.

In combination with the graphical elements and on-pack messaging, color brings the brand’s persona to life, one that we modeled after the pioneering spirit of the brand’s founders.”

Why now for this kind of departure? Because the market is changing. Earlier use of subdued colors and messaging often played a role in calming nerves of folks who never had tried the product before. Instead of bright colors that could convey anxiety or bold fonts meant to be declarative, reassuring pack designs established an in-control mood as starting point to consuming the product.

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The incredibles brand was always ahead of the curve with color, but it had to drop depictions of actual food on the packs and standardize on a design that would have the broadest market acceptability.

But in the intervening years between the onset decriminalization and now, cannabis candies have become more mainstream. For incredibles, that allowed designers to employ more mainstream CPG packaging design fundamentals, like strong wordmarks or the use of color to communicate flavor. This realization opened up new blueprints for cannabis confectionary brands to follow, ones that largely focus on fun, laughter, and clever word play. As a decade-old cannabis company— a lifetime in this business—its sheer longevity wins sufficient trust points with most consumers, freeing the brand to lighten up the mood elsewhere.

“For our incredibles redesign we use common frameworks and design language employed by any other consumer packaged goods company looking to break through at shelf and connect with our target consumer,” Benchetrit says. “It all comes down to trust and we tell that story with details throughout the design. For example, we tied our tagline ‘the credible edible’ to our word mark and highlighted the year that the brand was established since very few in the space can say that they

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Jumpstart on demand have been operational for more than a decade. The back of pack begins to tell the brand story and highlights our points of differentiation. But packaging is one of several communication mediums. Others include retail and point-of-purchase, field activation, and in certain states, digital and out-of-home. We know that, in isolation, packaging can only communicate so much so and when we think about messaging, we are always thinking through the lens of how these mediums work together.”

Access a discussion about cannabis packaging with Green Thumb’s SVP Operations & Supply Chain Greg Flickinger, along with a host of on-trend packaging topics presented during the recent PACK EXPO Connects Jumpstart sessions, at packexpoconnects.com.

The new design There are a few carryovers from the previous pack design, but just as many departures or upgrades. Color differentiation in the brand mark, i.e. incredibles, is a continuing design feature that helps emphasize the word play captured in the name. But the redesign included an update of the logo typeface to a style that felt to the design team to be established as a decadeold company in a young market, yet modern and able to withstand the test of time.

The brand has always used the “e” with a bite mark in the logo, but Benchetrit moved it so that it was on the first “e” in the word “incredibles” instead of the second. This plays off “edibles” as part of the name.

She and her team took the extra care to tilt the “e” to reflect the relaxed, laid-back feeling she hopes is associated with the product.

“We prioritized the brand within the messaging hierarchy to help aid in brand recall. We know that people are often exposed to our brand through friends and sharing occasions. When that happens, we want consumers to remember that they had an incredibles product, not a watermelon gummy or any other generic edible,” Benchetrit says. “Also, the goal is to ensure that we remain top of mind when consumers are in the purchasing mindset so that they bypass other menu options and (ideally) ask for us by name.”

For the chocolate bar products, the paperboard pack structure and material remain unchanged, only the aesthetic changed. The chocolate sits in a PP tray, and the tray is then sealed with film for freshness. The decision to use this sealing step related to maintaining the product integrity and freshness for an improved consumer experience. A child-resistant (CR) mechanism is built into the tray that holds the chocolate inside the carton. The tray has two wings that must be squeezed while the tray is simultaneously pulled out of the carton, requiring an adult’s hand size and dexterity.

Gummies, on the other hand, shifted to full color pouches, and moved away from the PP dram to improve branding and product portability. All gummies now use digitally printed high barrier metalized PET film pouches from converter and printer ePac, using HP Indigo 20000 digital presses. The zipper function at the top of the gummy bag is CR-certified and the top of the bags are heat sealed closed after filling to maintain freshness.

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Varying display possibilities By running with big confectionery’s playbook for package design, Green Thumb and Benchetrit are using traditional CPG packaging and branding practices that haven’t been used frequently for cannabis. And from a visual perspective, they’ve achieved just that. The chocolate bars’ cartons feature embossing and spot gloss UV on the packs to make them stand out among a variety of competitors on the shelf.

But the reality is that at many dispensaries or cannabis retail shops, products aren’t displayed like they would be in a grocery store aisle.

They are behind lock and key, or may not even be visible at all, depending on the shop owners’ whims, or more likely, local regulation.

Still, consumers still will have an experience and interaction with the packs one way or another, perhaps after the purchase has been made and the product is already in the home. So the incredibles’ redesign was performed as if the products would both be an on-shelf disruptor or at least create a memorable experience back at home, regardless of each disparate dispensary’s treatment. This dynamic brings up a larger point: In the absence of cohesive federal legislation on edible cannabis packaging, Green Thumb has to design its packaging for flexibility and for the future.

“We are building our brands with the future in mind, and the for the experience we want our consumers to enjoy when they reach their homes with our products in hand,” Benchetrit says. “Our goal was to ensure that no matter where the packaging gets displayed, it gets noticed and the embossing and spot gloss elements are additional ways

to achieve that. The cannabis industry, and the way consumers shop in general, is evolving rapidly, and we created a design that was flexible enough to win not only today but in the future.”

Hyper-local packs for a national brand Several of incredibles chocolate bar SKUs use visual cues on the packs that are specific to each state, and often they use a clever “we’re in-on-the-joke”-motif designed to localize the otherwise national— well, as national as cannabis can be—brand.

“Each state gets its own bar and these bars are not available anywhere outside of its intended market,” Benchetrit says. “The custom designs give a nod to the local nuances that resonate with people from those communities. We know that people outside of Chicago may not understand the dibs reference [after snow storms, people shovel their own street-parking spots, then claim the spot with a lawn chair], or the “Politics Not Included” language on the end of the box, and that’s okay.

The state-specific designs and supporting creative should feel like an inside joke between the brand and those who live in those markets.”

Beyond the play to local consumers, each state has its own unique regulations that need their own attention. For instance, in Colorado brands are allowed to show food on cannabis packages. However, most states in Green Thumb’s footprint prohibit showing food on-pack, which was certainly a design challenge.

“But we really rose to the occasion and were able to communicate flavor with color and shape language to drive home appetite appeal,”

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continue to see the incumbent packaging for the time being. The older packaging includes images of food, which uniquely is allowed Colorado.

MC will exhaust inventory of the incumbent packs to avoid/manage any write-offs before making the switch to the new, standard packaging.

Aligning for the future

Benchetrit adds. “By designing against the most stringent regulations, the brand is better positioned to enter new states quickly as we continue to expand distribution across the country.”

Colorado patrons, where MC produces the incredibles brand, will

Before the redesign, the chocolate bars already had catchy, memorable names, including the Monkey Bar, Strawberry Crunch, and Mile High Mint. But the gummies flavors were more straight forward, simply stating each variety as peach, watermelon, or green apple, etc. To extend the quippy nicknames across the brand, the redesign included adapting the gummy flavors to drive cohesion, brand personality, and appetite appeal across the portfolio. For example, what were once “watermelon” and “peach” are now “Watermelon Smash” and “Summer Peach.”

Brand alignment down to the naming convention in what we already described as a fragmented market might seem unnecessary. But Green Thumb in general, and incredibles as a subset of it, have taken a serious, brand owner’s approach to a burgeoning market. Where efficiencies like economy of scale can be achieved, or clearer, betterdefined names and identifiers can be used, the company is taking that step. If the U.S. ends up taking a more federal attitude toward cannabis, the infrastructure will be in place for a single brand identity in all markets. Even absent of that federal legislation, a singular brand identity has benefits in recognizability, storytelling, trust, and the real gold standard for any brand, loyalty. PW

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SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

A French Take on Paper Bottles When this CEO learned of a paper bottle that would both differentiate his new line of household cleaners and be more sustainable, he had to have it for the launch.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

The circular economy

Meeting consumer demand

Pat Reynolds, VP Editor Emeritus Located in the north of France just outside the city of Lille, CBS Products is a wholesaler of household cleaning products. PET had been the container of choice for most of the 10 years the firm has been in business.

But when Les Secrets de Leontine, a new line of products made from 100% natural ingredients, went into development, CBS CEO Gregory Dubos was determined to put them in packaging that would make them stand out and that would be more environmentally friendly than plastic. So when the new line reached store shelves earlier this year, it did so in paper bottles from Ecologic Brands.

