Packaging World March 2021 by PMMIMediaGroup

CREATING STABILITY

FOR YOUR OPERATION. westrock.com/automation

MAR2021 packworld.com FPA 28 2021 AWARDS

Flexible Packaging for Sustainability, Functionality 36

All Military Branches Recognized with CanteenStyle Bottle 40

SIOC Stemware Project Proves D2C Doable 46

Tray Sealer Brings Benefits to Berry Packager

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CREATING STABILITY FOR YOUR OPERATION. WestRock is your true partner, on the forefront of innovation, helping you navigate rapidly-evolving changes within your operation. Our performance-matched packaging design to automation solutions can increase your ability to deliver your product to market reliably and efficiently no matter what tomorrow brings.

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1/28/21 1:10 PM

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Winning the Highest Achievement Award in the 2021 edition of the FPA’s annual competition was a 4-oz snack tray plus lid. It contains four individual compartments, one each for fresh sliced apples, a cracker, cheese, and salami.

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY FPA Awards Applaud EyeCatching, Sustainable Designs

Flexible packaging accomplishes a wide range of tasks, whether in-transit, on the shelf, or in a consumer’s hands. These diverse 2021 Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) Award winners, announced March 10, 2021, reflect the full array of flexible functionalities.

36 EMERGING BRANDS Spirits Bottle for Veteran-Owned Whiskey Brand Hits its Target New whiskey brand launched to celebrate all branches of the military uses unique packaging touches throughout, including a canteen-style bottle, a spent cartridge-shaped cap, and a display case designed to look like an ammo crate.

40 E-COMMERCE Lenox Optimizes Wine Glass Packaging for Amazon Shipping A packaging redesign for tableware brand Lenox for its red wine glasses hits the sweet spot, providing both enhanced sustainability and greater product protection for Amazon’s Frustration-Free Packaging requirements.

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46 Tray Sealer Brings Benefits to Berry Packaging By eliminating a rigid, domed, snap-fit lid in favor of a clear flexible film applied by a new tray sealer, this German berry grower scores sustainability points and more.

48 AUTOMATION IIoT Machine Health Monitoring This Arrowhead Systems division is taking full advantage of new IIoT tools that make machine diagnostics readily available and help customers maximize OEE.

2/26/21 10:24 AM

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2/19/21 9:12 AM

4 PW MAR2021

DEPARTMENTS 8

packworld.com PACKAGING TV

COLUMNS

Lennox Tests SIOC Stemware

7 Lead Off 20 The Legal Side 22 The Big Picture 24 Sustainable Packaging 53 Shelf Impact! 56 Professional Perspective

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NEWS/EVENTS

PODCAST

8 News 16 Quotables/By the Numbers 55 Industry Watch

Tax Credits via Employee Retention Credit Act?

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INTERVIEW

18 First Person PRODUCTS

PACKAGING TV

52 Automation Technology 54 Technology

Big Brands’ Move to Monolayer Film

ADVERTISING

55 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

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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 2021 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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EDITORIAL Matt Reynolds Editor Patrick Reynolds Vice President, Editor Emeritus @Packcentric Iris Zavala Managing Editor Anne Marie Mohan Senior Editor @PackagingTrends Jim Chrzan Vice President, Content and Brand Strategy Kim Overstreet Senior Content Strategist, Alignment Sterling Anthony, Eric F. Greenberg, Ben Miyares 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 Sharon Taylor 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

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2/19/21 9:04 AM

LEAD OFF

COMPLETE

PE Perspectives Packaging World spills so much ink holding up a mirror to brands and CPGs that it’s instructional to seek outside opinions from time to time. Recently I had a fruitful conversation with Doug Horn, Partner, and Robbie Isenberg, Managing Director, at the Clairvest Group. Founded in 1987 by a group of successful entrepreneurs, theirs is a top-performing private equity (PE) firm with over $2.5 billion of capital under management. Clairvest’s mission is to partner with entrepreneurs to help them build strategically significant businesses. What piqued my interest in the PE scene and how it relates to packaging is the firm’s most recent partnership with Canadian co-man/co-packer Brunswick Bierworks Inc. Horn and Isenberg have a different approach to packaging where they help founder/owners grow and build value. What guidance do they give the companies with whom they partner? I asked them these questions, largely using co-packer Brunswick as a lens through which to view their approach, but most of what they say is universally applicable to CPGs. What attracted Clairvest to co-packing to begin with? More than anything else it was the continuing march of SKU proliferation and the explosion of packaging formats that came with it. Clearly this spelled opportunity for PE. What once was a space dominated by (so-called) tier-one Canadian beer brands like Labatt’s and Molson has since fractured to include a healthy ecosystem of craft (tier-two) brands on the upswing, getting bigger pieces of the pie at the expense of tier-one competitors. That’s why co-packing for beer was so attractive. How are they steering partners like Brunswick in terms of handling capital investment, particularly in uncertain times? By looking for the high value wins that offer the most bang for the buck, they say. Ask yourself how you can maximize/optimize capital investment. Determine the best ROI across the available investment option. “You also don’t want to be so hyper-responsive to customer needs that you’re whipping around and foolishly spending the capital in response,” Isenberg says. “Start from the more critical needs and work your way down so that you can be best aligned with your customers to focus on where they really need you. And then work to provide those needs for the customers at a really high level of proficiency.”

PACKAGING SYSTEM

FOR BAR PRODUCT

BUILT TO PERFORM

Interested in packaging for the craft brew market? Read Packaging World’s special supplement, Craft Brew Packaging & Processing Innovation, at pwgo.to/6023 Currently, he sees the most added-value automation coming from the IT and logistics side, particularly around distribution- and retail-facing software. But he also sees the need for flexibility in packaging equipment. One example Isenberg gives is of the craft beer brands that got too deep and dependent on bottles and bottling equipment right before the can craze hit. Which brings up another key piece of direction Clairvest gives its partners: know how to spot a trend. “The best management teams out there are not trying to put out the fire today,” says Horn. “They’re thinking three to five years ahead in terms of their capacity utilization and what type of equipment they need to succeed in that environment. On the packaging side, we’re seeing the same thing. There are trend and format shifts. The ability for a management team to flexibly build their capital equipment out, but also get ahead of it because these things do have long lead times, is important.” Speaking of long lead times, the pandemic threw a wrench into supply chains. How does this change things? “One change is inventory. I think we’re going into a world where holding a little inventory is valued (versus just-in-time),” Horn says. “We’ve seen supply shocks before. Obviously this one was a big one, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone that building more slack into the system is a likely result.” On a related note, Horn sees the need for increased input diversity. Brands can’t be too reliant on a single supplier (or single region) in the post-pandemic environment. “The CPG brands are partners to the packaging companies. They work together, so the management teams of these companies need to take it on themselves to make sure that they’re getting as much visibility downstream as possible from the bigger brands, and they can work together to make sure that they can meet demand,” Horn concludes. “We’ve seen a lot of instances in this crisis where active communication actually presented new revenue opportunities because you’re out there trying to get forward visibility on demand.” PW

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2/25/21 2:21 PM

8 PW MAR2021

NEWS

Coca-Cola To Test Paper Bottle The Coca-Cola Company’s first-ever paper bottle prototype is transitioning from the lab to the marketplace this summer through a limited online trial in Hungary. A run of 2,000 bottles of the plant-based beverage AdeZ will be offered in the pioneering package via e-grocery retailer Kifli.hu. The paper bottle project—which is being co-developed by CocaCola’s R&D team in Brussels and Paboco, a Danish startup supported by ALPLA and BillerudKorsnäs in cooperation with Carlsberg, L’Oréal, and The Absolut Company—is moving into the consumer testing phase to measure the package’s performance and shopper response to the format. Coca-Cola and Paboco initially unveiled the firstgeneration prototype, which is described as a paper shell with a recyclable plastic lining and cap, last fall. “The trial we are announcing today is a milestone for us in our quest to develop a paper bottle,” says Daniela Zahariea, director of technical supply chain and innovation, Coca-Cola Europe. “People expect Coca-Cola to develop and bring to market new, innovative, and sustainable types of packaging. That’s why we are partnering with experts like Paboco, experimenting openly and conducting this first inmarket trial.”

The technology developed by Paboco is designed to create 100% recyclable bottles made of sustainably sourced wood with a bio-based material barrier capable of resisting liquids, CO2, and oxygen. Targeted products include beverages, beauty products, and other liquid goods. The ultimate goal is a bottle that can be recycled as paper. The innovation supports The Coca-Cola Company’s World Without Waste sustainable packaging goal to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030, while substantially reducing use of virgin packaging materials and using only 100% recyclable packaging materials. Achieving this vision requires investment in innovation and collaboration with partners to drive collection, recycling, and sustainable design. Stijn Franssen, R&D Packaging Innovation Manager for Coca-Cola Europe, stresses that the breakthrough technology is still in development. Franssen’s team has been conducting extensive lab testing to assess how the paper bottle performs, holds up, and protects its contents. “This is new technology, and we are moving in uncharted territory,” he explains. “We have to invent the technical solutions as we go along.” —Pat Reynolds

Fiber-based Cup for Mac & Cheese Kraft Mac & Cheese, a beloved staple on American tables for more than 80 years, announced it is developing and testing the brand’s first-ever recyclable fiber-based microwavable cup. Upon testing completion, the brand will launch a new Mac & Cheese Shapes variety later in 2021 using the new cup and design. The fiberbased microwavable cup currently being trialed is microwave safe and filled with the same delicious Kraft Mac & Cheese that families know and love. In addition, the innovative cup will eliminate the plastic label through new direct-print technology. The intent of the design change from plastic to fiber is to reduce plastic use and to be both recyclable and compostable in industrial composting facilities. Kraft is working with outside partners to certify and incorporate the appropriate recycling labeling to help consumers know exactly what to do with the packaging after they have enjoyed their meal. “Consumers are at the heart of everything we do and we know they’re looking for more sustainable packaging options without sacrificing the convenience or taste they love from Kraft Mac & Cheese,” says Matt Carpenter, Marketing Director at Kraft Heinz. “In our journey to develop our first recyclable fiber-based microwavable Mac & Cheese cup, it was critical to partner with fans who share our passion. Their invaluable feedback is helping

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to create packaging solutions with both today’s consumer and future generations in mind.” Kraft Mac & Cheese already offers consumers the taste they love with no artificial preservatives, flavors, or dyes and this more sustainable microwavable cup is another step forward for the iconic brand. Watch for more information from Kraft on where and when the new Mac & Cheese Shapes variety, using the new cup and design currently in development, will be available later this year. This innovation, notes the Kraft Heinz Company, supports a journey toward responsible, sustainable practices extending to every facet of its business, including a commitment that aims to make 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging by 2025. —Pat Reynolds

2/19/21 5:58 PM

Another Brand Adopts Post-Consumer Recycled Packaging Founded in 1953, green-minded home improvement and construction brand HAGA specializes in natural and organic building materials, such as lime or clay plaster. Now, by introducing a new packaging system, it has further improved its sustainability profile by taken a step toward participating in the circular economy. Its new clay plaster buckets, gray in color, now display the RAL recycled plastic quality mark, indicating that they consist of at least 50% post-consumer recycled materials (PCR). “HAGA uses only environmentally friendly raw materials without synthetic additives. They meet all requirements, both in terms of construction biology and ecology,” says Thomas Bühler, owner and managing director of HAGA AG. “With the recyclate bucket from Jokey, we have found a packaging solution that meets our high sustainability standards. After all, not only is awareness of construction biology and the demand for climate-friendly construction growing, customers also expect environmentally friendly packaging design.” The PCR buckets come from The Jokey Group. By adopting

them, HAGA is participating in a sustainability approach that Jokey promotes through its extended Eco Concept 2.0, and via the 2018-launched campaign, “Grey is the New Green.” —Matt Reynolds

RLC Releases Report on Fixing Recycling in the U.S. The Recycling Leadership Council (RLC), a broad coalition of stakeholders brought together to identify the federal government’s role in fixing the U.S. recycling system, released the Blueprint for America’s Recycling System. The report provides a vision for ambitious policy action that will move the U.S. toward a circular economy. “Recycling in the United States is at a breaking point due to thousands of disparate systems, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the massive fractures in its foundation. The time is now to solve this crisis, and Americans overwhelmingly want federal leadership,” says Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association. “The Consumer Brands Association is proud to convene the Recycling Leadership Council and present its blueprint for how the federal government can be a positive force in modernizing and standardizing recycling across the country.” The RLC’s blueprint outlines three areas where the federal government can make a meaningful difference in America’s recycling future: 1. Create clear data collection and reporting requirements to further understand the problem and inform the creation of a system that works. There is a lack of standardized, quantifiable data across the country, leaving policymakers in the dark. We cannot manage what we cannot measure. 2. Develop national standards and definitions across the nation’s nearly 10,000 recycling systems, providing clear guidance to states and municipalities and taking confusion out of the process for consumers and packaging producers. Through standardization and harmonization, more and different types of materials can be collected, processed and sold for value-added products or packaging.

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3. Support states with targeted infrastructure investments, tax credits and grants. Funding must be dedicated to the systems themselves, such as enhancing recycling infrastructure or educating consumers. “Without focused leadership from the federal government, the system will remain fragmented, with waste becoming increasingly unmanageable and hopes for a cleaner, more sustainable future becoming impossible to realize,” says Meghan Stasz, vice president of packaging and sustainability at Consumer Brands. “There is a real opportunity for federal legislators to take this consensus, which is years in the making, and put it into actual legislation. These are ideas we can all get behind.” The diverse members of the RLC, brought together by Consumer Brands in early 2020, represent organizations from consumer-facing industries, packaging companies, NGOs and the recycling ecosystem, united by their belief that sweeping change is imperative to fixing recycling in America and integral to the long-term health of the planet. For the launch, the RLC was joined by bipartisan members of Congress, several of which were present for the launch of the Recycling Leadership Council in January 2020. “Packaging is vital to safeguard our food, protect our medicines, shield our purchases and transport our goods, essentially protecting what keeps us happy and healthy. Because of packaging’s central role in our world, our industry has a responsibility to limit its environmental impact. The Blueprint for America’s Recycling System addresses the critical issue of recycling, by proposing ways to harmonize laws for clearer understanding, allowing consumers to do their part and the government to capitalize on technology and scale,” concludes Glen Long, Senior Vice President at RLC member organization PMMI. —Matt Reynolds

2/24/21 10:23 AM

10 PW MAR2021

NEWS

New D2C Cleaning Products: Refillable, Non-Toxic, and Counterworthy For consumers looking for more-natural, less-toxic household cleaning products that take into account reduced packaging as well, they’re in luck. In the last couple of years, several companies have launched direct-toconsumer products that offer reusable containers paired with concentrated detergent refills shipped in eco-friendly packaging. New York Citybased Blueland is among them. But co-founder and CEO Sarah Paiji Yoo says she doesn’t mind the competition. “We love that other brands are also encouraging consumers to consider refillable packaging, instead of single-use packaging, to push all of us towards a fundamental change in how we shop and consume,” she shares. Blueland’s mission, the company says, is to reimagine all categories of household packaged goods with innovative form factors and environmentally responsible packaging—starting with cleaning products. With The Clean Essentials kit, which contains three reusable Forever Bottles for cleaners, one Forever bottle for foaming hand soap, and four tablets of powdered, concentrated detergents for Multi-Surface, Glass + Mirror, Bathroom, and Foaming Hand Soap, Blueland hopes to eliminate 100 billion single-use plastic bottles in the U.S. alone. Says Paiji Yoo, “We’ve worked tirelessly to ensure we’re removing common barriers consumers cite about why they haven’t made the switch. It’s easy for people to refill and reuse our products. The dry tablets are compact, can be purchased in bulk without taking up a ton of space, and all someone has to do is drop the tablet into our reusable bottle to create a new full bottle of cleaner. With that one innovation, we’ve eliminated barriers around ease of use and space among others.” The custom, 20-oz bullet-shaped clear bottles for the three cleaning products are made from Tritan™ BPA-free, shatter-resistant #7 copolyester from Eastman. A splash of color—cyan, magenta, or yellow—inside the base of the bottle differentiates the cleaner type. For its hand soap, Blueland designed a smaller, 9-oz glass bottle, with the same shape and a clear base. “For all our design and product concepts, we looked to ensure functionality and appeal,” explains Paiji Yoo. “This balance can be seen

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throughout all of our offerings, and customers will also note the usage of a curvature design aesthetic in both the packaging and bottles to mirror our widely-recognized tablet iconography.” Sachets for individual cleaning tablets and for 40-ct pouches are made from a proprietary, compostable, paper-based material, the development of which was “a true labor of love,” Paiji Yoo says. “Not only did we need it to be compostable and look well-designed, but it also had to be strong enough to hold up in high heat and humidity, and survive machinery that is really made only for plastic packaging during creation.” The shipping box for The Clean Essentials kit, as well as for other kits offering combinations of the base products along with items such as steel tins for tablets and silicone shakers for powder dish soaps, is made from recycled-content, recyclable corrugated material, as is an instruction insert. Commenting on the cost of Blueland’s offerings versus cleaners in single-use packaging, Paiji Yoo says Blueland’s goal was to create products that were affordable and accessible to as many people as possible. Sold on Blueland’s website, refills and kits are priced anywhere from $6 to $83, and are available as a one-time purchase or on a subscription basis. “Typically, eco-friendly options have been priced and viewed as more expensive, so we wanted to ensure our products could allow customers to save money over time,” says Paiji Yoo. “With Blueland, customers don’t have to pay for water and packaging again and again with each bottle of cleaner and can even save more money when they purchase our tablets in bulk or on a subscription to make it even easier for them to switch to an eco-friendly product.” Looking to the future, Blueland hopes to grow into a global company with products across a range of categories, such as personal care, beauty, and possibly even packaged food and beverages. “We imagine there one day being a ‘Blueland home’ that is filled with beautiful reusable containers that are convenient and affordable to refill,” shares Paiji Yoo. “Our goal continues to be to help people reduce the amount of single-use plastic in their everyday lives and help them make changes that will benefit our world.” —Anne Marie Mohan

2/24/21 2:40 PM

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2/19/21 6:00 PM

12 PW MAR2021

NEWS

Nutella the Latest to Join Shrinkflation Nation Ferrero-produced Nutella will soon reduce the size of its 400-g jars in the UK and Belgium without altering the product price, in what is becoming a common move to cut costs. According to recent reports, Nutella has confirmed that it will reduce its 400-g jars to 350 g due to rising production costs.

What is Shrinkflation?

Shrinkflation is not new to the marketplace. It is the process of reducing product size, quantity, or quality (via reformulation), while the price of said product remains the same or even increases. Reformulating products does not usually go over well with the consumer. Consider 1985’s “New Coke,” attempt at reformulation that even Coca-Cola refers to as “The Story of One of the Most Memorable Marketing Blunders Ever.” It’s worth noting that taste-tests prior to the change showed a preference for New Coke over Original, but consumer sentiment ruled. Also, in today’s age of social media, consumer discontent travels fast.

end of 2021, in what Mondele-z attributes to a calorie reduction move, although consumers are skeptical of the reasoning since according to a BBC article, the single-serve bars will retain their current size, “offering consumers different portion sizes for different occasions.” Mondele-z also changed the size of Toblerone bars from 200 g to 150 g in 2016 but ended up going back to the 200-g size in 2018.

Package Appearance

The BBC reports that subtle shifts in a product’s packaging can make the change in size less noticeable. Pierre Chandon, a Professor of Marketing at France’s European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) has studied consumer perception of packaging size, and found that when increasing the height of a product box while diminishing the width and length of the base, consumers are likely to calculate that the changes even each other out, while in fact the volume has decreased substantially. Other packaging variations such as increasing the dimple at the bottom of a peanut butter jar have been used to reduce product volume.

Recent Shrinkflation Changes

Consumer World’s watchdog branch “Mouse Print” reported on the Shrinkflation of popular products in 2020: • Downy Unstoppables Weight reduced from 10 oz to 8.6 oz. In 2019 the product went from 13.2 oz to 10 oz due to a reformulation of the product which removed weight from each pellet, while allowing the bottle to remain the same. • Nathan’s Pretzel Dogs Hot dogs per package reduced from five to four. • Charmin Ultra Strong Reduced from 286 sheets to 264. • Dawn The smallest bottle has been reduced from 8 oz to 7 oz. • Lay’s Potato Chips Party size bag reduced from 15.25 oz to 13 oz.

Cost vs. Weight

Most companies do not want to raise prices in order to meet rising production costs because consumers are more likely to make a decision based on price than changes in weight, so downsizing the product is the remaining viable option. Product information is clearly marked on the packaging, so Shrinkflation is not overtly misleading the consumer, but comes down to whether the consumer notices the change or not. An article by Sylvain Charlebois, Professor of Food Distribution and Policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said that in the U.S. an estimated 15% to 20% of all packaged food products have been downsized in the last five years. Multipacks of Cadbury chocolate bars will also shrink by the

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• Keebler Club Crackers Downsized from 13.7 oz to 12.5 oz, eliminating a dozen crackers from each box. • Charmin “Mega” roll reduced by 20 sheets. • Powerade 32-oz bottles reduced to 28 oz. • Puffs Reduced from 56 tissues to 48. • Hershey’s Kisses “Family Size” bags of Hershey’s kisses reduced from 18 oz to 16 oz. 12-ounce “Classic Size” bags went from 12 oz to 10 oz and renamed “Share Size.” —Kim Overstreet

2/19/21 6:00 PM

Alcohol Consumption Habits Shift During COVID-19 Despite COVID-19, or perhaps because of it, “Americans are saying ‘Cheers’ more often.” That’s according to a recent white paper of the same name from AMC Global that reports that when it comes to adult beverage consumption and purchase habits, some demographics are drinking more, and certain beverage categories are growing in popularity. Among the insights included in the paper: • Consumption of alcoholic beverages has shifted as the pandemic continues, with 27% of respondents reporting that they have been drinking more. • While most respondents say they will go back to the same or less than their “pre-pandemic” drinking from an amount standpoint, 9% say they will continue to drink more. • Most of those drinking more alcohol fall into younger age groups, ranging from 21 to 34. For example, 41% of those age 21 to 34 report drinking beer versus just 11% of those 35 or older. • People seem to be experimenting more with alcoholic beverages, with 23% of consumers trying new-to-market or new-to-them beverages like spiked seltzers. • People are mixing cocktails at home, and they are choosing what are perceived as “healthier” or lighter varieties of packaged alcoholic beverages, including lower ABV wines (12% or 13% max), spritzers, and spirit-free cocktails. • Thirty-three percent of consumers are trying new beers, 20% are trying new wines, and 14% are trying flavored malt beverages. • Other “hot” beverage categories consumers seem increasingly willing to try include spiked nitro and cold-brew options and ready-todrink cocktail options, including new flavors and mixtures. • While convenience seems to play a role in beverage purchase decisions, sustainability is top of mind for consumers, with 67% now more aware of how their actions and the actions of others impact the environment, including the use of sustainable packaging. • The slowing of on-premise sales of alcoholic beverage has had a clear impact on sales of single-serve units, although some studies are showing this trend in softening. —Anne Marie Mohan

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2/19/21 6:01 PM

14 PW MAR2021

NEWS

Two Better-for-You Brands Get Free Closures for a Year Health and wellness continue to lead entrepreneurial innovation in new food and beverage products, so it’s no surprise that the products from the two winners of Silgan Closures’ second annual Free Closures for a Year (FCFY) contest fall into this category. The first, Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade, is a preservative-free beverage made from organic fruits, alkaline water, and cane sugar; the second is Simply Soupreme, a line of cold-pressed, plant-based, ready-to-sip soups. Winners of the FCFY contest will receive a choice of up to 500,000 Silgan stock closures over a 12-month period, as well as free consumer insights on their product from Datassentials SCORES. As A.J. Miller, Director of Marketing for Silgan Closures, explained when the contest was launched in 2019, FCFY was initiated to promote Silgan’s stock closure program while giving fledgling brands a hand-up with their ventures. “Chef Sidnee,” creator of Ga.-based Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade, launched her start-up at the age of five, after graduating from Pre-K, with a lemonade stand. Funding for the enterprise came as the result of donation requests sent by Sidnee to

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family and friends. The product was introduced in July 2016 at her church’s annual bazaar. Now a registered small business, Sidnee’s sells the lemonade at festivals and events in the Atlanta area and at Savi Provisions, a neighborhood retailer of locally sourced organic foods. A portion of the profits go toward community organizations like Toys for Tots and to Sidnee’s 529 college savings plan. The lemonade is available in five fruit-infused flavors, in 16-oz, half-gallon, and gallon containers. The 16-oz size uses a stock plastic 38-mm Silgan linerless snap cap with a single plug that features a tamper-tail tamper-evident safety band in three colors—yellow, red, and blue—to differentiate the flavor variations. Says Sidnee’s mom, Sherri Rushing, the caps are easy to apply, which is a big advantage, as the lemonade is bottled by hand in a shared church kitchen. She adds that Sidnee’s sources the bottles and caps through Restaurant Depot. Sidnee’s settled on the specified cap after Sidnee reached out to another lemonade brand she saw at retail to learn where they got the yellow caps they were using; they put her in touch with Silgan.

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Of winning the FCFY contest, Rushing says, “We weren’t entrepreneurs when Sidnee started her lemonade stand, so having Silgan partner with us to help us offset start-up costs and think about how to market different flavors with consistent branding is a wonderful opportunity.” The second winner of FCFY, N.J.-based Simply Soupreme, was founded by personal chef and wellness coach Jackie Greene when she noticed her clients often skipped meals in favor of constant snacking. As a healthy, on-the-go alternative, Greene launched a line of plant-based soups made from locally sourced ingredients that are gluten-free, dairy-free, nonGMO, and organic where possible. “The all-natural, cold-pressed product represents a shift away from highly processed, canned soups,” she says. Greene chose PET juice bottles for the product, which is available in Carrot Ginger, Raw Cucumber, Beet Thyme, and Tomato Basil, “because they [the bottles] are clean and attractive,” she says. “Our soups are like a juice cleanse, but tastier and less painful. It can be consumed warmed or chilled, and it won’t make you cold or tired. We wanted our packaging to convey that.” Love Grace Foods co-packs the Raw Cucumber variety, while the rest are prepared in a commercial kitchen, and all four receive High Pressure Processing (HPP) at Dora’s Naturals. Compatibility with the HPP process was the main driver in the selection of the bottle closure. “We needed a cap that would seal, wasn’t going to expand, wouldn’t pop, and was easy

to fill,” says Greene. “Our Silgan stock closure is tamper-resistant and has a great seal, especially for our pour level and HPP processing.” For the 12-oz PET soup bottle, Simply Soupreme is using the 38DBJ, a 38-mm linerless screw cap with a single plug and three-lead thread and a J-style tamper-evident safety band, sourced from Jersey Bottle Supply. “Moving from food concept to consumer packaged good is quite a learning curve,” Greene adds. “Closures and containers are a big part of the user experience, so connecting with a company like Silgan to help guide you through the process is a real advantage.” Silgan’s FCFY contest for 2021 is underway, with the competition having launched Nov. 1, 2020 and ending March 31, 2021. For contest rules, regulations, and the entry form, visit Silgan’s website at www.silgancls. com. —Anne Marie Mohan

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BY THE NUMBERS

$2.32 The cost of a two pack of new CocaCola with Coffee and Coca-Cola with Coffee Zero Sugar that was delivered by drone from a Walmart in Georgia to customers within a 1-mi radius of the supercenter in January

The number of toxic chemicals on Amazon’s Restricted Substances list that the company is seeking to eliminate from the packaging for its private-brand baby, household cleaning, personal care, and beauty products in the U.S. and Europe