“When I first saw this package I immediately had to learn more,” says Dubos. “It’s revolutionary.”

His enthusiasm led to a series of conversations with Ecologic CEO and Founder Julie Corbett, which in turn led to CBS becoming a user of the Eco.Bottle, described by Ecologic as “the world’s only commerciallyviable paper bottle made from recycled materials.”

Like other containers made by Ecologic, the bottle for CBS consists of two molded pulp shells held together by interlocking tabs plus a thin extrusion blow molded liner that is fully recyclable and is made of 80% post-consumer HDPE. Other components include a band of tape that goes around the neck of the bottle to help keep the interlocked shells together. The tape also adds top-load strength and keeps the injectionmolded neck finish in a fixed position when the threaded closure is torqued on.

The ultimate goal underpinning the whole Ecologic premise is to be able to one day ship nested shells to regions around the world where blow-molding of the inner liner would also be done. This would greatly optimize the sustainability of the container because then, rather than shipping empty bottles to its customer base, Ecologic could have the bottles efficiently assembled in locations relatively close to its brand owner customers. But Corbett says this regional approach to assembly isn’t possible because the highly specialized automated equipment currently used to assemble the bottles only exists, at this point in time, in Ecologic’s Manteca, Calif., facility.

So the CBS bottles are shipped in sea containers to the French contract manufacturer that CBS relies on. There the bottles are filled and an injection-molded threaded polypropylene closure is applied, as is a glue-applied paper label that is FSC-certified.

“One nice thing about the trigger sprayer is that it’s 100% plastic,” says Dubos. “Usually there’s a metal component, typically a spring, but this trigger sprayer is 100% plastic and 100% recyclable.” The sprayer is supplied by Guala.

Room for improvement The molded pulp paper bottles include an inner liner that’s extrusion blown of 80% PCR HDPE.

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One aspect of current production where Dubos would like to see progress is throughput. “The packaging is all semiautomatic, so we can’t really fill more than about 2,000 bottles a day,” says Dubos. “That’s one

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place where we need to make some improvements, because we’re struggling to keep up with demand from retailers. Not because it takes time to receive bottles from Ecologic, but because the filling and capping is too slow.”

Retailers carrying the bottle include the well known and well established Carrefour chain, one of the largest in France. All bottles hold 480 mL, and the consumer pays anywhere from $4.70 to $7.00.

As for the cost of the bottles themselves, Dubos says it’s twice the price of a comparable PET bottle. But CBS is able to charge a premium price for the products in the new line. “Consumers are well aware of what’s going on with plastic in the ocean, so they are more than willing to pay a premium for a paper bottle,” says Dubos.

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Seen here in use as a plant starter is one of the two interlocking molded pulp shells.

He adds that the label includes messaging about how to recycle the components of the bottle. “The cap, the trigger spray, and the inner liner we indicate can be placed in the regular household recycle bins.

The paper bottle, which is easily separated into two at its interlocking tabs, is 100% paper, so it fits right in with the paper recycle stream or it can be composted.”

Ecologic’s Corbett points out that the Eco.Bottle has passed the ASTM 6868 composting standard.

Like Corbett, Dubos would also love to see bottle assembly done locally. “That would be my dream,” he says. “But the capital investment required to make that happen is significant.” Also like Corbett, he believes that one day bottle assembly on a local basis will in fact be in place. In the meantime, he believes this is the kind of bottle that the world needs more of.

“In its first life it’s a corrugated case,” he notes, referring to the fact that Ecologic makes the paper shells from corrugated waste. “In its second life, it’s a bottle.

And it could even have a third life if you choose to use it for starting seeds the way L’Oreal does with its Seed Phytonutrient brand.” (For a fuller description of this, go to pwgo.to/5763.) PW

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A ‘Cottled’ Wine for Every Occasion With canned wine now mainstream, wineries are looking for even greater differentiation, introducing products suited for a range of lifestyles and occasions, in uniquely shaped aluminum bottle cans with equally arresting graphics.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Canned wine trends

Packaging design strategy

Sustainability

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor Once considered a niche category, canned wines have become mainstream in a market that until recently was dominated by glass bottles.

Overcoming their fears that the aluminum-packaged product carried lesser prestige, and in turn, offered reduced quality, consumers have embraced cans for their portability, environmental attributes, and in a majority of cases, comparable taste.

According to data from Nielsen, canned wines experienced a 69% increase in sales from mid-2018 to mid-2019, representing nearly $80 million. And that trend promises to continue. As Rich Bouwer, President of Free Flow Wines, forecast in an article in The Wine Industry Advisor in December 2019, year over year, the canned wine market is on track to grow at least 10%, increasing from 1% of the $70 billion wine market in 2019 to 10% in 2025.

And now a new twist: Wine in a “cottle,” or a package that is a cross between a can and a bottle, is beginning to pop up on shelves across the country. Offering the same functionality and eco-friendliness as the can, the cottle also allows for unique shapes, greater differentiation, and resealability. Probably most well-known for its use by Coca-Cola, the bottle can is made of aluminum, is typically decorated by direct print, and uses either a metal twist-off cap or crown closure.

Whether designed as a single serving or for sharing, for a traditional, premium wine or for a sparkling, flavored, or cocktail-style variety, or for sporty, outdoor enthusiasts, yoga devotees, or concert and partygoers, cottles are taking canned wines to the next level.

Rugged luxury An example of an aluminum bottle created to duplicate the cultural aspect of wine as an experience to be “savored and shared,” while having an outdoor ethos and an eco-friendly stance is Revelshine. Introduced in August 2020, Revelshine is a brand of Sonoma County, Calif.based Limerick Lane Cellars that comprises a collection of three wines, Rosé, Red, and White, “designed to be taken off the beaten path.”

According to Limerick Lane Cellars founder, owner, and “Trailblazer” Jake Bilbro, Revelshine was designed for active, adult consumers who live for rugged luxury. He shares that bottling world-class wines in un-

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Revelshine’s three-variety collection of premium wines in an aluminum container shaped like a glass wine bottle uses graphics inspired by nature, specifically forests, deserts, and oceans. breakable bottles had been a strategic part of the winery’s business plan for some time and a personal mission of his for years. After Limerick Lane finished a rebranding project for its namesake brand in mid-2020 (see pwgo.to/5784), it turned its attention to creating Revelshine.

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Icons on the back of the Revelshine bottle suggest those outdoor places where the wine can be enjoyed, as well as highlight the bottle’s sustainability features.

Limerick Lane’s requirements for the bottle were that it be aluminum, fully recyclable, and lightweight, and have the proper shape of a bottle. “It was never our intention to bring canned wine into the market, and I do not honestly look at Revelshine as ‘canned wine,’” says Bilbro. “Our goal was and is to ensure that consumers could get world-class wine in a manner that transports easily, is rugged enough for treks, seals completely, and is socially and environmentally responsible.”

The bottle, from a proprietary U.S. manufacturing partner, holds 16.9 oz, for three 5-oz servings, and has a Bordeaux-style wine bottle shape, with straight sides and distinctive, high shoulders. Bilbro says Limerick Lane chose a multi-serve size so that the wine can be poured, savored, and shared. “I don’t want to drink wine unless it’s in a tumbler or cup and consumed in the same manner as I would a traditional glass-bottled wine,” he says. “The only difference with Revelshine is the environment in which it’s experienced. It is an outdoor-created product, meant to be shared in places that glass doesn’t work.”

Bilbro, who enjoys blazing literal trails as well, says inspiration for Revelshine’s branding came from the places he loves to be: rivers, oceans, and mountains. Once Limerick Lanes’ internal team came up with a concept, it worked with branding agency Motto, which Bilbro says took the concept and truly engaged in creating a brand platform that visually embraced the concept.

“Our belief in sustainability, ethical winemaking, and protecting our planet were used as a springboard for our brand’s look and feel and package design,” Bilbro shares. To ensure the aluminum material was “respected and visual,” a decision was made not to hide it under floods of color and heavy graphics. “Our brand inspires not through brashness, trendiness, or shock, but through honesty, humility, and simplicity,” he adds. “This way, the beauty of this infinitely recyclable material shows through.”

The most prominent element of the artwork is a graphic that seamlessly flows around the bottle like a landscape. Taking inspiration from nature, a large golden sun illustration takes center stage on the front of the bottle and is surrounded by abstract shapes that mimic mountains, hills, and water “to bring a moment of pause and reflection,” Bilbro

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explains. “The artwork, while suggestive and subtle, creates positive feelings of awe, wonder, and gratitude.”

Bilbro adds that the color palette for each varietal was chosen to express the characteristics and quality of each wine. Forest tree-inspired greens are used for Revelshine Red, rich blues inspired by the ocean were chosen for Revelshine White, and stunning reds inspired by the desert decorate Revelshine Rose.

When it comes to the brand logotype, less is more: It is intentionally simple and down to earth, styled in black, all-uppercase letters with a very readable sans-serif font.

On the back of the bottle are a series of custom-designed icons—a surfboard, a campfire, a guitar, oars, and a backpack—added to remind consumers they can enjoy the wine where glass bottles are prohibited.

The back also lists the bottle’s sustainability credentials, including that it is lightweight and infinitely recyclable, an important addition, says Bilbro, as sustainability is something he is personally proud to be championing and something he hopes Revelshine’s consumers value as well.

Further supporting protection of the outdoors, Revelshine has partnered with 1% for the Planet to give back and is working toward creating additional sustainable and socially responsible products in the future.

The Revelshine wine collection is available on the brand’s website, revelshinewines.com, and—at $20 for Red, $18 for White, and $16 for Rosé—has been priced to reflect the quality in the bottle. “We charge the same amount by milliliter that we would for the same wine in a glass bottle,” he notes. “The price point is well in line with the wine’s exceptional quality, which recently received Editor’s Choice in Wine Enthusiast Magazine, with 91-point ratings.”

Fun and accessible Whereas Revelshine is elegantly subdued, another new cottled wine line, this one from Fun Wine of Miami, is wildly exuberant.

With packaging graphics bursting with vibrantlycolored patterns and illustrations inspired by Miami’s art, fashion, and music culture and a unique low-ABV (alcohol by volume), low-calorie, lightly-carbonated flavored wine product in three flavors, Fun Wine has been in a category of its own since it first launched in December 2014. Says the company, Fun Wine was founded on the belief that wine should be fun and not complicated. It adds, “With that in mind, and to break through the traditional wine mentality, we decided to rethink wine by focusing on three main pillars: Flavor, Packaging & Price.”

According to Fun Wine founder & CEO Joe Peleg, Fun Wine was among the first to deliver a democratized, better-for-you wine brand and was the first to use aluminum cans. “We felt the U.S. market at the time was lacking a brand that could have mass appeal and be accessible to people from all walks of life,” he says. “We were the first brand to come out with cans, and we were coined as crazy, and the market tried to intimidate us. Here we are, years later, on the shelves with multiple ‘like’ brands that didn’t take us seriously.

“There is now an overwhelming demand for lowABV wine and beverages. People are eating healthier and looking to pair their food with a beverage that mirrors that. We at Fun Wine wanted to create a new

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Paredes. Says Fun Wine, “Our packaging is bold, iconic, disruptive, and award winning. We are conversation-starters and Instagram-worthy, like drinking out of a piece of art.”

Now the company has gone one step further, launching a cottle design that was two years in the making and driven by the company’s desire to push category boundaries. “We’re innovators at heart.

Bold by Nature. Persistence runs in our DNA,” says Peleg. “Our mission is to challenge and innovate the beverage industry.

After we introduced the first wine in a can, we thought to ourselves, ‘Now that everyone is doing that, what can we do to be different?’ That’s when we decided to use Low-calorie, low-ABV Fun Wine Hard Bubbly with monk fruit uses a 330-mL aluminum bottle the aluminum bottle and be once again decorated with graphics inspired by Miami’s art, fashion, and music culture. the pioneers with this packaging.”

When Fun Wine began the project, Peleg says, there were no bottling formulation with an ingredient that has less sugar and has never been companies making an aluminum bottle suitable for wine. After more done before.” than a year of testing and working hand in hand with a proprietary Fun Wine launched with three varieties—Coconut Chardonnay, bottle converter, Fun Wines and the supplier were able to come up with Strawberry Rosé Moscato, and Sangria—in a 750-mL glass bottle and a a can lining and bottle suitable for the chemical characteristics of the 250-mL aluminum can. Packaging for each flavor dazzles, with full-body product. graphics designed by renowned Miami graffiti and pop artist Miguel

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Dark and Alluring

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With a name reportedly inspired by the “Apotheca,” a mysterious place where wine was blended and stored in 13th-century Europe, Apothic Red is described as “a smooth red wine with a hint of intrigue.” A brand of Apothic Wines of Modesto, Calif., Apothic Red features “alluring notes” of black cherry, mocha, and vanilla, a dusky combination that led to its

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becoming the bestselling red blend in the wine category not long after its launch in 2009.

Available for its first decade in a 750-mL glass bottle, Apothic Red debuted in a single-serve, 250-mL aluminum bottle with aluminum twist cap from Trivium in May 2019. “Apothic has amazing, passionate fans who have shown us that they enjoy Apothic Red on their own terms—regardless of location or occasion,” shares Apothic Head of Marketing Christine Jagher. “We wanted to give those fans another convenient way to enjoy, and these new twist-cap aluminum bottles give them that.”

The mini, Burgundy-shape bottle is darkly mysterious, decorated with the same graphics as its glass-bottle counterpart. The bottle is black, with the brand’s logomark, an uppercase “A” surrounded by metallic-red medieval-style scrollwork, positioned along the side. Frontpanel copy is sparse, with the word “Apothic” in white and “Red” in metallic red. The twiststyle closure uses the same red, with the brand logomark in black on the top.

The single-serve size is sold in a two-pack, packaged in a paperboard carrier die-cut at the top in a complementary scrollwork pattern.

Says the company, “The aluminum bottles give customers a lightweight, portable way to enjoy its ever-popular red blend wherever they go— from bonfires on the beach to parties in the park.

Sold in two-packs, consumers have the option to share with a friend (or keep both for themselves), and the convenient screw cap allows for consumption at their own pace. Apothic’s Red Blend now goes boldly anywhere you do.”

Apothic Red in an aluminum cottle twopack is available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $9.99. PW

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The resulting cottle is a 330-mL stock bottle adapted for Fun Wine’s product formulation. Peleg says the size was chosen because it most closely resembles Fun Wine’s 750-mL bottle, it’s a popular size for wine in a can, and it can be considered a single serving.

While the body of the cottle has a Burgundy-bottle shape, with sloping shoulders, the neck of the bottle looks more like that of a glass beer bottle, with a metal crown closure completing the effect. The package is being used to launch Fun Wine’s new Hard Bubbly collection, which includes the brands’ three existing flavors along with three new varieties, all of which use what Fun Wines says is an ingredient never seen before in the industry: monk fruit.

For the three new flavors—Peach Passion Moscato, Cappuccino Chardonnay, and Espresso Cabernet—Miami artist Paredes has designed custom artwork that continues the Miami vibe established with original product line. The lively graphics are direct-printed in six colors by the can converter.

All six Fun Wine flavors contain 59 calories per 5-oz pour, which the company says is less than half the calorie content of traditional wine and the lowest globally for a 5.5% ABV wine product. The beverages are produced with all-natural, gluten-free ingredients and are manufactured in a vegan-certified plant in the European Union. At presstime, the new collection was scheduled to be released in the U.S. in Q4-2020 to more than 150 new and existing Fun Wine wholesalers. The company adds that in 2021, it plans to continue to expand its U.S. and global footprint.

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Mindful relaxation Falling somewhere between rugged outdoor treks and free-spirited fun is Vintage Wine Estates’ new Gaze Wine Cocktail, aimed at those wine enthusiasts who practice a lifestyle that includes fitness, yoga, meditation, outdoor activities, self-care, and other positive pursuits. According to Terry Wheatley, President of the Santa Rosa, Calif., wine company, “We wanted to appeal to them by combining wine with some of their favorite ingredients in a modern, fun, easy-to-enjoy wine cocktail.”

Gaze launched in June 2019 in Coconut Water Chardonnay Moscato and Blueberry Pomegranate Moscato varieties, which were recently joined by a Green Tea Wine Cocktail and a Kombucha Wine Cocktail. The effervescent beverages are lower in calories, have a 4.5% ABV content, and use natural ingredients. Says the company, Gaze Wine Cocktails’ dual mantras of “Stop and Gaze” and “Drink in the Moment” serve as reminders that we all need respite, relaxation, and a moment for mindfulness. It adds, “Gaze Wine Cocktails are a delicious new option for that mood and a desire to refresh mind and body.”