6.5 lb

The amount of carbon dioxide produced per each 75-mL bottle of liquor, with the majority of the emissions resulting from the distillation process and glass packaging

1924

The year in which Kellogg’s first placed its cereal in wax paper bags that were also put into paperboard cartons—a format still widely used today

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QUOTABLES

“This trial is assessing a de-centralised production model and there are many benefits of this: a faster market response time (these containers can be shipped around the world, bringing them closer to markets), a reduced carbon footprint, a smallerscale agile model and enhancing livelihoods by sourcing fresh and local ingredients. …We can see a future where we have a truly dynamic model, with thousands of local production lines all over the world instead of one big one in a massive building.” –Olivera Trifunovic, Unilever Engineering Manager and project lead of the travel factory, as quoted by FoodNavigator in an article, “Unilever tests nano factory: ‘This trial is assessing a de-centralised production model’”

“I’m not saying squash innovation because we need innovation, innovation drives sales. I’m not saying don’t give shoppers choice, of course give them choice. They love choice, and they want it. What I’m saying is rationalizing as a retailer and as a manufacturer is having the dialogue about how consolidating production around fewer SKUs could end up making the entire supply chain more efficient.” –John Ross, CEO of supermarket chain IGA, in an article from FoodDive.com, “Less is more: Why retailers and CPGs are moving toward selling fewer products in stores”

“At a time when the world quickly adapted to staying home and social distancing, online shopping and local food and grocery deliveries offered much needed solutions. Our data shows that consumers prefer paper-based packaging now more than ever. It’s safe, reliable and has brought the world to our doorsteps. In the past, people couldn’t wait to see what was inside of the package, but it seems this year they report appreciating what’s on the outside—the humble, easily recyclable box.” –Mary Anne Hansan, President of the Paper and Packaging Board, in a press release from P+PB, “Paper and Packaging Industry Marketing Campaign Amplifies Essential Products”

“Manual practices have long been a bottleneck to efficiency and precision in decision-making across the food supply chain. But the restrictions COVID-19 has placed on business operations have—through necessity—opened minds around what automation can bring to the table, and how it can free up time to focus on what really matters.” –Thomas Slaugh, Enterprise Solutions Business Development at Proagrica, in an article, “Robotics, AI and the future of food: ‘The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that robots were built to address,’” from FoodNavigator

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18 PW MAR2021

FIRST PERSON

Orgain Grows with New Plant-Based Nutrition Powder Orgain’s packaging is guided by sustainability and reducing environmental impact. With the recent introduction of Superfoods + Immunity Up! to its expansive line of nutrition products, the brand has accelerated its positive growth over the last decade. Packaging World first visited with Orgain back in 2010, when the company was still relatively new. Founded by Dr. Andrew Abraham with a home blender and a desire to find an all-natural, food-based nutritional shake during cancer treatment, the brand has grown to include a diverse range of clean nutrition products, including shakes, protein powders, and snack bars for adults and kids. Orgain’s products are gluten-free, non-GMO, and made without soy, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. We asked Greg Fry, Group Director of Innovation and Commercialization at Orgain, a few questions about the company’s growth and packaging choices over the last few years.

Packaging World:

Nutraceuticals and wellness markets in general have performed well during the pandemic. How has the pandemic impacted Orgain? Have you had to pivot due to supply chain or labor issues?

Greg Fry: As a company during this pandemic, we have been extremely fortunate. Our business impact has, overall, been a positive one. We have witnessed the phenomenon of pantry-loading as consumers look for shelf-stable options in the event food supplies run low. Our obstacles (and opportunities) initially were around maintaining stock. Fortunately, we have a strong team in place that did an excellent job assuring that our online partners and retailers were able to easily and consistently restock. Understandably, we have also seen a spike in interest in products that support immunity. It has been a welcomed

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revelation for many of our consumers to find that ingredients that support immunity, like vitamin D and zinc, already exist in many of our protein powders and nutrition shakes.

Please tell us more about Orgain’s expansion into pantry items like the pancake mix. How did that come about, and do you plan to expand those offerings? Expansion into adjacent categories with pantry items like our Orgain Protein Pancake Mix made a lot of strategic sense for us. Consumers are looking for cleaner versions of what already exists in the marketplace, and with our pancake mix we are able to offer a clean alternative that not only offers nutritional benefits but also tastes delicious. This idea that we don’t need to sacrifice on taste to deliver high-quality products has been a proven key to our success. Orgain continues to be strategic in planning out our strategy for adjacent product categories to continue our growth momentum and deliver what our consumers are looking for. What factors are influencing your current packaging choices? We take a number of factors into consideration when making our packaging choices, including product quality, sustainability, e-commerce shipping, and retail sales. Sustainability is always something we assess when working on a new product and package. For example, if we can use a recycled resin or decrease our packaging volume altogether, that is a winwin—both positively affecting cost to us and environmental impact for our planet. We recently reduced the pack size on the majority of

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our plastic tubs for our powders. We carefully assessed how much we could reduce the pack size by while still including the same volume of product to offer to our consumers. Ultimately, this exercise allowed us to use less resin per ounce of product and enjoy more efficient shipping.

PW Note: Orgain has created its “Green Initiative” program to reduce the impact of its packaging. According to its website, in 2020 the company reduced the amount of packaging in its containers by 40%, saving 30,000 pounds of plastic annually, cutting CO2 emissions by 884,000 kg, and saving 580,000 pounds of corrugated.

What can you tell us about the packaging for the powders—both the containers and the singleserve powders? How about the ready-to-drink packaging? Increased sustainability with our plastic protein powder tubs has been the most significant push for us to date because that is the area where we use the most packaging. We are currently assessing other areas within our portfolio in the ready-to-drink space as well as with our snack bars. We have some new ready-to-drink items under development that have a more sustainable packaging strategy, and we are proud and excited to roll that out in the near future. Additionally, we have started to transition to the biobased HDPE caps made from sugarcane for our Tetra Pak packaging items. Are you still using Tetra Pak for the drink packaging? We are still using Tetra Pak for many of our RTD offerings. It is a convenient and familiar package that our consumers trust. We continue to work with Tetra Pak to adopt their sustainable packaging options such as the bio-based cap. —Kim Overstreet

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20 PW MAR2021

THE LEGAL SIDE

By Eric F. Greenberg, Attorney-at-law

Cannabis, CBD Sagas About to Get Real If you have been waiting and hoping for a federal change in law or policy about cannabis and CBD products, it’s OK to start holding your breath now, because real changes are likelier than ever during 2021. Presumably, federal legalization will allow for branding that crosses state lines and removes the uncertainty that is holding back some packagers from getting involved in the market. After all, with cannabis and CBD products, there has developed an unholy combination of uncertainty about what the federal government considers illegal, with hellaciously large public desire for these products. State after state makes cannabis and CBD products legal, but still federal law declares most of them illegal. At least life was a little easier for packagers during the years when the feds followed a policy of not enforcing federal prohibitions against folks who, for example, complied with the requirements of an individual state that had legalized cannabis products. But the memorandum that policy was based on was withdrawn a few years ago, and federal policy since then hasn’t been as clear. It’s been recognized widely for a long time that the solution to this kind of conundrum would have to involve changing the federal law, not merely FDA enforcement priorities about foods and drugs. Cannabis (aka marijuana) is still a “Schedule 1” drug according to federal law—on the same list as heroin and LSD—meaning that it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” says the Drug Enforcement Agency. Recent years have seen an increasing number of U.S. states change their laws: 15 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, and 36 states OK medical use. Reportedly, FDA had sent some proposed changes in law and policy to the White House for review back in June 2020, but they never came out the other end, and now the Biden administration put a hold on all pending changes. But there’s reason to think its time has finally come once the Biden team gets its feet fully under it. And now, word is that the new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other lawmakers support federal legalization of marijuana (and want to undo some of the effects of the decades-old “war on drugs”), as do a reported majority of the public. But it’s all so supremely odd. Who would have guessed years ago that it would be easier to clear away the cultural and social taboos around pot than the legal restrictions? When I think of marijuana, I think of the pervasive, angry, us-versus-them “generation gap”, to coin the 1960s phrase, as young people pushed back against the Vietnam War and their parents’ traditional roles and values. And sitting squarely in the center of that culture war was pot. A symbol of rebellion, perhaps the central one in those days, it was a

stand-in for all the rejection of tradition and loss of order that older generations feared the younger ones were unleashing. And now, puff!, uh, poof!, it’s getting legalized, and most of the public supports it. Except that while legalization seems to be happening quickly, it’s not happening in an especially orderly way, so you end up with a mix of legality in states, plus illegality on the federal level, all of which combines to cause uncertainty. That pesky Farm Bill from 2018 only added to the confusion. Lots of folks think it made cannabidiol (CBD) legal, and it did for some purposes and products, but very clearly not for dietary supplements or other foods, says FDA. Yes, the 2018 Farm Bill removed industrial hemp containing less than 0.3% of THC—the stuff in cannabis that gets one high—from the list of “controlled” substances, but, importantly, that didn’t change anything about FDA’s powers, and FDA has since then made clear that CBD cannot lawfully be put into dietary supplements or other foods, or into new drugs that aren’t FDA-approved. FDA has appeared to focus its energy lately on sending Warning Letters mostly to makers of CBD-containing supplements that make health-related claims (which FDA asserts aren’t true), but FDA has said that even supplements with CBD in them but no label claims of effect are illegal too. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits dietary supplements from containing a drug ingredient, and FDA approved CBD as an active ingredient in a drug for rare forms of epilepsy in 2018. Some advocates of CBD might take issue with whether that prohibition applies to all CBD products, but whether that argument flies remains to be seen. Also, though, FDA says it thinks there are remaining questions about CBD’s safety, so it doesn’t think CBD is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) as a food ingredient. CBD’s status could get solved rather quickly via a bill that was proposed during the last Congress. The 2-pages-long HR 8179, the would-be “Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020,” would simply make lawful for use as a dietary ingredient in a dietary supplement “hemp, cannabidiol derived from hemp, and any other ingredient derived from hemp,” if it complies with FDA’s requirements for “new dietary ingredients” and all other applicable FDA requirements like GMPs and labeling strictures. Meanwhile, lawmakers in New York State have proposed a similar framework legalizing CBD-containing supplement products that specifies a number of packaging and labeling requirements. According to Dr. Sanford Wolgel, a consultant and former chief science officer for Cannabistry Labs, many industry observers expect federal cannabis constraints on both research initiatives and commercial businesses to be loosened soon. “The momentum is there already.” For those who have advocated federal changes to cannabis and CBD laws, in 2021, hopes are—say it with me now—high. 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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2/19/21 9:15 AM

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THE BIG PICTURE

By Sterling Anthony, CPP, Contributing Editor

Single-face Laminated Packaging Single-face lamination should not be confused with the lamination Throughout its history, corrugated board of a litho-printed sheet onto finished corrugated board. There, the has been known more for brawn than structure consists of four components: bottom layer, medium, top layer, beauty. The traditional role of corrugated boxes (i.e. shippers), and printed sheet. The printed sheet usually is centered on the corrufor example, has been tertiary—protecting contents up to final gated board, set in from the board’s edges, and framed by bare areas. destination, then getting unloaded and disposed of or recycled. The color of those areas will be brown (natural kraft). If that’s too plain, Within that role, there has been minimal need for the communication an alternative is a bleached top layer. Then too, depending on the function and no need for shelf-impact. product and its intended aura, natural kraft could be the better choice. More recently, and increasingly, corrugated is being used as If, instead of being centered, a litho-printed sheet is positioned to primary and secondary packaging. In that capacity, corrugated wrap around a corner, the sheet tends to crack along that location for requires aesthetics that meet the demands and challenges of selflack of tensile properties. The tendency can be reduced by printing service retailing, including e-commerce. Automatically, printing enters the sheet, film laminating it, and then applying the sheet to the the discussion; however, corrugated board is not the ideal substrate corrugated board. for direct printing, at least not for those printing methods that yield As a parting comparison, litho-printed sheet and single-face high-resolution, photo-faithful results. lamination exert differently on the operations that produce the blanks, Single-face lamination, which consists of a bottom liner and a those operations being cutting, gluing, and folding. Because single-face medium flute, is a proven answer. A top liner is printed prior to being lamination covers the entire board, it provides better guide-edges. laminated to the single-face, completing the liner-medium-liner Single-face lamination is an alternative to some applications that structure of single-wall (also called double-face) corrugated board. utilize paperboard cartons (folding and Regarding the choice of printing Single-face lamination, as primary other styles), particularly when those methods, lithography (which utilizes paperboard cartons are of the thicker printing plates, along with the principle packaging, is used for a sweeping that oil and water don’t mix) can produce diversity of products, including food & profiles and/or comprised of the pricier papers (e.g. solid-bleach sulfate). come-hither graphics that invite consumer beverage, electronics, pet products, When the competition is the inspection, facilitate consumer recognition toys & games, automotive items, thinner paperboard cartons, single-face for repeat purchases, and even trigger impulse purchases. The printed surface kitchen appliances, and power tools. lamination still can be an alternative, with the use of the so-called micro-flutes. As can be embellished with coatings, for do all flutes, the micros are designated by a single letter, namely, E, F, either a glossy or matte finish. For added boldness, there’s hotand N, in that order of descending size. Micro-flute corrugated board stamping (aka foil-stamping), embossing, and other special effects. has sustainability credentials, since it uses less material than boards Single-face lamination, as primary packaging, is used for a of the bigger flutes. Brand-owners, however, only should go as “micro” sweeping diversity of products, including food & beverage (especially as needed, commensurate with product-protection requirements. A club store varieties), cell phones, computers and accessories, other related consideration is that the sturdier feel of corrugated can be electronics, pet products, toys & games, automotive items, kitchen reassuring to consumers. appliances, and power tools. Such a list requires packaging that’s Single-face lamination, in the form of a completed package, is the versatile not only vis-à-vis graphic design, but also structural result of the combined contributions of various parties. The possible design. Examples of the latter include features such as opening rollcall includes mills, printers, converters, and contract packagers. flaps, automatic bottoms, cut-out sections, perforated sections, and The relevance to the brand owner is one of quality assurance, customized shapes. especially regarding the detection, investigation, and correction of Single-face lamination as secondary packaging includes retaildefects. The very nature of a given defect can point to a particular ready packaging, beverage carriers, and multi-packs, just to name party as the most likely source. a few examples. As for e-commerce, consider those monthlySavvy brand-owners know that, from a packaging perspective, it’s subscription gift boxes containing product samples. The packaging’s not enough to just show up but to show out. It behooves those brandappearance needs to reflect the consumer’s anticipation of there owners to consider whether single-face laminated packaging holds being something “special” inside. High-end categories, e.g. cosmetics prospects for them. If the answer is, yes, the decision becomes which and fragrances, justify high-end boxes, with the boxes’ exteriors and of the myriad options best serves. PW interiors serving as canvases.