In developing the product and brand, Vintage Wine Estates Marketing Director Hilary Berkey says the company wanted to capitalize on the popularity of hard seltzers and the desire of consumers for alternatively-packaged alcohol beverage products. “As a fine wine company, we were interested in producing a cocktail that was wine-based and blended with ingredients appreciated by those practicing a healthy lifestyle,” she shares. “One of the keys was to develop a sleek, alternative package to capture those consumers looking for something more upscale than a

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Gaze Wine Cocktails’ dual mantras of ‘Stop and Gaze’ and ‘Drink in the Moment’ are epitomized with this sleek, 375-mL bottle decorated with nature-inspired patterns.

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malt-based hard seltzer.”

The timeline for the new product and its packaging was aggressive, with development beginning in fall 2018 and the launch scheduled for just nine months later. Berkey says Vintage Wine Estates chose aluminum in order to stand out in the emerging category, but eschewed a traditional can format. “The idea of an aluminum bottle retains the quality packaging cues associated with wine, while the ability to reseal the bottle dovetails with the active lifestyle of our target consumer,” she says.

Trivium Packaging worked with Vintage Wine Estates throughout the entire process to select a cottle that met both the functional and aesthetic expectations of the winery. “It was essential that the aluminum bottle preserved all the flavors, light effervescence, and nuances of the product as well if not better than a traditional glass bottle,” shares Berkey. “Equally important was that the package looked gorgeous on the shelf, felt sleek and sophisticated in the hand, would be adaptable to a wide variety of use occasions from poolside to dance club, and project well on social media.”

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Stately Chateau On-the-Go Featuring design elements that cue heritage and sophistication, but with a playful, contemporary twist, a new 250-mL aluminum bottle for four fruit-driven wine blends from Chateau Ste. Michelle was rolled out by the Woodinville, Wash., winery in July 2020. Founded in 1912, Chateau Ste. Michelle was the first winery in Washington and operates from a stately French-style winery chateau that sits in the shadow of Mt. Rainier—aspects of its business that are depicted in the cottle’s graphics.

The new wine line is the first from Chateau Ste. Michelle to be packaged in smaller-serve aluminum bottles with resealable closures. The four varieties are sourced from its vineyards in Washington’s Columbia Valley and include a pale pink Rosé with ripe strawberry flavors, a crisp, refreshing Pinot Grigio with bright citrus characters, the Something Sweet White Blend, with peach and melon flavors, and an effervescent Bubbly variety, with apple and anise aromas.

Says Grant Grieg, Marketing Director for Chateau Ste. Michelle, the winery chose the 250-mL aluminum bottle format to appeal to consumers looking for convenience and smaller serving options.

He adds, “The wine delivers the same quality winemaking our customers expect from Chateau Ste. Michelle in a package that is ideal for every occasion. These wines are your Chateau on-the-go.”

The mini Burgundy-style bottles from Trivium have a clean white background, with a “whimsical” line drawing of the winery’s iconic Chateau, set against Mt. Rainier. Above the sketch is the name of the variety, in a contemporary typeface and a flavor-specific color. Above that is the Chateau Ste. Michelle logo, in an elegant, script font. The neck of each bottle features a modern swirl design, with a different color palette used for each flavor. A gold, twist-off closure tops the cottle.

Shares Chateau Ste. Michelle’s lead creative designer, Stacey Neumiller, “I love that each bottle is playful with a bright pop of color. We wanted to modernize the Chateau and bring it to life with a simple and clean illustration. We also wanted to add Mt. Rainier in the background because we can actually see it from the Chateau on a clear day. Perhaps my favorite thing about the packaging is the fun surprise on the side of each bottle. Look for the moon on the Something Sweet White Blend, a plane on the Pinot Grigio, a kite on the Bubbly, and a hot air balloon on the Rosé. It was fun figuring out clever ways to make the packaging playful and bright.” PW

The chosen design is a sleek, column-shaped aluminum bottle with rounded shoulders that holds 375 mL, or 2.5 servings, and is topped with an aluminum twist-off cap. Although the bottle is a stock design, Berkey says Trivium has given Vintage Wine Estates category-exclusive rights to the shape to ensure differentiation on shelf.

Graphics for the bottle were designed by Swig Studio. Shares Berkey, the creative brief asked for the aluminum bottle to be incorporated into a distinctive and memorable design, utilizing the full real estate of the bottle, calling out benefits, and visually communicating each flavor through the color and design—a request deftly handled by Swig. The bottles are indeed beautiful, with each having its own nature-inspired, 360-deg background pattern, printed in a variety-specific color that uses the silver of the bottle as part of the pattern. A block of silver on the front of the bottle holds the elegantly-styled Gaze logo, product copy, and a flavor-related icon. Trivium silk screen-prints the cans in three to four colors, depending on the variety.

All four varieties of Gaze are available nationally and direct-to-con-

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sumer through the brand’s website, www.gazewinecocktails.com. Online, the drinks are sold in quantities of six for $36. Subscriptions are available for a 10% savings.

Cottles expand market opportunities These are just a few of the brands breaking out on shelf and online that are literally reshaping the wine category. With the advantages of the canned wine format—portability, recyclability, light weight, no breakage—as well as the quality of wine in cans already firmly established, brands introducing cottles can use distinctive shapes and products tailored for new and more niche audiences.

“Studies and consumer polls all show that wine in aluminum cans and bottles are accepted by both retailers and consumers,” says Berkey.

“The new format is both bringing in new consumers and introducing new occasions. The fact that fine wine publications are now scoring wine in cans demonstrates the quality of wine that is now available in these formats.” PW

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AUTOMATION

OEM APPLICATION NOTE

Servos Come to Gable Top Filler Greatly improved control over positioning capabilities, better filling accuracy, and advantages in cleaning and sanitizing are all gained from new controls platform.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Positioning accuracy

Sanitation advantages

Pat Reynolds, VP Editor Emeritus Evergreen Packaging used PACK EXPO Connects as an opportunity to unveil its new servo-driven EH-84 gable top packaging machine, which features PLC controls and servo technology from Rockwell Automation. Designed for the dairy, juice, and liquid foods markets, the EH-84 can handle fill volumes of 40 oz on up to 64 oz and 2 L at speeds to 8,400 cartons per hour.

According to Evergreen’s Richard Szyperski, Technical Product Manager & Equipment Sales Specialist, the firm’s EQ-70 gable top machine for quarts and 1-L cartons has taken advantage of servo technology for some time. The EH-84, he says, brings servo technology to the popular half-gallon format and represents a culmination of learnings gleaned from the development of previous machines.

“Our customer base was looking for this kind of an upgrade from mechanical to servo,” says Szyperski. “Rockwell was an obvious choice when The EH-84 gable top carton filler (above) features servo motors (top right) that bring it came to a controls platform, not only because multiple advantages in positioning accuracy and sanitation. that’s what we’ve used in the past but also bein control over our positioning capabilities. Plus we can now spin the cause it’s what our customers are familiar with.” mandrels without having to cycle the machine. This brings advantages Motors and drives selected by Evergreen are the Kinetix VPL lowin cleaning and sanitizing.” inertia servo motors and Kinetix 5700 servo drives. The communicaAmong the first to install the EH-84 is Orrville, Ohio-based Smithtions protocol used to connect the GuardLogix L83-ES PLC and the servo Foods, a leading producer of milk and plant-based beverages, whose drives is Ethernet IP. VP of Operations Todd DeRoo says the business benefits of servo control The linear-style Evergreen filler is a two-lane single-index machine are significant. “We can adjust to virtually an infinite number of sizes with seven volumetric filling valves for each lane. Actuations executed very quickly, and doing it probably takes 50% less time than on comby the servos include such things as filling and the movement of the parable machines that are not servo-controlled,” says DeRoo. “And in mandrels on which the flat blanks are erected and formed into gable addition, everything is more accurate. We did wonder at first how the top cartons. Szyperski is especially pleased by the improvement in accuoperators would respond to the newer technology, but after running racy gained where filling is concerned. “Filling controlled by mechanithe machine for an hour or two they’re reluctant to be assigned to the cally linked pumps is just not as accurate as servo-controlled filling,” he old lines.” PW points out. “And by using servos on the mandrels we gain considerably

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Visit the link below each item for more info.

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AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY

Industrial IoT Gateways Pepperl+Fuchs’ DeviceMaster gateways link the world of serial communication to the Internet of Things. They are available with 1 to 32 serial ports with DB9 or terminal block connectors for DIN rail, panel, and rack mounting.

Condition Monitoring Device

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Regal Beloit introduces the System Plast iCOF condition monitoring device designed to measure the coefficient of friction of a chain or belt while it is running. It can be mounted on a conveyor and integrated in the line control system.

Servo-Drive System Siemens extends its drive systems line in the safety extra-low voltage range for 24-48 V EC motors with the addition of the Simatic Micro-Drive servo drive.

Regal Beloit Corp. pwgo.to/5775

Siemens pwgo.to/5778

Upgraded PLC Industrial Gear Drives The two-stage MAXXDRIVE XT right-angle gear drives from Nord are designed for heavy-duty conveyor belt applications in the bulk material handling industry.

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IDEC Corp. added EtherNet/IP communications to its MicroSmart FC6A Plus PLC that will provide more options for end users, designers, and OEMs to integrate the FC6A Plus with many types of I/O systems and intelligent automation devices.

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Your way to Industry 4.0

PACK EXPO CONNECTS 2020

Smart Positioning Electronic, bus-compatible position indicators with set/actual value comparison and intuitive operation Automated ďŹ eldbus-/Ethernet compact actuators: easy commissioning, fast amortization Mechanically compatible: SIKO positioning systems are mechanically interchangeable

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Co-Packer Ramps Up Coke Variety Pack Project Co-packer Bonded Pac puts the company’s core values into play to bring on the capabilities needed to produce print-registered club-store multipacks for Coke-Consolidated in record time.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Contract packaging

Print-registered shrink wrapping

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor Described by SVP, Product Supply Planning of Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. Brett Frankenberg as “a great partner and even better people,” co-packer Bonded Pac of Charlotte, N.C., recently completed a project for the U.S.’s largest Coca-Cola bottler that put the co-packer’s core values—God Honoring, Service Excellence, Teamwork, and Innovation—on full display.

In July 2019, Coke-Consolidated approached Bonded Pac with a new job that

Bonded Pac chose an Arpac Brandpac BPTW-500 Series combination shrink-film tray wrapper and heat tunnel for the Coke-Consolidated job.

The Variety Pack includes three 10-ct cartons—one each of Sprite, Cherry Coke, and Orange Fanta—holding 7.5-oz ‘mini sip-size’ cans.

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required the assembly and wrapping of club-store multipacks in printregistered film. Although at the time, the co-packer lacked the equipment required to do the job, within the space of just three months, it was up and running, producing Coke-Consolidated’s Variety Pack in brightly-colored, brand-enhancing shrink film.

Being nimble is a core advantage of co-packers, but it’s Bonded Pac’s customer service, transparency, innovation, and family values that Jon Hayward, Vice President of Bonded Pac, says also differentiates it from other contract packaging companies. Incorporating those values into its daily operations is what made the Coke-Consolidated project possible.

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Core values drive differentiation

million square feet of public, contract, and leased space in 12 locations and employs over 300 team members.

Bonded Logistics, and in particular Bonded Pac, are focused on creating and reinforcing value for its customers. “Customer service is the backbone of our external value proposition,” Hayward shares. “This starts with clear, frequent, and honest communication. We combine this with great inventory management, flexibility, and excellent product quality.”

One example of how Bonded Pac creates and reinforces value for its customers is the way in which it enables transparency—“being able to see your prodInnovating Solutions to Your uct, your inventory, and what’s going on,” says HayPackaging Challenges Since 1958 ward. “We give everybody access to that through their iPhone or any web-based device, and we don’t charge extra for that.

“I think it’s very comforting for people to be able to look at their inventory, their production, and their outbound shipments in real time. And that’s just one High-Speed example. Having a one-stop place for communication with the company through our Key Account Manager, Kara Jesse, so the customer doesn’t have to call nine Wrap Around Sleever different people to get something answered is another example. We really invest in people like Kara to be that liaison between Bonded Pac and the customer.”

Bonded Pac’s co-packing services, conducted in a 218,000-sq-ft facility, are extensive. They include “just W a little bit of almost everything,” Hayward shares.

Ch s C G w B s ss “A little bit of almost everything” means decorative At ADCO we’re ready to increase your packaging equipment shrink sleeving, bottle decoration using steam, variety capacity and efficiency, so you can focus on what really matters. packs, twin packs, kitting, shrink wrapping, and some water-based chemical bottle filling. The company also assembles POP displays, including full-pallet, half-palI d s y- d f d s s ss let, and quarter-pallet sizes.

Bonded Pac is the contract packaging arm of Bonded Logistics, a family-owned company with three divisions: warehousing, transportation, and co-packing. The company was founded in 1972 by Jim and Robin Carr under the name Bonded Distribution, in a 30,000-sq-ft facility. Today the company is run by second-generation owners Barbara Carr Woodall and Scott Carr. It has grown to encompass more than 2

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Persistence pays off As noted, Coke-Consolidated, also based in Charlotte, is the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S. The company makes, sells, and delivers more than 300 Coca-Cola Company and other beverage brands and flavors to 66 million consumers in territories spanning 14 states and the District of Columbia.

Much like Bonded Pac, its purpose is to “honor God, serve others, pursue excellence, and grow profitably,” making for a complementary working relationship with the co-packer.

Bonded Pac’s Kara Jesse shares that before Bonded Pac began the Variety Pack project for Coke-Consolidated, it had done some smaller, one-time jobs for them.

She attributes the fact that Coke-Consolidated brought the Variety Pack to them to the persistence of the Bonded Pac team in trying to win the bottler’s business and Bonded Pac’s success with Coke-Consolidated’s previous jobs. “So it was great to finally get an opportunity that would be ongoing business with them,” she says. “And I think, over the years, proving ourselves

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when they did have those little projects set us up to be that right partner for them when they had this bigger opportunity come around.”

The genesis of the Variety Pack dates before July 2019. Explains Frankenberg, “We had spoken to Bonded Pac for a while about commercializing this, but they didn’t have the capability or the business to justify [investing in new equipment], and we couldn’t commit the volume to do so. Once we proved out a prototype of our Variety Pack in the market, the conversation changed.”

tight time frame. Integrity was displayed on both sides, with no formal commitment from Coke-Consolidated, but an understanding that the job was Bonded Pac’s if they purchased the equipment. “And we did that with a handshake,” Hayward says.

The Variety Pack project entails taking three 10-ct Fridge Packs—one each of Sprite, Orange Fanta, and Cherry Coke in 7.5-oz “mini sip-size” cans—from single-SKU pallets, manually placing them in a corrugated

To create the multipacks, the three cartons are manually loaded into a corrugated tray and fed into the shrink wrapper/heat tunnel to be wrapped with preprinted, print-registered film.

When Coke-Consolidated came to them, Bonded Pac did have experience with multipack shrink wrapping, but not with print-registered film. Its existing equipment wrapped multipacks in clear film—a different process than the one needed for print-registered, or aligned, film. “The machine we have for clear film is a side-seal machine,” explains Hayward. “In other words, you take two rolls of film, one on top and one on the bottom, and you bring them together and glue them with a sealing bar. So, to bring two films together and register the film for both sides is almost impossible.”

What Bonded Pac needed was a machine that could wrap the film all the way around the case before sealing it. “It’s just a totally different technology,” says Hayward.

Equipment opens up opportunities Once the volume was there for the Variety Pack, Bonded Pac put its core values into play, using innovation, agility, and teamwork, among other skills, to find a way to accomplish the project within the extremely

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tray, and shrink wrapping the pack with film that’s printed with graphics for the three brands, resulting in a 30-ct multipack with an impressive billboard.

Once Bonded Pac had the job, the countdown began. Hayward says the company first researched used shrink-wrapping equipment, as they didn’t have the business case to justify a brand new machine. They narrowed down their search to two models, after which they visited the plants where the machines were located.

Hayward shares that in addition to being able to wrap print-registered film, the equipment also needed to have a footprint suitable for Bonded Pac’s facility. “There are very large pieces of equipment that do this at very, very high speeds in bottle-filling plants. Even Coke themselves had equipment that potentially was looked at as a possibility. But the footprint was so large that it just didn’t make sense for the size of our building and how often we would be using the equipment,” he says.

In terms of speed requirements, Hayward explains that any machine would be limited to how quickly operators would be able to manually load the trays. However, Bonded Pac was looking for something that was faster than its existing, 25-tray/min clear-film shrink wrapper.