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24 PW MAR2021

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

By Dan Felton, Executive Director of AMERIPEN

EPR Legislation Update Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is premised on the concept that those who produce waste should be responsible for defraying the costs of managing that waste at its end of life. EPR fees and programs have been assigned to several products in the U.S.—among them batteries, carpet, light bulbs, and mattresses. Calls to expand EPR to packaging have existed for the past decade, and in more recent years, there has been an increase in proposed legislation to implement such. Early 2021 has brought forth nearly a dozen proposals in at least seven states related to packaging producer responsibility, as well as anticipation of a federal bill to be re-introduced this year with similar language. Given that at least one state this year is likely to enact fees on packaging to improve recycling, it’s worthwhile to explore some of the approaches being taken among the various bills and highlight some of their differences and similarities. There are many different stakeholders within the packaging industry working on proposals, and many share basic principles and objectives. Collaborative efforts are ongoing among these stakeholders to ensure we speak in a unified voice to advance proposals we believe will work best for the entire packaging value chain. How EPR is defined will have a significant impact on who is required to pay, and in some cases, how packaging design is considered. Most of the proposals cover more than just packaging, including some combination of foodservice containers, single-use bags, and/ or printed material. Some go further, adding in beverage containers and shipping and moving containers, for example. Almost all are focused on consumer-facing primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, and this is an important distinction. There are strong arguments as to why packaging used within business-to-business transactions should be out of scope, since this is generally not consumer facing and since recycling and recovery systems for such should already exist. Policy arguments will be made to exempt some packaging and products (i.e., beverage containers already covered under a state deposit program, reusable containers and packaging, medical devices and products, hazardous materials, etc.), and those will have to be considered as they are raised. In terms of who would be responsible for financing the recovery and recycling of covered products and packaging, most of the propos-

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als place primary responsibility on consumer brand companies, followed by distributors, and then retailers and/or importers. Packaging manufacturers would generally not be considered responsible given they may have no idea where their products ultimately end up after potentially traveling through interstate commerce channels. However, it’s likely that costs will trickle down, and the majority of the packaging supply chain will at least indirectly see some additional costs. One distribution channel AMERIPEN is investigating further to understand potential policy implications is e-commerce, as policymakers want to—and for the sake of equity should—ensure related packaging is captured in any laws that advance. But it’s less clear how to

determine exactly who the responsible party might be, since packaged products and their secondary and tertiary packaging often come into play at different times, and even in different states, as they move separately and then together through e-commerce distribution channels. The various related proposals put forth by states are very inconsistent. Some require meeting certain recycling, recyclable, reusable, and/or compostable rates by certain dates, while others require meeting recycled content rates by a certain date or do not state any goals. Only some require curbside and/or multi-family recycling access, while nearly every proposal requires some level of consumer education and litter abatement support. The goals set will inform packaging system objectives, including where funding is focused as well as where design is emphasized.

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Given that packaging is typically designed for national or international needs, extreme variability in goals will further complicate objectives to achieve success. This is one reason AMERIPEN is advocating at the state level for the ability to form a national organization to help set goals and objectives informed by local needs but harmonized across regions and states. We continue to promote the idea that further stakeholder engagement and collaboration are clearly merited on policy for all potential goals and requirements. This is true for existing and proposed state or other definitions that might be utilized and what is feasible from industry and market perspectives (see pwgo. to/5985). It also applies to identifying what is best determined and set by statute or regulatory authority versus being done by the responsible parties who can demonstrate and justify positive environmental improvements that are also technologically and commercially feasible.

Organization and decision making How producer fees are collected, disbursed, and overseen are key aspects of any EPR program. Many in packaging strongly believe that if they’re expected to pay for packaging recovery, then they should have control over how those investment dollars are spent. Others feel we need the perspective of the full value chain to inform where the greatest needs and opportunities for system change exist. A producer responsibility organization (PRO), also sometimes referred to as a product stewardship organization (PSO) or stewardship responsibility organization (SRO), would be the entity formed by responsible parties and required under statute to operate the stewardship program, assess and collect payments from responsible parties, and support recycling and recovery activities as well as investment. There is general agreement across the various state proposals that the PRO will be controlled by brand owners as the responsible parties paying the producer responsibility fees, but brand owners are not given full decision-making authority under all the proposals. Some of the proposals would grant some level of decision-making authority to an authorized state agency rather than the brand owners, while others would require the brand owners to take binding and/or non-binding input from a statutory advisory or planning committee or council made up of other stakeholders (e.g., packaging manufacturers, collectors, recyclers, processors, retailers, municipalities, NGOs, consumers, etc.). This is clearly an area from a policy perspective that will require more collaboration to determine acceptable and appropriate levels of engagement by all stakeholders in what should be an industry-run organization with adequate and necessary input from others across the entire packaging value chain.

Fund collection While there is general agreement among the state proposals that brands would be the primary party paying the fees for a packaging producer responsibility program, how those fees would be set is much more variable between the proposals. Most of the state proposals under consideration would grant authority to the PRO to set producer responsibility fee methods and rates, while at least two proposals

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SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

would cede this authority to a state agency. Producer responsibility fees would be paid by responsible parties directly to the PRO and held in a stewardship fund, and most of the proposals would grant an exemption from fees for small producers as defined (e.g., less than $1 million in gross revenue in the state per year). All the state proposals require or encourage PROs to implement fee incentives or disincentives for factors that may favorably or nega-

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tively impact the recycling and recovery of covered products and packaging, such as environmentally friendly packaging designs, use of recycled content, source reduction, reuse, greenhouse gas emissions, toxicity, or waste reduction. Some will argue that this fee adjustment approach, commonly known as eco-modulation, is not fully developed within existing packaging producer responsibility systems outside the U.S. and merits further stakeholder engagement and collaboration to determine if it’s a viable policy driver here in the U.S. Lastly, few proposals to date have specified exactly how fees would be collected. It remains to be determined if fees on producers might be based on in-state revenue, a per-item or package fee, or some calculated formula based on SKU design, weight, or other factors. In most cases, the final decision here would be left to the PRO—a system we believe reinforces the value of ensuring fees reflect industry needs.

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The intent of a packaging producer responsibility program would be to help defray the costs of packaging recycling and recovery, but there are significant differences among the state proposals for exactly what the PRO versus others (i.e., municipal government, taxpayers, etc.) would be responsible for funding. Most of the proposals generally would require the PRO to reimburse municipalities for some level of operational collection, transportation, and processing of covered products and packaging. Some go further and require paying for contamination reduction and recycling system upgrades; some go even further and require reimbursement for municipal landfilling. AMERIPEN believes that setting goals for packaging producer responsibility that result in sustainable outcomes is a necessary objective. If increased recovery were a goal, then paying for the landfilling of packaging would be contradictory to that goal. Recycling and solid waste management can admittedly be very complicated within any given state, including whether services are paid for by a municipality (even if contracted to a third party) or paid for by residents under some type of subscription service. There is keen interest among packaging industry stakeholders to understand these dynamics more clearly and determine where industry funding might best be leveraged to drive innovation and truly improve packaging recycling and recovery. So in addition to potentially reimbursing municipal and regional recycling, composting, or reuse of covered products to meet the overall goals of the stewardship plan based on identified statewide needs, the SRO could also separately disburse controlled funds, based on best practices and reporting, to municipalities and private and regional waste management

LOOKING BACK. PRESSING FORWARD. ALWAYS INNOVATING.

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entities for recycling and composting improvements, including for such initiatives as end-market development programs and infrastructure; recycling sorting and processing technology; advanced recycling; new or expanded composting facilities; and consumer education related to market development and contamination reduction. This is an approach AMERIPEN has strongly promoted, and further stakeholder collaboration on this is merited to ensure that proposed and enacted policy does not potentially hamper these types of innovative solutions.

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AMERIPEN hopes packaging producer responsibility statutes will require a PRO to conduct a recycling needs assessment, with support from the state, municipalities, and solid waste organizations, to evaluate capacity, costs, gaps, and needs for various factors, including current funding needs impacting recycling access and availability; collection and hauling of recyclable materials; processing capacity and end-market conditions and opportunities for recyclable and/or compostable materials; and consumer education. This would be a critical policy component to ensure needs are understood before recycling and recovery best practices standards and PRO plans are established and implemented, and policymakers have signaled a willingness to consider such as proposals advance. As noted earlier, the number of legislative proposals related to packaging producer responsibility has increased significantly over the past year, and even more stakeholder engagement and collaboration is therefore needed to clearly define the system details that will reinforce goals and desired outcomes—both for today and tomorrow. A shared dialog and responsibility among all the different stakeholders within the system will be critical to ensure that any EPR funding and disbursement represents an equitable solution that offers innovation and value to all and ideally does not seek to exclude packaging. PW

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FPA Awards Applaud EyeCatching, Sustainable Designs Flexible packaging accomplishes a wide range of tasks, whether in-transit, on the shelf, or in a consumer’s hands. These diverse 2021 Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) Award winners, announced March 10, 2021, reflect the full array of flexible functionalities.

Meat/fruit Combo Tray Wins Top Award Winning the Highest Achievement Award in the 2021 edition of the Flexible Packaging Association’s annual competition was a 4-oz snack tray plus lid. It contains four individual compartments, one each for fresh sliced apples, a cracker, string cheese, and Italian salami that has no nitrates, nitrites, or artificial ingredients. Marketed nationwide by Cashmere, Wash.-based Crunch Pak, the package sells for about $2.98 and has a refrigerated shelf life of 25 days. The flexible film lidding was developed by American Packaging Corp. (APC) and the thermoformed tray by Indepak. “This was a good way to get into that medium snack/small meal category,” says Drew Dalgetty, Vice President of Production and Operations at Crunch Pak. “And with our core business being apples, naturally we wanted apples to be part of the mix.” He adds that, for now at least, the modified-atmosphere packaging is done by an outside party. Putting a fresh fruit as well as fresh meat into the same package required what Dalgetty calls “specific characteristics” where the packaging materials are concerned. APC, in partnership with Crunch Pak, developed a special clear lidding structure that maintains freshness and nutritional value for the wide variety of food items in the convenient tray pack. APC arrived at a lidding structure that would heat seal to and then easily peel from the tray. Normally foods like this, especially fresh fruits, require different types of packaging and barrier materials, so the challenge was to develop a single lidding structure that would accommodate those various foods all within one tray design. The key to this single lidding structure is independently managing the gas levels in each compartment to maximize the shelf life. That is, the piece of film covering the apples is perforated or microperforated in such a way that the fresh apples can receive as much oxygen as they need and give off as much CO2 as they need to continue the natural process of respiration that keeps them fresh and tasty for 25 days. But at the same time the film covering the other components provides the necessary barrier to gas transmission that keeps them equally fresh and tasty.

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The sheet from which the trays are thermoformed is a multilayer coextrusion that includes PET as well as EVOH for barrier. Also critical in the composition of the tray is that the layer that meets the lidding material provides both a secure and hermetic seal while still allowing convenient peelability in the hands of the consumer. APC’s lidding material is a multilayer construction of reverse-printed polyester adhesive laminated to a seven-layer blown coextrusion that includes EVOH at the center for barrier. The printing is done flexographically in up to 10 colors. APC takes care of the printing and laminating, after which, in this particular flexible film structure, comes the patterned perforation. —Pat Reynolds

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Digitally Printed Slam Dunk for Frito Lay’s Ruffles Frito Lay brand Ruffles®’ new Lime and Jalapeño chips pack reflects a first: a collaboration between potato chips and athletes. As part of “The Chip Deal”—Ruffles’ endorsement deal with star NBA basketball player Anthony Davis—the two entities co-created an all-new flavor. Davis contributed both to the chip recipe and the FPA Gold Award-winning package design. Three designs were created, each referencing Anthony Davis’s #3 jersey. Each bag features one of two images of Anthony Davis on one of three different backgrounds, consisting of wavy lines. The wavy lines refer both to Ruffles’ iconic ridges and Davis’s trademarked unibrow. They also represent the spiciness that the jalapeño brings to the flavor, according to converter Printpack. On the front of the package, Anthony Davis’s jersey and basketball have been turned lime green to coordinate with the wavy background, also done in shades of green. These different greens bring to mind the colors of lime and jalapeño, tying the image to the flavor in the mind and eye of the consumer. These packages have additional shelf appeal by virtue of the fact that there has never been an athlete on a package of chips in the history of salty snacks according to the companies. The packages resulted in an unexpected experience for fans of both brands when they were

introduced at a launch event, and provided to more fans on social media. An Anthony Davis quote on the back of the package speaks directly to the fans, encouraging them to be themselves. “When you’re different from everyone else, you can choose to hide it, or you can choose to own it. You should own it,” he is quoted on the pack as saying. The message “Own Your Ridges™” in text underneath the quote is another reference to Ruffles ridges and Anthony Davis’ unibrow. The three different packages were made possible by running them in sequence on Printpack’s digital press, resulting in a more efficient run during converting and customer filling. —Matt Reynolds