Ultimately it chose an Arpac Brandpac™ BPTW-500 Series combination shrink-film tray wrapper and heat tunnel. The continuous-motion bottom-overlap machine operates on-demand, without a seal bar, to Bonded Pac’s Kara Jesse, Key Account Manager, Jon Hayward, shrink wrap up to 60 tray packs/min, depending on the height and Vice President (center), and Matt Nelson, General Manager, were weight of the product. The machine can wrap both clear and printinstrumental in bringing the Coke-Consolidated project to fruition. registered film, which will allow Bonded Pac to provide both options 20_2033_Packaging World_NOV Mod: September 17, 2020 9:17 AM Print: 10/12/20 page 1 v2.5

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from one system for other customers in addition to Coke-Consolidated.

In fact, its flexibility, including the capability to run different widths and lengths of product, was one of the reasons Bonded Pac chose the BPTW-500. “We knew that this wasn’t just being designed for one item.

And that’s the challenge we always face when buying equipment. It’s very rarely going to run one product for one customer, it always has to be more versatile. We feel that the ease of setup of this equipment and the programmable PLC that comes with it allows us to save multiple recipes and get up and going fairly quickly.”

After purchasing the equipment, Bonded Pac utilized its freight group to transport it to the plant, used in-house team members to set up the equipment, and then enlisted Arpac’s SupportPro service group to help them with programming. Overall, Hayward credits the hard work of a number of Bonded Logistics’ team members for the successful installation and ultimate operation of the equipment—all of which was done in time for production of the first Variety Packs in early October 2019.

The initial campaign comprised 120,000 packs.

Since then (at presstime), Bonded Pac has done two additional runs, each about half the size of the first one, with the machine enabling the company to produce up to 12,000 cases per eight-hour shift. Bonded Pac has also done some work for other customers using the Arpac machine, including multipacks in clear film for online sales.

ing in business as long as we have, and persistence,” Hayward adds.

Summarizes Frankenberg, “Bonded Pac helped us work through the process to bring the new product to market. Together with our brand partners, we worked in collaboration with Bonded Pac to commercialize the Variety Pack and do so in a way that was economically beneficial. …In three months, Bonded Pac set up this capability and delivered on a really tight timeline. We are very satisfied.” PW

Speed, agility gets the job done Addressing a customer’s needs on a short deadline, as it did for Coke-Consolidated, is something that Bonded Pac excels in, Jesse confirms. “As a company, we’re very capable of turning things around quickly,” she says. “We have a great team internally, and everyone knows their piece of the puzzle. So it’s very easy as a group for us to work quickly and get things done.”

Hayward agrees emphatically, noting that he believes Bonded Pac’s agility is one of the reasons CokeConsolidated chose the co-packer for the job, rather than doing it in-house. “I think the larger the company, the harder it is to move quickly,” he says. “So I think our ability to be nimble and quick, and not have all the signoffs and all the different people who have to get involved when it’s a larger company, was a huge advantage.”

Having flexible space at its facility was another advantage, he says. “These projects take a lot of space for a couple of weeks, and then they go away. There’s a lot of raw material that has to be run. So for us to be able to hold the product for them while we do this was a huge help. They run an efficient operation, and holding all of this promo material, in addition to their regular material, could have stressed their existing space.”

Also solidifying the deal was “trust, being local, be-

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Coffee Pod Co-Packer Benefits from ERP Perks Between limiting downtime, speeding up throughput, and a host of soon-to-be realized improvements via ERP data harvesting, Pod Pack is making the most of its new Enterprise Resource Planning system.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Data-driven continuous improvement

Automated inventory

By Matt Reynolds, Editor coffee beans are ground to exacting speciFrom humble beginnings nearly 25 years fications per a predetermined amount ago in a 400-sq-ft New Orleans facility, that is automatically metered out by with a single SKU of single-serve espresso, volume or bulk density onto the bottom Pod Pack has grown to be considered “the layer of a single-serve filter paper pod, Switzerland of coffee pod packaging,” and the top layer is heat sealed to enclose as the company does business with just the pod. Secondary packaging involves a about every coffee brand, these days, on number of individual pods being placed some level. That includes many major into a film pouch, which is then nitrogen national, regional, and private label store flushed and sealed, again insuring maxibrands as a value-added co-manufacturmum freshness. ing partner. The company also serves the institutional and hospitality segments where its products can be found in hotels, hospitals, offices, college campuses, QSRs, Far from its original digs, Pod Pack convenience stores, and foodservice locanow operates a 75,000 sq ft. facility in tions, plus a host of local, high-growth Baton Rouge, La., and in 2018, the familyboutique brands. owned business took on private equity “We offer a wide array of turnkey sinpartner to accelerate growth. And grow gle-serve solutions,” says Marion Gray, CFO, it has. Like other contract manufacturers Pod Pack. “Whether using the customers and packagers that are growing and dealcoffee or one of our in-house blend selecing with major brands and private label, tions, we can manufacture virtually any as well as growing its own brand, Pod single-serve format the customer prefers.

Pack has recently been dealing with a risWe have 14 different packaging lines—all ing number of SKUs. primarily custom-designed, highly speci“We currently support over a dozen fied equipment.” convenience-portioned formats, and cerFrom an HMI in each pack cell, operators interface There are many tight-tolerance, multi- with shop data that relates real-time metrics and tain lines are tailored to certain applicapoint processes and ensuing packaging parts and material inventories. tions,” Gray explains. “On a given day we operations that occur dependent on the are likely to be running all formats across specific format desired. For instance, coffee beans that are designated our 14 different production lines. Each product that we develop or for K-cup compatible products are ground precisely 24 hours prior to manufacture for a customer will have its own product specifications primary packaging to allow for optimal degassing to occur, a necessheet. That product specifications sheet details all the materials that are sary step for this format. But other single-serve formats go from whole used including the precise grind, weight, flavor profile and packaging bean to ground coffee to packaging in less than 180 seconds, ensuring format. Anything you can imagine that’s specific to that product is on maximum freshness for the end consumer. For soft filter pod offerings, that sheet—we think of it as a unique, custom recipe for each product.”

Dealing with SKU proliferation

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Pod Pack now operates 14 packaging lines producing more than a dozen formats with contract packaging customers including all the big national brands, local regional brands, hospitals, schools, foodservice, and anywhere else you can imagine.

Until recently, this meant operators starting a new production run had to consult a Microsoft Excel-based database—a clunky but familiar and functional work-around for so many manufacturers for so long—to find the right recipe. Then, they would have to manually gather the correct packaging materials and components, such as film and filter paper or machine change parts and the tools needed to changeover. Often, Gray says, this could mean operators physically checking for stock parts, a time-consuming process.

“It was a fairly manual process that involved a combination of paper, binders, Excel files, and access databases,” Gray says.

It was also a static process with little runway for scale. Such a process would suffice for a limited number of SKUs, but in a dynamic growth environment the process no longer worked. The facility was growing, and with outside investment, the prospects for the future were growing.

It became clear that a better solution was in order.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) modernizes operations In recent years, Pod Pack implemented the DELMIAWORKS (formerly IQMS) manufacturing ERP system to drive the real-time insights and automated processes required to handle SKU proliferation, ensure quality and compliance, maximize productivity, and provide a superior customer experience. Though, as the name implies, the ERP system is enterprise-wide, advantages are felt right down to the packaging line operations.

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Each production cell now has its own workstation with an HMI. From that workstation, operators are running a shop data interface out of DELMIAWORKS that’s giving them continual information on the production. Operators have spec sheets available to them, and they can monitor materials and inventories. They’re also using that interface to load real-time production data on quality checks, downtime, or maintenance issues specific to the equipment they’re running. Everything’s right there, digitized and at their fingertips.

By now, most large, international brand owners are well-versed in ERP; they wouldn’t be able to successfully compete on that stage if they weren’t. And there are a lot of options for companies seeking ERP solutions. But after thorough research, Gray and Pod Pack saw the DELMIAWORKS system was the right fit for them since it had all the capacity to grow, but still was a manageable stack for its unique set of needs. As a contract manufacturer and packager with a large and growing SKU base and a need for flexibility and variability, Pod Pack needed an ERP system that would grow with them.

“The size is right for our company,” Gray says. “It can handle a lot of transactions and multiple locations as needed. From an install perspective, it has been much easier to digest and operationalize than some of its competitors’ offerings.