Dual Chamber Pouch Keeps Medical Devices Safe The FPA honored Amcor with a Gold Award in Technical Innovation for its Dual Chamber Pouch, a specialty multilayer pouch consisting of a peelable medical device chamber and a non-peelable desiccant chamber. The desiccant is kept separate from the device with a symmetric coextruded vented nylon film. This system is used by Boston Scientific, and Amcor reports that it is particularly suited to “moisture-sensitive products such as drug-coated products which may be adversely affected by reacting with various gasses found within the atmosphere of the package and is suitable for Ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization,” as well as radiation sterilization. Providing easy aseptic access to the product—along with tamper and peel evidence—Amcor created

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this multi-layer system uniting the gas, moisture, and light barrier of 70 gauge foil with nylon in the three webs for high levels of abrasion/puncture resistance. Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) provides strong lock-up seals to prevent access to the desiccant. The Laminate of FM Peelable (LFM) sealant layer is peelable and offers a broad sealing window and visible seal evidence when opened, while a 1059B Tyvek® patch offers breathability between the two chambers allowing the head space between the two to equilibrate. The film is available in clear or pigmented formats. Amcor uses flexographic and rotogravure printing process depending on the application needs, with the capability of printing in up to 10 colors. For the application in the entry, flexo printing was used. —Keren Sookne

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Three Golds for EPP Rounding out EPP’s Gold Award winners for Printing was a 2-kg flatbottom gusseted pouch for Volga Shahi Gold basmati rice from Walq Food Industries of the UAE. Artwork on the package was designed to enhance a traditional feel, while the matte and glossy look creates attention-grabbing shelf appeal. Supplied as a pre-made pouch to Walq, the package is made of a three-layer adhesive lamination of reverse-printed polyester/metallized polyester/PE. Gravure printing is done in eight colors plus surface matte varnish in register. —Pat Reynolds

Of the 11 Gold Achievement Awards handed out in the 2021 FPA Awards Competition, three were won by Emirates Printing Press of the United Arab Emirates. All three award winners from EPP won Gold for Printing, including a package for Hunter’s Gourmet Quinoa Chips from Hunter Foods—UAE. An adhesive lamination of biaxially oriented polypropylene/ metallized polyester/LDPE, the clear BOPP is reverse printed on a gravure press in seven colors. This package was also recognized by the FPA judges for Packaging Excellence and Shelf Impact. Also winning Gold for EPP in the Printing category was a 100-g pouch of chocolate-covered dates from Al Foah Dates of the UAE. Featuring a patterned gold metallic design for maximum shelf impact, the flat-bottom pouch with side gussets includes a reclosable zipper to maintain product freshness and has a laser score for consumer convenience. The adhesive lamination consists of reverse-printed polyester/metallized polyester/PE. Printing is done in eight colors plus matte varnish in register on a gravure press. Finished pouches are supplied to the customer for filling and sealing. VibFeedersAd.qxp_Layout 1 2/12/21 12:37 PM Page 1

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IBC Bag Brings Clarity and Barrier Winning a Gold Award for Technical Innovation was the Shield Pack® Clear High Barrier Aseptic IBC Bag from Amcor Flexibles. Designed for aqueous, low-viscosity food products that are sensitive to oxygen, this bag provides the clarity and durability required by the distribution chain through which it moves. It replaces multilayer laminations that, because they typically include a metallized substrate for barrier purposes, can’t offer the see-through feature that Shield Pack offers. Currently the Shield Pack is available in one size capable of holding 300+ pounds, but other sizes could be made. Amcor ships these bags to its food manufacturing customers folded flat in corrugated shippers. Customers filling them encase each one in an IBC plywood crate. Amcor makes the bag from a triple-barrier material that is 10.8 mils thick and has an Oxygen Transmission Rate of less than 0.04 cc of O2/100 in2/24 hr at 73ºF, 80% RH, 1 atm. It consists of these four independent free-floating plies: • a blown coextrusion of LLDPE/Nylon/EVOH/ Nylon/LLDPE • an identical coextrusion of LLDPE/Nylon/EVOH/ Nylon/LLDPE • a blown coextrusion of LLDPE/EVOH/LLDPE • monolayer LLDPE On an automated bag-making line, Amcor unwinds eight coextrusion blown film layers—four for the top of the bag and four for the bottom—into tooling that shapes the bag and heat seals the layers together around the entire perimeter. Also inserted on this system is the fitment used for filling and dispensing. —Pat Reynolds

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Partnership Creates Infused Face Mask to Counter Dreaded “Maskne” Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the most important personal protective equipment are masks, but not all are created equal. The FPA awarded Karlville and The Packaging Lab with the Gold Award in Shelf Impact for their Infused Face Mask. Karlville is a provider of converting and packaging machinery systems for shrink sleeves, flexible packaging, pouches, and tape multipacks while The Packaging Lab is a provider of custom packaging systems. This face mask is copper-infused and impregnated with Shea Butter moisturizer as doctors, first responders, and millions of people are dealing with redness, irritation, or “maskne” caused by masks. Nufabrx , the product’s end-user, says of the masks, “Skin care enthusiasts, dermatologists, and even some A-list celebrities, were thrilled to learn that wearing a mask no longer meant sacrificing their skin care routine.” For the packaging, the pouch is digitally printed CMYK on white film using an HP Indigo 20000. The pouch is laminated on a Karlville PackReady machine and pouched on a Karlville pouch machine. The entire process from loading film on the press to finished pouches in a box is less than five hours, which the companies say is previously unheard of in the flexible packaging market. A 1.2 mil film of matte BOPP gives a moisture barrier and is thermally laminated to a white 3.5 mil PET/EVOH/PE prelaminate. The PET provides structure through the print and lamination process, while the EVOH provides the barrier to keep moisture from transferring through the film. The total thickness of the material is 4.7 mil. To avoid future outgassing from lamination adhesive, this pouch was also produced without using any adhesive in the lamination process. —Melissa Griffen

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Colorful Seal Assurance Supports EU MDR for Device Packaging The FPA awarded PAXXUS a Gold Award in Expanding the Use of Flexible Packaging for its Chameleon™ for Tyvek®. The product was designed to address the requirements of the European Medical Device Regulations (MDR) going into effect in May of 2021 that the integrity of a package is “clearly evident to the final user.” Additionally, ISO 11607-1 further clarifies that the inspection takes place immediately prior to aseptic presentation. This presents a challenge for uncoated (or coated) Tyvek sealed to PET/PE of Ny/PE which shows minimal contrast at the seal, making it difficult to identify anything but gross seal defects. Chameleon “allows the user to readily evaluate the quality of a seal when used with uncoated Tyvek. Prior to opening, the seal shows as a darker color when viewed through the film side. Once the package has been peeled open, a vivid colored seal indicator presents on the Tyvek with a contrasting white seal indicator on the film,” says the company. Designed specifically to work with uncoated Tyvek pouches, Chameleon consists of an oriented nylon film co-extrusion coated with PAXXUS’ moisture resistant Green Chameleon™ peelable sealant. The cohesive peel allows for a consistent, smooth, fiber-free peel thanks to its unique modified-polyethylene sealant technology. The bright color of the seal allows the end user to identify any seal defects quickly—which appear in white or a lighter color—even in fast-paced, dimly lit healthcare environments. The seal color can be customized to user branding or for different product sizes or formats. Beyond the point-of-use evaluation, the system provides the manufacturer an obvious visual distinction between sealed and unsealed areas when visually inspected through the film side in a quick, non-destructive manner. In terms of sustainability, the uncoated Tyvek (spun-bonded HDPE) can be mechanically recycled in the HDPE stream. Additionally, because the system achieves performance without heat-seal coating the Tyvek, the Tyvek side of the pouch uses 15 to 20% less material than coated options and requires one less manufacturing step. In what the company calls the “next generation of cohesive peel technology,” seal strength is consistent over a large operating window and the system’s price generally aligns with traditional polyester/poly pouches. The technology has been adapted from its Allegro®T proven film technologies, so support data is available. The technology is designed to be adaptable to varying thicknesses—the entry product was 76 μm / 0.0030 in. and featured Tyvek 1073B. —Keren Sookne

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Maxwell House Says Compostable Coffee Pods: ‘Good to the Last Drop. And Long After.’ Bringing circularity to a traditionally wasteful package, TC Transcontinental Packaging took a Gold Award in Sustainability for its 100% industrially compostable single-serve coffee pod, accompanied by a 100% compostable mother bag and a fully recyclable paperboard carton containing 65% recycled content. The pod technology, which uses “a high percentage” of renewable, plant-based materials, was a world first in 2015 when it was launched by Club Coffee (see pwgo. to/6016). The FPA Award recognizes TC Transcontinental for its work with Maxwell House Coffee Canada, a Kraft Heinz Canada brand, which debuted the compostable pods in September 2020. According to TC Transcontinental, engineering the compostable films to ensure their performance and ability to run on existing equipment demanded true collaboration and partnership between its R&D team and the Club Coffee product engineering team. The zero-waste pod, which eliminates the need to separate components before disposal, is constructed of a nonwoven mesh filter made from corn-based polylactic acid bioplastic (supplier unnamed), a ring made from 20% coffee bean husks and PLA, and a wood pulp-based lid. Explains TC Transcontinental, the lidding is a lamination of paper and a compostable sealant, with the paper providing thermal stability and the sealant sealing the lid to the filter and ring. Disposal of the spent pod, which includes 85% coffee grounds, is a simple process, advises Maxwell House: “Toss the pod into the compost bin, and it will decompose in the nutrient-rich soil.” To keep the coffee fresh until use, pods are packaged in a mother bag made from a lamination of NatureFlex™ PLA from Futamura and a compostable sealant, with an additional layer of oxygen barrier. To ensure there is no soil toxicity in the composting process of the pod or mother bag, the lidding material and bag are printed using the Extended Gamut 7 flexographic printing process, which TC Transcontinental says “optimizes the amount of ink laydown while pleasingly reproducing the critical brand graphics.” The inks used, they add, have been tested safe for heavy metals and eco-toxicity. After being real-world tested in a cross-section of composting conditions and processes, including windrow, in-vessel, and static aerated piles, both the lidding material and mother bag were certified by BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) to meet ASTM D6400 and D6868 standards for industrial composting. Says TC Transcontinental, “BPI ensures that any product they certify is fully compostable—all components—into good compost soil with no toxicity.” The company adds that these packaging components are formulated to break down in a period of approximately seven weeks. —Anne Marie Mohan

www.nerconconveyors.com 844-293-2814

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Backyard Compostable Bags for Loose-Leaf Tea Arbor Teas is an online retailer of organic looseleaf tea based in Ann Arbor, Mich. that has been undergoing iterative change toward greater sustainability for the past decade. The most recent package development—one that earned a 2020 Gold FPA Award in the Sustainability category—comes in the form of a backyard compostable package system. The company’s most recent bag structure, prior to this FPA Award-winner, was also backyard compostable, and the company had been quite pleased with it. But over time, and particularly when exposed to cold temperatures, the previous bag became brittle and was more prone to breaking than Co-founder Aubrey Lopatin would have liked. To address this, converter Eagle Flexible Packaging suggested a new lamination using films and sealants from Futamura USA, Inc. and Polykar, respectively. “The combination of those two layers resulted in our current bag, which is much more supple and doesn’t get as brittle,” says Lopatin. “It’s much improved and works a lot better for us.” The printed web layer of the multi-layer film structure is composed of NatureFlex™ from Futamura, a cellulose film made from wood pulp. The thin film is sourced from sustainably managed trees, composts quickly, and is lightweight, meaning there’s less to ship. Laminated over the printed layer is sealant layer PKBIO200C from Polykar. This film is derived from partially bio-based resin, from corn feedstock. It has high clarity, a low seal initiation temperature, and the resin it comes from is certified to ASTM D-6400 industrial compostable, plus is homecompostable by TUV in Europe. Also, all of the ink from Eagle is water-based and two of the three inks are metal-free. This lamination achievement was enough to convince FPA judges, but the bag’s backyard compostability chops don’t end there. “Having a compostable bag posed one main problem: how would we label it?” asks Lopatin. “We have over one hundred teas in three different sizes, and we couldn’t afford to print an individual bag for each tea. But we couldn’t find a compostable label with a compostable adhesive.” The answer came from PURE Labels™, backyard compostable labels composed of hemp-based or sugar cane-based paper. The sugar cane fibers are collected from sugarcane waste, thereby diverting waste from landfills to paper production. They’re adhered with an innovative compostable adhesive that is vegan and meets the requirements of DIN CERTCO and BPI for biodegradability and compostability, in addition to being compliant with the ASTM D6868. Arbor Teas prints the labels in-house. Finally, Arbor Teas’ recent iterations of backyard-compostable bags are lighter than the company’s earlier packaging (metal tin, paperboard tube, and Kraft bag), and lighter than many other options on the market. Overall, the company was able to reduce the weight of its packaging materials by more than 60%. This translates to a meaningful reduction in the carbon footprint of Arbor Teas’ operations. And in response to customer requests, this packaging also accommodates more tea. On average, Arbor Teas packages contain 27% more tea than they did previously, a unique reversal of the “shrinkflation” trend we discuss on page 12. —Matt Reynolds

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Spirits Bottle for Veteran-Owned Whiskey Brand Hits its Target New whiskey brand launched to celebrate all branches of the military uses unique packaging touches throughout, including a canteen-style bottle, a spent cartridge-shaped cap, and a display case designed to look like an ammo crate. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Structural Package Design

Graphics Strategy

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor Distilled and packaged in the U.S.A., but conceived of on a rooftop in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007, Regimental Whiskey pays tribute to all branches of the military, past and present, with the brand’s mission conveyed through a custom canteen-shaped bottle that “feels just right in the

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hand of a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine,” says the company. But that’s just the beginning of Regimental Whiskey’s military-style attention to detail. From cap to case, the brand employs deliberate design elements throughout to emphasize its military origins.

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As co-founders and veteran U.S. Infantrymen Eric DiNoto and Kyle Moore tell it, Regimental Spirits Company was born on the abandoned rooftop of the Ba’ath Party Headquarters in Baghdad, where the two shared “a cigar, a conversation, and a dream about creating a quality brand of whiskey that would represent the greatest men and women of their country—those who serve in the United States Military.” Shares now CEO DiNoto, “There are several military-themed spirits companies on the market. Just about all have tailored their brand to specific micro-groups within the military. These groups include the Marines, Special Forces, Navy Seals, and unit-specific groups. We launched the brand because we wanted to create a unique and quality brand of whiskey that represents all who served and all who continue to serve as well as our friends, families, and supporters.” In this vein, DiNoto adds, Regimental Spirits was founded with a commitment to create American-Made spirits that embody the same core values of all the military branches: duty, honor, respect, loyalty, courage, integrity, and selfless service. To design a custom bottle that would convey these values while differentiating the brand from likewise-themed products, the company worked with Berlin Packaging’s design division, Studio One Eleven. Says DiNoto, “It was a perfect match.”

A universally recognizable shape The concept of using a canteen shape for the bottle originated with DiNoto, who says he scratched out the design in pencil at the dinner table one night. The canteen was chosen, he says, because it’s the one item that is universally issued to all services, and thus would resonate with all military members. According to Keenan Marr, Senior Industrial Designer for Studio One Eleven, designing a spirits bottle that pays homage to the canteen was “a tricky wire to walk.” He adds, “We knew it would require careful design consideration to create something that was recognizable as a canteen without being gimmicky. “To accomplish this, we analyzed the canteen and the different elements that make it so iconic. One of Regimental Spirits’ founders even mailed the design team his own canteen, which he used in Iraq, as a reference. We explored several concepts, ranging from direct representations of the canteen as a glass bottle to other architectures incorporating forms inspired by canteens. After some discussions with the customer and refinements, we eventually arrived at a more direct canteen architecture with some spirits bottle elements, like an inset label area and branded embossments. “To stand out from the competition, we created a custom aluminum cap and neck finish, the form of which is a direct representation of the very unique spout on actual canteens.” The result is a distinctively-shaped 750-mL glass bottle, used for two whiskey varieties—American and Kentucky Bourbon—from a proprietary packaging supplier. The embossed logo referenced by Marr comprises a rectangular icon that Regimental Spirits says is a standard graphic display on military maps. Within the symbol are the company’s initials, “RSC.” Underneath is the company name spelled out in all caps. Says Regimental Sprits, “The embossed RSC logo adds a premium feel to the bottle and draws attention to the brand.” Another feature of the bottle is a notched insert where the wrap-

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around label resides that allows for a better grip on the bottle for onpremise sales. Adds Regimental Spirits, the bottle spout was engineered to hold a standard bartenders’ liquor pourer for measured pours.

Custom cap presents challenges The aforementioned custom canteen-style bottle closure is made from a 0.35-mm-thick, deep-drawn aluminum with a polyethylene

foam liner that Regimental Sprits says was designed after a spent military shell casing, replete with an imprint of a primer, and the letters “RSC” stamped on the top. According to Studio One Eleven’s Director of Engineering, Martin Rathgeber, its design was an even trickier wire to walk, requiring a lot of negotiation with the [proprietary] supplier as well as some experimentation and tool revisions. “We needed a relatively close tolerance on the ID [inner diameter] of the closure to allow it to sit straight on the neck without cocking—not only for the shelf appeal, but also to seal well,” Rathgeber explains. “We also required a deep enough thread profile so the threads would not get accidentally jumped during capping or by the consumer when reclosing. Both had to be negotiated with the supplier and required some testing and multiple tool revisions.” Rathgeber adds that aluminum closures such as these are generally ROPP [roll-on pilfer-proof], where the thread profile of the closure gets rolled in after filling. “Because of the intended shape of the closure, the liner needed to be glued into the closure rather than using friction fit, as on other closures,” he says. Because of the canteen design, Studio One Eleven anticipated that consumers might want to use the closure as a means of drinking a shot of the premium whiskey. Therefore, they needed to select an adhesive that would firmly seal the liner, would not disintegrate in the presence of alcohol, and would not impart any flavor to the alcohol. “And to make sure this high level of quality is kept up in the future, our quality team developed a specific inspection protocol with the supplier for the closure,” Rathgeber shares.

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Decorative elements reinforce military theme

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While the flawlessly-executed canteen-shaped bottle was a perfect vehicle to attract consumers from all branches of the military, Marr shares that it was not the first package to use this concept. “There are existing brands with similar military-centered marketing strategies using packaging intended to represent a canteen,” he says. “Therefore, Regimental Spirits was also interested in unique decoration elements that set them apart and paid homage to the military.” Among these is the label, including the choice of material, colors, copy, and imagery. Made from a foil substrate converted by Wright Global Graphics, the wraparound label was designed by Studio One Eleven to be reminiscent of the texture of the canvas straps attached to a canteen, including the stitching. Describing the label’s graphics, Amy Hawker, Senior Brand Design Director at Studio One Eleven, says the logo, which covers the majority of the front panel, uses bold, strong typography with patriotic stars to link back to each branch of the military, without singling

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as, and Georgia, as well as with the Coast Guard Exchange and the Army out one over the other. She adds, “Information about the product is and Air Force Exchange. contained in a campaign-streamer shape that is used throughout the Regimental American Whiskey has a suggested retail price of $24.99, military to recognize achievements or events, and in keeping with pawhile Regimental Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey has an SRP of $29. A portriotism, the colors for the two varieties are blue [American] and red tion of the company’s proceeds are given to the United States Veteran’s [Kentucky Bourbon], like the American flag.” Chamber of Commerce, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports A fun touch that fits cleverly with the brand’s military theme is a transitioning military, veterans, and their families. PW battle map printed on the inside of the label, visible through the beverage, that outlines Regimental Spirits’ “battle plan.” Says the company, “The map and symbols illustrate the mission of the RSC to deploy, create a foothold, and establish an affinity for the brand in the Military SUPER COMBI COMPACT Exchanges, or Class VI liquor stores, as well as an initial six-state rollout.” With no element of the whiskey’s packaging overlooked, display cases for Regimental Spirits were modeled to mimic ammo and military equipment crates. According to the company, the cases were designed to be used to create “military-themed stacking displays, with accessories such as camo netting, sandbags, ammo crates, and vintage call-to-action displays, similar to WWII recruiting posters.” The cases are printed in a standard military equipment-crate color scheme of olive drab green. Copy, in gold and white lettering, chosen to convey a premium feel, includes “Made with Integrity,” “Veteran Owned,” “American Made,” and “Welcome to the Regiment,” along with the RSC logo.

MORE PERFORMANCE, LESS SPACE.

Disruptive design fuels brand’s success Regimental Spirits Co. launched its whiskey products in March 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 shutdown, in the Navy Exchange and then through Connecticut wholesale liquor distributor Brescome Barton. Following overwhelmingly positive consumer response, in the first two months after the product launched, the Navy expanded distribution of the product from three to nine states, and after just three weeks with Brescome Barton, Regimental Whiskey found its way to 100 retail locations in that state. DiNoto credits much of the brand’s success to its painstakingly designed packaging. “In the military, we call it ‘attention to detail,’” he says. “Every nuance needs to be just right, and the package is everything. How the design got to where it is now could not be a better representation of who we are and what we represent. It immediately resonates with our target audience. There are so many different touchpoints, from the bottle shape to the cap to the embossments. The design is quality, premium, unique, and truly disruptive. The incredible consumer feedback and engagement has allowed us to accelerate our growth plans.” As of presstime, Regimental Spirits was scheduled to launch in New York in January 2021 and was in talks with several distributors in New England, Florida, Tex-

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Lenox Optimizes Wine Glass Packaging for Amazon Shipping A packaging redesign for tableware brand Lenox for its red wine glasses hits the sweet spot, providing both enhanced sustainability and greater product protection for Amazon’s Frustration-Free Packaging requirements. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging

E-comm package design

Material reduction

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor design its e-commerce-bound packaging to meet FFP guidelines. The In September 2018, Amazon launched a Vendor Incentive Program, result is a highly engineered insert with a fit-to-size shipper for Lenox’s also known as its Frustration-Free Packaging (FFP) Program, to encourred wine stemware, designed to eliminate product breakage and enable age brand owners to package their products in easy-to-open, recyclable the product to ship in its own container, without overboxing. packaging that is ready to ship to customers without additional Amazon Overall, the new package, which will eventually also be used for boxes (see pwgo.to/6013). retail, eliminates 21⁄4 lb of packaging material, is 83% lighter than the Beyond the promise of reduced packaging materials and greater customer satisfaction, Amazon provided anprevious package, and has 78% less volume. other tantalizing incentive: an early adopter credit of $1 per newly certified unit received by the Aug. 1, 2019 deadline. Another lessinviting incentive was a $1.99 chargeback According to Amazon’s Director, Amazon per unit for those suppliers failing to meet Advanced Technology – Customer Packaging FFP guidelines following the deadline. Experience, Dr. Kim Houchens, since 2015, Like many of Amazon’s suppliers, when Amazon has reduced the weight of outbound Bristol, Penn.-based Lenox went into epackaging by more than 33% and has elimicommerce in early 2018, it lacked an enated more than 1 million tons of packaging commerce packaging strategy. Its products, material as a result of its packaging sustaincomprising high-end tableware and giftability initiatives. Also since 2015, it has sent ware—most of it glass—were supplied to more than 1.2 billion FFP shipments to its Amazon in the company’s retail packaging, customers, and through its incentive prowhich was overboxed and packed with dungrams, it has increased the number of prodnage to protect the fragile products. When ucts certified under FPP to 2 million. sending the product to a customer, Amazon Products that fall under Amazon’s Vendor would then overbox it again and add dunIncentive Program include those with packnage, resulting in a “virtual nesting doll of Lenox’s new red wine stemware package for aging that measures 18 x 14 x 8 in. or larger packaging.” Despite the overabundance of Amazon comprises two inserts holding six and weighs 20 lb or more. To ferret out prospackaging, however, breakage was still oc- glasses, covered with a paperboard sleeve, and pects for packaging optimization, the FFP curring. team conducts portfolio assessments, lookshipped in a corrugated case. That’s according to Brent Lindberg, Prining at the size of the product, the size of the cipal and founder of Fuseneo, Inc., a packaging design company and packaging Amazon puts the product in, and the number of products sold. member of APASS—the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier net“We identify the most valuable opportunities for driving sustainabilwork, a group of design agencies, test labs, and suppliers selected to ity improvements based on packaging material weight and packaging help brand owners design their packaging for FFP certification. volume reduction,” Houchens says. “We also prioritize categories with In March 2020, at Amazon’s prompting and with a new Corporate the most potential for damage, which provides us with another opporLeader of Quality for Products & Innovative Packaging having joined tunity to delight customers.” the company, Lenox began working with Amazon and Fuseneo to reIt was through this process that Amazon identified Lenox, as well

Amazon identifies opportunities for optimization

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as several other suppliers of stemware—a style of drinkware having a base, stem, and globe, used for wine and champagne—as ideal candidates for redesigning their packaging, as stemware is one of the most fragile product categories and one that had not seen much FFP packaging innovation. Explains Houchens, “We decided to innovate alongside several brands in this category to demonstrate how packaging that complies with Amazon’s FFP standards protects the most fragile products from damage, even while reducing packaging.” When Lenox began offering its line of Tuscany-brand drinkware through Amazon four years ago, there were no specific packaging requirements; Lenox would ship product in retail packaging and an overbox to Amazon, and Amazon would overbox it again. That’s according to Amy Hughes, Lenox’s aforementioned Corporate Leader of Quality for Products & Innovative Packaging, who joined the company in 2019 to focus on packaging engineering for the company and to develop its sustainability stance. Hughes explains that when Lenox moved from shipping its products to brick-and-mortar stores on pallets to shipping products to the customer’s home in a parcel shipment, it was a paradigm shift for the company. “The handling of palletized product versus parcel deliveries is extremely different,” she says. “When you’re on a pallet, you don’t have as much drop and vibration as you would have in a single box that’s on say a UPS truck and the potential for that box to get dropped as it gets to the customer. So because of that handling, it made it necessary for us to reevaluate how we’re packaging our products and how we’re protecting them from damage.” Fuseneo’s Lindberg explains that Lenox’s experience transitioning to e-commerce is pretty typical. “I think there are so many brands that sit in that space that don’t have the packaging resources to isolate problems with their packaging and solve those challenges efficiently,” he says. Houchens agrees, saying she believes that what keeps more vendors from converting to FFP packaging is a lack of specific expertise related to designing for e-commerce. “Amazon’s APASS network can bring expertise in designing FFP packaging, especially through the lens

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of sustainability,” she explains. “Additionally, some vendors may need to achieve a certain volume of online sales in order to justify the investment of creating different packaging for e-commerce. Brands that have the opportunity to create omnichannel FFP packages, like Lenox, are able to combine the needs of shelf-ready packages with a great online delivery customer experience. Amazon FFP provides support and incentives to vendors to come up with these creative solutions.” When Amazon and Fuseneo approached a number of stemware brands early last year about redesigning their packaging for FFP, Lindberg says “Lenox was one of the brands that said, ‘Absolutely, we are itching to design something better. We just don’t know where to start.’”