“At the same time, you benefit from having a fully integrated system across finance, HR, manufacturing, and purchasing,” he adds. “We are able to leverage cutting-edge technology solutions without the headache and cost of a larger, less tailored option.”

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ERP data harvest drives continuous improvement One common refrain heard during ERP implementation is that it suddenly introduces a whole lot of data that weren’t previously available on existing systems, and that can be overwhelming at first. But being able to manipulate these data to its advantage has been a boon to Pod Pack.

“We’ve seen immediate benefit to having access to real-time shop data on the floor,” Gray says. “We have mandatory quality checks based on the size of the run and the type of product. Operators are flagged and required to do certain quality checks, and the quality data are logged into the ERP system. No paper means providing enhanced visibility into our end-to-end quality program.

“As important, we use real-time monitoring for all of the equipment, and we know every time a machine deviates from its production schedule,” he adds. “If unexpected downtime elapses for greater than 120 seconds, the operator is required to code and document the situation.

We’ve utilized that data to empower our production supervisors, who have real-time insights that were not available before automating our manufacturing processes with the DELMIAWORKS solution.”

Closing the loop, Gray and Pod Pack are able to use this information with their maintenance team not only to address issues, but proactively optimize preventative maintenance schedules. Enhanced data usage for continuous improvement doesn’t simply reduce downtime; it actively increases speed.

“Real-time data allows us to monitor the actual production speed when the machine is running. So, if the machine’s running below our targeted units per minute, we can go to the floor and correct immediately. Targeted adjustments can be made to ensure each cell is hitting its production spec before the shift or run is over. “Again, it’s all real-time data that allows us to pre-emptively manage potential risk and maximize overall productivity.”

Pod Pack’s current 75,000-sq-ft facility is connected as an enterprise via a DELMIAWORKS ERP system.

then pushed the whole line to go faster, and secondary and end-of-line machine usage goes up.

“As a finance guy, I love it,” Gray says. “Because by increasing my uptime and my reliability, I’m essentially increasing capacity without spending capital dollars. And that’s huge for a high-growth company like us—being able to support additional volume running through the facility as our business continues to accelerate.”

What’s next

Many brands and packagers that implement ERP systems, with all their attendant data manipulation, take some time to realize all of the benefits. You connect all the cords and begin syphoning off so much data that it can’t all be immediately actionable on day one. Pod Pack’s experience has reflected this, but it intends, over time, to make the most Coffee packaging equipment is famously out of the DELMIAWORKS ERP. After those iniprecise and complex. “If you take care of it tial wins in speed and downtime reduction, and keep it running right, it will last forever, at Gray and Pod Pack are moving on to new uses. least longer than I will,” Gray says of this well“We’re rolling out dashboards to display known packaging machinery dynamic. “As an on the production floor to provide the entire example, we have two pieces of highly techproduction team with quick overview of pronical equipment that we run for a customer, duction runs and performance. We continue equipment that is not readily accessible in to add projects, and this system can scale with today’s market. We jumped at the opportuour growth,” Gray says. “The system captures nity to collaboratively solve the challenge. We such an immense amount of data. We meet brought it in, refurbished it, and customized regularly with our system reporting lead to it. By using downtime tracking and data colroll-out additional enhancements. We’re conlection, operators and engineers have been tinually adding new inputs to the system to continually enhancing and fine-tuning the A common pack format includes coffee pods, allow it to do more for us and become more equipment. We successfully engineered a either stacked or individual, in a nitrogen valuable to the organization. We’re going to piece of legacy customer equipment and im- flushed and heat sealed film or foil pouch. use it to drill down into our manufacturing proved uptime from 35% to 70% uptime on costs and continue to enhance customer success. We’ve got a lot of data, a regular basis. And these are very high-speed machines, so that was and now we’re realizing the full potential of that data to drive the best a dramatic improvement in productivity and reliability. And then there value and experience for our partners and customers.” PW are knock-on effects downstream, as more uptime in primary packaging

Case in point

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LIP2020_A

Each of the following market-leading companies* participating in Packaging World’s 2020 Leaders in Packaging Program are named sponsors of PW’s Future Leaders in Packaging scholarship.

This year’s recipient is the University of Florida Packaging Engineering Program.

We appreciate the support of all participants on behalf of packaging education.

More Information: packworld.com/leaders *These logos represent some of the recent Leaders in Packaging Participants. Sponsor recognition will alternate every other month. ©2020 PMMI Media Group

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By Anne Marie Mohan, Editor, Shelf Impact!

Butcher-Paper Pack Reenvisioned for Retail Said to have been born from a “self-sufficiency adventure,” No Evil Foods’ plant-based meat products can now be found in mainstream and specialty retailers across the country in a package design inspired by its farmers’ market roots. The line’s origami-like carton—the material chosen for its sustainability—echoes its butcher-paper past, while its tongue-in-cheek graphics make the products approachable while still conveying the brand’s mission to improve the health of both of consumers and the planet.

According to Sadrah Schadel, co-founder and COO of the Asheville, N.C.-based company, No Evil Foods began with her and partner Mike Woliansky’s efforts to grow and make as much of their own food as possible as well as minimize consumer waste. “People say that change starts in your own backyard, and for us, it literally did,” she says.

From growing foods for their own needs, Schadel and Woliansky advanced to supplying local restaurants with organic produce, meanwhile experimenting with season extension techniques and various methods of food preservation. The duo ultimately focused their attention on producing plant-based meats having a similar taste and texture experience to animal proteins that use clean, recognizable ingredients and simple processes.

In 2014, No Evil Foods began selling its plant-based meats at the local farmers’ market, with a clever butcher shop display that included “white aprons, plastic meat cleavers, oversized, stuffed felt meats, and simple butcher-paper packaging,” Schadel shares. “We didn’t have a line of sight into the growth we would experience, and at that time, being sold at grocery stores was not part of our vision. We’d keep our Plant Meat in a cooler, and when a customer purchased one, we’d wrap it in butcher paper on the table right in front of them, sealing it closed with a black-and-white label. It was fun, and it fit the vegan butcher theme, but it was also utilitarian, because we didn’t have a color printer.”

Very soon after debuting at the farmer’s market, Schadel and Woliansky’s products were being sold at Whole Foods nationally. For three years as No Evil Foods expanded throughout the southeast and beyond, the butcher-paper wrapping remained. But ultimately a more sophisticated package was required that could face better on the shelf, better withstand transportation as well as refrigerated and frozen settings, and communicate more of the company’s brand voice and personality.

To replicate the “unwrapping” experience enabled by the butcher paper, No Evil Foods brainstormed with a local designer to develop a carton with a unique unfolding design “that welcomes, interacts, engages, and educates the consumer at every step,” Schadel explains.

Functionality was not the only consideration for the packaging material though. The company also wanted an eco-friendly material with a sustainable end-of-life story. For that it chose WestRock’s KraftPak unbleached, uncoated two-ply virgin paperboard, which is

SI_1120.indd 60

both backyard compostable and recyclable. In addition, No Evil Foods is using plant-based ink and water-soluble adhesives. Primary packaging for the plant-based meats is either “a high-barrier, BPA-free plastic casing or a plastic thermoform pouch,” Schadel says.

For its new packaging graphics, No Evil Foods collaborated with Michael Kravit, a designer who has also worked on brands such as Honest Tea and Revolution Gelato. The vision for brand, Schadel shares, came from the craft brew industry. “I drew some heavy inspiration from how craft beer creates a full identity for their brews.

From the name to the artwork, craft beer creates entire personas for their brews, and you don’t see much of that in the food work,” she says. “When it came to our messaging, we wanted to be clear about our mission and felt that having a strong voice was important, but it needed to be balanced with lighthearted tongue-in-cheek tone, to keep it fun and approachable.”

Playful names for the product varieties—Comrade Cluck chicken, El Capitán chorizo, The Pardon turkey, and The Stallion Italian sausage, to name four of the six—are complemented with equally whimsical illustrations. For example, Pit Boss Pulled “Pork” BBQ features an illustration of a man crowd surfing through a mosh pit while holding aloft a giant sandwich. As the consumer opens each flap of the carton, environmental messages are revealed, such as “Clear the Air, Eat Plant Meat!”

Says Schadel, “We hear so many great things about our packaging.

The natural feel and organic nature of the paperboard seems to really connect with our customers. The colors are a little bit brighter, and the artwork is more in your face than other brands in our category.

There’s a sense of excitement conveyed through it which speaks both to our goal to change the game when it comes to plant-based meats, while also speaking to our history as makers.

“And once the customer opens up the box and becomes aware of the environmental callouts tucked inside, they become a part of a powerful movement that affirms the positive environmental impact of their food choices.

“Our packaging is different in physical design, messaging, and our approach to artwork. I think buyers like to see a brand taking risks and they’re eager to add something fresh to their sets.” PW

10/22/20 3:20 PM

INDUSTRY WATCH

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Companies Bosch Rexroth announced that Melissa Giles and Santino Longobardi, students at Greenville Technical College, Greenville, S.C., were selected as scholarship recipients for the Bosch Rexroth Endowed Scholarship.

Shemesh Automation will open an all-new, U.S.-based headquarters in the second half of 2021. The $4-million showroom facility, plus spares inventory, will demonstrate canister wipes machinery to selected market participants.

ProMach has acquired Panther Industries and Statco-DSI Process Systems. With the acquisition of Panther, it will expand its labeling capabilities. The acquisition of Statco-DSI will expand its systems and integration capabilities for food and beverage processing.

ABB expanded its portfolio of high-speed industrial robots with the acquisition of Codian Robotics B.V. Banner Engineering launched a new business unit, SmartSolutions, featuring easy-to-install, integrated, and customizable IIoT kits for its sensors, wireless solutions, and LED lighting.

Yaskawa and Phoenix Contact announced an agreement to utilize PLCnext Technology from Phoenix Contact in the development of the next generation machine controller and PLC platform, realizing the i3-Mechatronics solution concept led by Yaskawa.

PI North America, the non-profit, member-supported organization for PROFIBUS and PROFINET technologies in North America, announced a Spanish-language expansion to its website.

Gertex Solutions Inc. announced the acquisition of Toronto-based Impak Packaging Systems Inc. The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) announced that the 2021 Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards Call for Entries form is available.

Authentix has acquired the Traceless Authentication Group from Bibliotheca, Inc. Polyplex announced an expansion to its Decatur, Ala., facility with the addition of a second thin BOPET film line.

People Marco Azzaretti was appointed Director of Marketing for Key Technology.

Renee Schouten, Director of Marketing, INX International, was named president of the International Metal Decorating and Packaging Association.

Jessica Bartlett was named Regional Sales Manager, Midwest, and Danny Harmann was promoted to Sales Application Manager, for Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery.

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Giancarlo Maroto joined DS Smith as cluster director for North America, and James Walker was appointed Northern Europe cluster director.

Heather Spitler was promoted to Vice President of Culture and People Development for BW Integrated Systems.

Rosalbina Treviño was hired as Sales Manager, Mexico, for BluePrint Automation.

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Visit the link below each item for more info.

62 PW NOV2020

TECHNOLOGY

Vf/f/s Bagger

Checkweigher for Harsh Environments

Matrix Packaging Machinery, a division of ProMach, launches the Elete Premier vf/f/s bagger designed to produce various bag sizes and styles, such as pillow, gusset, quad, and flat bottom.

Mettler Toledo introduces its C35 checkweigher designed for harsh environments.

It supports speeds to 250 packs/min and a weighing range from 25 g to 7 kg.

Matrix Packaging Machinery pwgo.to/5747

Mettler Toledo pwgo.to/5748

Top-Seal Shrink Wrapper Arpac introduces the top-seal shrink wrapper, which handles stand-up product running at speeds to 200 ft/min.

Arpac pwgo.to/5765

Pallet/Tray Conveyor

Stretch Wrapping System

Dorner introduces the Edge Roller Technology (ERT 250) conveyor that uses rollers to provides beltless zone control for pallet and tray handling.

Orion Packaging Systems, a division of ProMach, offers the MA-DX2 dual carriage stretch-wrapping system that uses dual 30 in. Insta-Thread film carriages and 28 rpm counter-balanced rotary arms to wrap up to 100 pallets/hr.

Dorner Mfg. pwgo.to/5746

Orion Packaging Systems pwgo.to/5780

Foodservice Bag Rayonier Advanced Materials’s FDAcompliant Envirosmart foodservice bag is made from 100% recovered wood and is available in rolls for flat or pinch-bottom bags.

Rayonier Advanced Materials pwgo.to/5769

Pigment-Based Digital Printer

Robotic Tape Inspection Station

Arrow Systems launches the ArrowJet Aqua 330R, a high-speed, roll-to-roll digital printer that uses aqueous pigment ink-jet technology for resolutions up to 1600 x 1600 dpi and print speeds to 150 ft/min.

Motion Controls Robotics launches the robotic tape inspection station featuring a Fanuc robot along with vision programming to detect the proper application of tape on a variety of case sizes that run through the conveyor station.

Colordyne pwgo.to/5766

Motion Controls Robotics pwgo.to/5767

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64 PW NOV2020

PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE

By Mike Ross, CPP

In a COVID-19 Rut? Three Ways to Keep Packaging Development Moving 2. Use digital and simulation tools To say 2020 has been a challenging year is a vast understatement.

As physical creation of a new pack may encounter delays, it Every industry globally has had to shift business plans and operations can create an opportunity to perform digital optimization studies. to adjust to the incredible changes in the market. Packaging, as an Many tools are available (often at suppliers or third parties) that can industry, is no exception and, in fact, is at the forefront of meeting simulate blow molding, injection molding, transit trials, and even the new demands for products and services caused by the COVID-19 graphic or masterbatch development. During a period of delay in a pandemic. Accordingly, packaging professionals also have had to development project, it is possible to virtually optimize a component. adjust both the technologies they work on and the way in which This will help ensure that quality will be improved, and risk decreased packaging development is done. when the pack is brought into physical reality. This also can make up As an example, at the start of 2020 trends in food products saw a time on the back end of a launch timing, as it helps minimize or even major emphasis on out-of-home items and convenience or “readyavoid the need for reiterative adjustments. made” meals. Given the lockdown measures in places like Europe, the 3. Focus on long-term planning entire industry shifted to in-home products for cooking. This required As many short-term projects, product launches, and deliverables a shift in focus in product types and within packaging portfolios. are delayed, it can create space for longer-term planning. Typically, The focus on foodservice large packs such as bulk bags, buckets, attention and resources are centered and totes shifted to smaller, sometimes single-use products, which used different The health, well-being, and safety around impending deadlines and immediate pressures. Delays due to technologies and materials. Other trends of our teams and colleagues the current situation, however, allow would include a large jump in demand professionals to see past the immediate, for cleaning products and personal need to be top priority as the allowing creation of longer-term hygiene products, some of which may packaging industry navigates roadmaps for innovation, sustainability, even be new to a company’s portfolio. these challenging times. cost savings, etc. It is also an ideal The resulting impact is that packaging time to build, expand, and strengthen professionals had to be ready to move ecosystem partnerships to develop new technologies and value chains between packaging technologies and systems. For example, a team for the future. that had skills in laminations may have had to change their focus to The planning for the expansion of capacity on mechanical dispensing systems and rigid plastics. Teams with a diversity of talent and chemically recycled polymers, for example, in Europe has and experience are best placed to cope with such a potentially radical been developed over the last few years and has even accelerated shift. Even so, much of the development is done virtually, and three during 2020, with more companies making public commitments key enablers, discussed below, can be leveraged to support packaging and building partnerships to address environmental change. The development in this new, challenging virtual environment. related planning and development of collection and recycling 1. Leverage ecosystems to maximum effect systems also has not paused due to the pandemic, though the The reality is that many factories are still closed or operating physical manifestation may take longer than originally planned. with significantly reduced staff. This can create a delay in obtaining Other activities that can be done during this period include portfolio materials for and conducting trials for new pack systems. However, it simplification, elimination of obsolete items, and other efficiencyis important to note that not all regions globally are in the same state improving activities. of lockdown. While Europe may still be in a tighter state of lockdown, Leveraging these enablers can help drive development in such a China and parts of Asia are back in operation to an increasing extent. unique and uncertain time. The greatest assets, however, remain the This means that even if it’s not possible to qualify a new packaging people and professionals themselves. The health, well-being, and system using local materials, the proof of principle may be able to safety of our teams and colleagues need to be top priority as the be performed in a different region and the learning translated when packaging industry navigates these challenging times. PW more normal operations resume.

The author, Mike Ross, is Senior Packaging Manager-Global at Unilever Food Solutions, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

He is an IoPP Certified Packaging Professional. To learn more about IoPP, visit www.iopp.org or email info@iopp.org.

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10/23/20 3:31 PM

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