Iterative process leads to new package direction To kick off the project, Lenox, Amazon Principal Product Manager Brent Nelson, and Fuseneo met to analyze Lenox’s volume of sales through Amazon and to identify its highest-selling products as well as its most fragile ones. “In both areas, we saw our stemware was number one,” says Hughes. Of Lenox’s Tuscany stemware sold on Amazon, its red wine glasses had the highest sales and the largest globe, resulting in the most damage—so that’s where they started. Upon assessing Lenox’s existing packaging for its 6-ct of red wine glasses, Lindberg says the team at Fuseneo didn’t find it that excessive. “It just seemed like it had some protective elements that would allow it to survive,” he says. The package consisted of two corrugated inserts, each of which held three glasses in an upright position, inside a corrugated carton. “The inserts did use a fair amount of material,” Lindberg adds. “The glasses were held in there okay. We thought maybe there was some room for optimization, but it wasn’t all that bad.” The challenge, therefore, was to reduce the size of a package that didn’t seem to use an unnecessary amount of material, while increasing protection of the fragile glass products within, to optimize the package for e-commerce. The first step, Lindberg says, was to get a baseline of the existing re-

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tail package through ISTA 6-Amazon.com SIOC (Ships in Own Container) testing, a test procedure within the ISTA 6 series that involves a transportation simulation cycle tailored for the Amazon distribution environment. Fuseneo provides in-house ISTA 6-Amazon.com SIOC testing and certification in addition to structural design. The results of repeated drop tests were surprising: While Lindberg says Fuseneo expected to see broken glass, what they didn’t expect was for the damage to occur with the drinkware’s stem. “We thought that maybe in a typical shipment, the edge of the bowl would come in contact with a hard surface, right? Like break through its dunnage or whatever is holding it, and impact a surface, and that was what was going to shatter the glass at its most delicate part,” he says. “In reality, that wasn’t what was happening at all. It was the weight of the glass of the bowl and the weight of the base that were causing a shock impact down into the stem.”

See Fuseneo’s Brent Lindberg discuss the Lenox redesign at pwgo.to/6014 The process for redesigning the packaging was an iterative one, Lindberg explains: “We started with sketches, with ideas, with thoughts, and we fleshed those out. Multiple designers pitched in with different ideas, building on that brainstorming. And then we started refining. We culled some of the bizarre ideas out or brought in components of them. Then we started honing in on fewer designs. We took those designs, we tested them, we prototyped them, we broke some more glasses, we refined, we consolidated, we tested, and each time we learned a little

bit more about what was causing damage to the glasses and what was helping. And we repeated that process until we had a design that was really efficient and survived the test.” One major change was the positioning of the glasses in the insert. As Lindberg explains, there’s a certain sense of directionality to retail. When you put a package on a pallet, it’s upright. When the pallet moves to the store, the package is upright. And, when the package gets placed on the shelf, it’s upright. With e-commerce, there’s no guarantee a package will go through an entire fulfillment process in a certain direction. “So why are all the products placed in the same direction?” Fuseneo questioned. That was a consideration that came up early on in the process, says Lindberg, leading to an insert design that alternates the direction of the glasses, with two upright, and the middle glass facing downward. Two inserts, made of 200# E-flute corrugated, are used in each package to hold six glasses and are engineered to support the glasses at eight points around the perimeter and provide side isolation and top and bottom protection. “The bowl and the stem are really isolated from one another, so the weight of the bowl is carried into the insert, rather than onto the stem,” explains Lindberg. “We’re also capturing the bowl and base in a way that uses less material than before and creates a much smaller footprint.” When designing packaging for e-commerce optimization, Lindberg says Fuseneo gets the package to the point where it can pass the ISTA 6-Amazon.com test—and then some—and then backtracks. “We had the Lenox package [a corrugated case with the inserts] to the point

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Each of the following market-leading companies* participating in Packaging World’s 2021 Leaders in Packaging Program are named sponsors of PW’s Future Leaders in Packaging scholarship. This year’s recipient is Purdue Northwest (PNW), College of Technology. We appreciate the support of all participants on behalf of packaging education.

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where we were chucking the package across the room, I mean, with everything we had, throwing it against the wall, slamming it on the ground,” he says. “If we can get a package to pass that, then we’ve probably overengineered it. So then we start backing down—we start using thinner material, we start using less spacing, and we start condensing everything until we get to the point where we feel like we have a comfortable margin, but we haven’t overengineered the package to require more packaging than is necessary.”

Addressing unboxing While the goal of the Lenox project was to reduce the amount of packaging to meet FFP, Hughes says there were other considerations as well. “I was looking for something that was presentable in the instance where someone was ordering the product for a milestone event, for example, like a wedding present, to where you could deliver this to their home, and it still looked as good as if you were to hand-deliver it to them,” she shares. To provide a premium unboxing experience, each insert is held in a paperboard sleeve, printed with Lenox’s trademark dark teal background and the Lenox and Tuscany logos, along with illustrations of the glasses within. Round die-cuts on the side of each sleeve make it easy to remove them from the outer box, adding a touch of convenience. “Part of the presentation, when you open that box and you see that display and the Lenox logo, is the feeling that you’re getting something of high quality,” says Hughes.

The corrugated shipper is kraft colored, with a small Lenox Tuscany brand logo on the side panel. “So here you have a very simple design,” says Hughes. “It’s very basic. I think that’s helpful in the days of porch theft and packaging theft. It’s not flashing to your neighbors, ‘Hey, this is what I bought, this expensive stemware.’”

An all-around better package The reduction in packaging material resulting from the redesign is quite significant. Before the redesign, the e-commerce package included Lenox’s retail packaging, measuring 15.3 x 10.5 x 10.8 in., or 1,735 in.3; the Lenox e-commerce overbox, at 20.3 x 17.5 x 16 in., or 5,684 in.3; the Amazon overbox, at 26.3 x 21 x 16.5 in., or 9,112.9 in.3; and dunnage for both the Lenox and the Amazon overboxes. The new design eliminates both overboxes as well as the dunnage and reduces the amount of material used for the inserts, resulting in a package that measures 13.3 x 10.5 x 10.8 in., or 1,508.2 in.3 overall. That’s a reduction of more than 15,000 in.3 of corrugated packaging. “All around, we’ve reduced the size and the amount of material,” says Lindberg. “And this is one of those win-win stories where we were also able to improve the brand experience and create a better, premium experience with graphics. “In one direction, we’ve reduced the insert by around an inch and a half. And in another, we’ve gotten about a quarter-inch smaller, and we’re using less material. The packaging weighs less and it’s smaller, so it’s better optimized for trucks and warehouses—it’s just all around better.”

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duced by a proprietary supplier in Eastern Europe located near its stemware factories, with the goal of rolling it out on Amazon in March 2021. It’s also looking at using the new packaging system for retail as well, eliminating the need for two packaging SKUs for one product. In the future, Lenox plans to utilize this style of packaging for other stemware products, based on product volume, demand, and the relative fragility of the glass type. Through the process of engineering the optimized packaging for the red wine stemware, Fuseneo created a formula that can be applied to all of Lenox’s stemware packaging, including white wine, champagne, and martini glasses, for example. In the meantime, all parties involved in the redesign of the red wine package are eager to see the new e-commerce package launch. Says Houchens, “Lenox FFP will delight consumers, because it is easy to Hughes agrees: “From a transportation logistics standpoint, it’s a open, contains less plastic, reduces waste, and lowers the risk of damhuge savings because our cubic efficiency is drastically improved.” Reage with its internal structure.” garding the packaging material itself, however, Hughes says Lenox isn’t Says Hughes, “Amazon seems to be very excited about this. I think seeing a massive savings, because although they eliminated some mathey can’t wait for us to get this out the door and into the customer’s terials, they also added the sleeve. What will have an impact though is hands. I know they really want to see this come to fruition. We share no longer being charged $1.99 per unit by Amazon for packaging that that feeling. We can’t wait, and we think it will be beneficial as well that doesn’t meet its FFP requirements. we will start to see less breakage happening. I think for me, that’s the most exciting part—ensuring the quality of our product to the point where it’s received by the customer.” When the design for the red wine glass package was complete, Hughes adds that, with Lenox under new management, there’s been Fuseneo certified it as meeting ISTA 6-Amazon.com SIOC requirements, a lot of activity around the company’s sustainability goals, so “there’s which enabled Lenox to enroll the package on Amazon’s SIOC website. more to come!” PW At presstime, Lenox was in the process of having the packaging pro21_0373_Packaging_World_MAR Mod: January 27, 2021 9:10 AM Print: 02/10/21 page 1 v2.5

VIDEO: Dr. Kim Houchens, Director, Amazon Advanced Technology – Customer Packaging Experience, takes you through all the touches your e-commerce package goes through in this virtual tour of Amazon’s fulfillment process. Visit pwgo.to/6015 to watch.

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The doublelane tray sealer provides flexibility for medium-sized outputs, yet it’s capable of reliably sealing up to 140 trays/min.

Tray Sealer Brings Benefits to Berry Packaging By eliminating a rigid, domed, snap-fit lid in favor of a clear flexible film applied by a new tray sealer, this German berry grower scores sustainability points and more. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Source reduction Baumann Vertriebs GmbH & Co. specializes in growing blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. As consumption of fresh berries has increased in recent years, the firm has enjoyed steady growth. So about two years ago, management began re-evaluating its approach to packaging—specifically the amount of plastic involved. At the time, the company, located just east of Munich, delivered its berries in plastic trays that were manually fitted with a snap-on lid. The entire production was tuned and optimized to this process, so naturally the company was reluctant to changing things up. But retailers made it clear that a change would indeed be necessary.

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Use of rPET “Starting this season, we have been packaging our berries in plastic trays made from resource-saving rPET,” says CEO Annika Baumann. “The trays are sealed with a top film in a fully automated manner. The implementation of this brand-new packaging system has significantly changed our process and brought a number of advantages, some of them unexpected.” When it came time to install the tray sealing equipment it needed for its berry operation, Baumann relied on an existing relationship it had from some years back when it had worked on tray packing asparagus with Sealpac GmbH. In short order, a request was submitted for an

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additional traysealer to package berries. Using Sealpac’s expertise, especially in understanding the market and available materials, Baumann decided to purchase a medium-output SEALPAC A6 traysealer. Baumann was strongly supported by Sealpac in its transition to tray sealing. Important questions were answered together. Should we start with the equipment, the tray, or the film? Is a protective gas mixture required? Should the packaging be reclosable? What additional equipment is required for weighing and labelling? The two companies even travelled together to the Fruit Logistica exhibition in Berlin to get an overview of the various options in terms of materials. This is what led them to the rPET tray, produced from collected, cleaned, and shredded PET. One of the special features of the new process is that the trays are filled with berries in the field. After arriving at the production facility, the trays are brought to their correct weight by means of a multi-head weighing system from Krebeck. After the weighing process, the trays are fed on a double-lane conveyor into the SEALPAC A6 traysealer. The A6 reacts flexibly to the in-feed, as it cannot be guaranteed that the exact number of trays is always arriving on both lanes at the same time. This is why the lanes work independently, to ensure that all trays are reliably sealed. The A6 seals the rPET trays with a peelable polyester top film from Polytrade GmbH, which has been pre-perforated to allow for optimal exchange of oxygen reaching the respiring fruit and CO2 exiting the container. Since most labelling systems only work single lane, the two lanes are converged into one after sealing. For reasons of space, this was implemented directly on the traysealer. The trays now run out of the machine in a single lane to be labelled, collected, and picked. The limited space at Baumann’s facility also proved to be a challenge in terms of efficiency. In the end, the line was tailored to the available space and designed in a U-shape without reducing its output. Although the SEALPAC A6 is regarded as a flexible traysealer for medium outputs, it is still capable of reliably sealing between 120 and 140 trays/min.

rugated shippers is because the trays used to be covered with a domed lid. Since these domes have now been replaced by a flat film lidding material, the end result is a much more compact finished package. This, says Baumann, is a meaningful improvement where consumers are concerned. “Preserving resources is important to us as an agricultural production company, but is also a real buying incentive for many consumers who pay attention to sustainability,” says Baumamnn. “The fact that less plastic is used for the packaging is clearly visible since we moved from a snap-on domed lid to a thin but solid top film. The reliable seal ensures safe transport of the tray, where the top film can be easily removed from the tray by the consumer. Overall, we are very satisfied with our investment, which has brought many improvements for ourselves, our retailers, and our consumers. We even opened up a new business area, quite unexpectedly, by operating as a contract packer for other producers that cannot yet keep up with the changing dynamics of produce packaging.” Baumann says the firm’s efforts at incorporating other sustainable packaging initiatives have only just begun. “In the future, we want to differentiate ourselves even more in terms of sustainability. We plan to put our berries on the market in a sealed paperboard tray. We already know that the SEALPAC A6 traysealer is capable of processing these trays without compromising on reliability, and is therefore well suited to implement this project. In addition, we will always keep looking for new ideas on improved freshness and shelf life extension, for example by applying a protective gas mixture. The device that can do this is already available on our A6 traysealer.” —Pat Reynolds

Hygienic design SEALPAC’s proven hygiene concept, initially designed for meat production, also works well for the packaging of fruits and vegetables. The traysealer is made entirely of stainless steel, and cleaning and maintenance take place ergonomically at working height. Tip-up covers expose the entire machine, so that all components are easily accessible. “Cleaning our equipment is crucial,” says Baumann. “Being a processing company, we deal with completely different certifications than agricultural companies. Compared with other equipment, both the handling and cleaning of the SEALPAC traysealer are extremely operator friendly. Furthermore, the equipment has been approved by the renowned GS institute, which gives us additional security. Whenever I walk around with my checklist, I can tick off the A6 tray sealer right away, making these formalities a lot easier.” The new trays have excellent stacking properties, not just for Baumann, but also for the retailers. “We were able to further optimize logistics through an even more efficient use of our transport boxes, because these can now be filled with at least twelve packs instead of six,” says Baumann. The brown kraft corrugated transport boxes are erected and filled by hand. The reason so many more packages fit into each of these cor-

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CEO Annika Baumann proudly showing secondary packaging filled with berries in rPET trays with flexible film lidding.

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AUTOMATION

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The Alpha Turbo High-Level Bulk Depalletizer is among the machines in the Busse/SJI division that feature a range of new Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) machine health monitoring capabilities. Included in the smart pneumatics platform are sensors like this AF2 Flow Sensor (below) that can help diagnose broader issues across a plant’s compressed air system.

Arrowhead Systems, Inc. is an industry leader in high-speed palletizers and depalletizers, as well as other automated handling systems. Through its Busse/SJI division, the company recently introduced its next-generation Alpha Turbo™ High Level Bulk Depalletizer, which features a range of new Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) machine health monitoring capabilities to help customers maximize OEE. What this represents is a digital transformation. To implement it, Busse/SJI worked with Emerson Automation Solutions business to add smart pneumatics, edge computing, and an IIoT software platform into its Alpha Turbo, as well as its Viper™ High Level Bulk Palletizer, to provide real-time, actionable data about machine conditions and performance. Bulk palletizing/depalletizing systems move loads of different dimensions and weights—beverage containers, plastic bottles, soup cans, etc.—on and off pallets at speeds of up to 4,000 containers/min. High throughput and machine uptime are two critical key performance indicators used to measure Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in CPG operations. Tim Krueger, President and COO of Arrowhead Systems,

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Inc., says Busse/SJI is committed to meeting customer demands by ensuring its equipment utilizes state-of-the-art technology to maintain optimum performance. “Machine uptime is the most critical element to line performance on a day-to-day basis,” says Krueger. “Deploying technology that allows for real-time data monitoring for today’s production, as well as predicting future needs, helps to eliminate unplanned downtime.” Pneumatics play a critical role in both the Alpha Turbo depalletizer and the Viper palletizer, powering actuators that perform key func-

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monitors whether pneumatic cylinders are actuating within thresholds tions such as trapping and guiding empty containers into and out of the for a given type of container and can alert monitoring systems if threshmachines and grabbing, lifting, and placing the slip sheets to help in olds are being exceeded. stacking containers. Using pneumatics is ideal here because it provides Elsewhere in the smart pneumatics platform are sensors that can efficient motion capabilities without a lot of cost and is less susceptible help diagnose broader issues across a plant’s compressed air system. to changing operating conditions on the packaging line or in the facThe AVENTICS AF2 Flow Sensor, under consideration by Busse/SJI for futory. Because pneumatic actuation and gripping plays such a vital role, ture machine builds, can provide1 real-time having real-time insight into the health and efficiency of the pneumatic LA102-Half-Page-Island-Spread-2.pdf 7/21/20 insights 10:26 into AM airflow, while system was a critical goal for the machines. As Busse/SJI developed both machines, the company sought to improve its ability to capture basic sensor and performance data from the pneumatic components. Although they started with pneumatics, Busse/ SJI became aware that Emerson, a global automation provider, has a full portfolio of smart pneumatics, conCONNECTS dition monitoring, edge gateways, and computing that could enhance machine health and support CPG end users to improve their operations. For the Alpha Turbo depalletizer, Emerson’s solution gives end users real-time data to improve OEE by moniTough and reliable. Engineered to work hard so you don't have to. toring critical motion and pneumatic system parameters, including airflow, pressure, vacuum, mechanical actuation speeds, and motor vibration. “Our partnership with Emerson has allowed us to take the Alpha Turbo technology to the next level, with data collection and analysis that allow the preventive monitoring and notification system to predict the future,” says Krueger. Emerson collaborated with Busse/SJI to document end-user pain points and requirements for smart pneumatics and condition monitoring. This involved direct engagement with palletizing and depalletizing system operators to identify several critical needs, including: • Providing earlier notification when equipment such as pneumatic cylinders or actuators begin performing below critical thresholds—signaling potential problems in the components • Installing pneumatics with sensors and air pressure monitoring to pinpoint which devices or system elements are malfunctioning, rather than spending hours trying to pinpoint an issue • Providing additional displays and screens that make it easier for personnel—especially less-experienced operators—to view and use the real-time 3138-NV Versatile workhorse serves many industries and a variety data and respond to issues quickly and efficiently of applications. Emerson’s global resources were instrumental in helping with application development to create in3138-NV Merge teractive content for a machine dashboard, using an The model of choice when speed and greater label placement open IIoT software platform to pull in data not only accuracy are required. for the pneumatics but also for other machine components and data sources such as gearboxes, drives, and 3138-NV DAT servo motors. Dual Action Tamp technology for multi-panel applications. Emerson’s AVENTICS™ portfolio of smart pneumatics includes an array of products with integrated senWe offer most OEM print engines. sors and connectivity capabilities that enabled realtime monitoring in Busse/SJI’s system. For example, the AVENTICS ST4 cylinder velocity sensor continuously

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50 PW MAR2021

At the local dashboard for pneumatic and machine monitoring analytics, plant personnel can quickly see Key Performance Indicators when critical limits are reached, and they’re provided with pinpoint data and location of specific components for early intervention.

AUTOMATION

also capturing pressure and temperature data in the feed line. An increase in air temperature may indicate a compressor problem. Information on the current or cumulative energy consumption can also be passed straight to supervisory systems—with actionable data that plant management can use to address systemic issues that may not directly correlate to specific pneumatic components. These systems all feature connectivity through IO-Link, independent of upper-level fieldbus systems. Using pneumatics with IO-Link capabilities can streamline how data is captured and reported, making it easier to integrate smart pneumatics functionality into existing automation platforms without burdening the PLC. In addition, Emerson’s AMS vibration sensors can monitor and track vibration levels in the motors, gearboxes, conveyors, blower assemblies, and pneumatic systems. If another component on the palletizer is malfunctioning and generates an abnormal vibration, the sensor can detect and report that anomaly as well. All of these data sources are brought together by Emerson’s PACEdge 2.0 IoT platform running on the PACSystems™ RXi2 Edge Computer. Together, this platform provides a comprehensive IIoT solution for realtime data access, historical performance tracking, and visualization and analysis of the smart pneumatics system. A key advantage of the IIoT platform is the interoperability and scalability it provides to access third-party devices and control systems, like the ones used on the Busse/SJI palletizer and depalletizer, as well as sensors or other data sources. The open connectivity also allows operators to access the as-

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set health data locally, through mobile devices or uploaded to a preferred cloud platform, giving Busse a solution that will allow them to support customers in their digital journey. “Emerson’s ability to work with thirdparty control systems was the key to success in the partnership,” says Krueger. “We have hundreds of machines in operation today, and the ability to adapt new technology to those machines was just as important as advancing our new equipment. This has allowed us to maintain our customers’ specification requirements without limiting our ability to stay on the cutting edge of technology for the future.” The joint Emerson and Busse/SJI solution includes powerful analytics that offer the quickest and most scalable way to increase OEE. Drawing from the input of CPG end users, Emerson used its latest PACEdge 2.0 IoT platform as the basis to configure which data was most useful while making it easy for operators to understand. Instead of presenting complex data graphs, the Emerson analytics package pinpoints which actuators or valve manifolds are most likely

The Emerson RXi2-LP industrial PC brings all sensor data together for accessibility, historian, visualization, and analysis for primary product packaging machines or complete packaging lines. In addition, real time monitoring and diagnostics capabilities enable better OEE. causing machine performance issues and provides guidance on steps to take to solve the issues. The advanced analytics also provide data needed to drive effective predictive maintenance programs for components that may need routine maintenance based on the number of cycles or other set parameters. Maintenance can be scheduled instead of worrying about unplanned failures taking equipment down. According to Krueger, these advanced capabilities were the result of a strong and successful collaboration with Emerson: “Our dedication to cutting-edge technology and partnerships with world-class companies like Emerson ensures that we stay relevant in today’s ever-changing environment,” he concludes. —Pat Reynolds

VALCO MELTON THE ULTIMATE ALL-ELECTRIC PACKAGING SOLUTION FOR GLUING & SEALING CASES AND CARTONS FOR THE FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY.

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52 PW MAR2021

AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY

Gripper

Safety Laser Scanners

Applied Robotics’ Flexible Smart Gripper is a fully electrically actuated gripper with flexible, soft bodied fingers for handling objects of varying size, shape, and weight. Available in two- and four-finger configurations.

SICK’s microScan3 family of safety laser scanners features Fail Safe over EtherCAT (FSoE) integration. It offers a 9-meter protective field range with a scanning angle of 275 deg.

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Servo Drives

Linear Position Sensors

Beckhoff’s ELM72xx EtherCAT servo drives deliver an output current (Irms) of up to 16 A at 48 V DC for the power supply.

Balluff’s redundant linear position sensors are available with SSI and start/stop digital interface.

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By Dr. R. Andrew Hurley, PhD, Contributing Editor

Create Effective Design with Emotion Tracking can your design not only catch a consumer’s eye but catch it for the Many of you may be familiar with right reason? biometric research. With modern Have you ever seen an unboxing video? Those videos that people technology, we can see what consumers see, what they read (or take either of themselves or others opening a box and describing skip over), and how long they pay attention to it. We can measure what’s inside and their initial reaction to it? That’s what emotion heartbeats and electric activity on the skin, and we can watch activity tracking is all about—only we take it to the next level. We use special in the brain to see how exciting something is. We can even analyze software programmed to understand and analyze facial expressions facial expressions to see immediate, subconscious reactions to stimuli. and detect joy, happiness, anger, disgust, and everything in between. But is all that really necessary? What’s wrong with surveys, A recent graduate student conducted a study of label colors on questionnaires, and interviews to measure how people think and kombucha tea using facial analysis software. The participants were feel about things? Well, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with those, provided samples of kombucha that were placed in front of bottles and they continue to be used today, usually in conjunction with the bearing different colored labels. While survey data generally reported biometric methods. a positive flavor experience, the facial analysis software revealed that The inherent trouble with relying on anecdotal responses is that some colors elicited a more negative experience after tasting. That’s participants in a study may not be as honest as you need them to the type of information a packaging professional needs to know be. That’s not to say they’re lying—of course not. But you may be (see pwgo.to/5990). looking for an immediate reaction, Emotions can run the gamut during and participants might only remember We use special software a single experience, too. Another recent their overall feeling. They might feel programmed to understand and study recorded participants opening they should only say positive things. a detergent box that was designed They might forget that they were analyze facial expressions and specifically for e-commerce orders. briefly frustrated or dissatisfied at the detect joy, happiness, anger, During the experiment, emotional beginning if, by the end, the experience disgust, and everything in between. trends were observed across the various was positive. The reverse is also true: phases of the unboxing experience, with If it ends poorly, they may negatively negative emotions when a certain part of the box structure proved reflect on the experience as a whole. Understanding feelings across frustrating and positive emotions when the package was first received the stages of an experience (first impression, opening, dispensing, and when it was finally assembled correctly. These are details that closing, disposal, etc.) is extremely useful to packaging professionals. consumers didn’t necessarily report in surveys, and that questionnaire That’s where biometric research comes into play. Eye-tracking creators don’t always know to ask—mainly because the participant glasses make it possible to see where a consumer’s eyes travel before is unlikely to be able to articulate (or recall) their feelings across they decide to purchase one item over all the others. We can see complex tasks. But the analysis of the emotions can show designers where their eyes went, measure how long it took them to see a precisely what worked well for consumers and what has the potential particular detail, and calculate how long they spent looking at certain to create that list of poor product reviews online. You can see the items. All of that combined helps pinpoint which elements of a analysis of one of the participants in this study at pwgo.to/5991. package design are working and which ones should be altered. But From the very first marketing research study, we’ve gathered it’s the surveys and interviews that add a personal touch, providing qualitative information using anecdotal formats such as surveys and insight into opinions about those things that captured attention. Still, interviews. When we add biometric technology to our toolbox of without the biometric research, it might not be possible to see the research methods, we gain the ability to quickly and easily evaluate one particular detail that consistently captured attention on certain the effectiveness of structural and graphic designs across an entire designs but not on others. That’s not the kind of information that experience with a single product. Analyzing what consumers say and people typically remember to describe, likely because it’s difficult to comparing it to their instantaneous subconscious reactions provides recall each and every detail of an experience. us with a more comprehensive understanding of how designs It’s attention to that kind of detail that can help designers create influence purchasing decisions, product use, and proper disposal. the types of packages that capture consumers’ attention. EmotionMany design decisions are driven by feelings, so consider measuring tracking technology is making its way into packaging research for the impact of those feelings through the expressions and emotions of just that reason. The shelves are filled with items that seem identical, your consumer in your next project. PW while websites show screen after screen of similar search results. How Dr. R. Andrew Hurley is an Associate Professor at Clemson University. He can be reached at me@DrAndrewHurley.com.

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Visit the link below each item for more info.

54 PW MAR2021

TECHNOLOGY

Continuous Bagging System Pregis’ Sharp Packaging Systems MAX-PRO 24 continuous bagging system handles a wide range of products and bag sizes, making it suitable for fulfillment operations with a broad e-commerce offering.

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Paper Cup, Container Forming Machine

Inkjet Printer The Colordyne 2800 Series AP–Retrofit allows users to enhance their existing finishing systems, web handling equipment, and production lines, running under 150 ft/min with aqueous pigment inkjet printing.

Paper Machinery Corp. introduces the PMC 2001S servo-driven paper cup and container forming machine. It can produce a variety of cups and container sizes and shapes at speeds to 240/min.

Paper Machinery Corp. pwgo.to/6001

Colordyne pwgo.to/5999

Recycled-Content Paper Bagstock Food Counting Equipment Cremer launches the WD Series line of hygienecentric counting machines designed for easy washdown and precise counting and dispensing of individual food products in a variety of applications where cleanliness is important.

Inland Empire Paper launches new paper grades EMPIRE bagstock and ARC (All-Recycled Content) Natural.

Inland Empire Paper Co. pwgo.to/6004

Cremer pwgo.to/6000

Vf/f/s Bagger Triangle’s new Delta vf/f/s bagger offers quick changeovers of forming tubes, film rolls, and sealing jaws, and features IO Link enabled sensors.

Triangle Package Machinery pwgo.to/6003

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Gel-based Inks for Flexible Packaging INX introduces GelFlex-EB gel-based inks for flexo printing of flexible packaging that eliminate the need for a lamination layer, reducing costs and total package weight.

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2/19/21 5:57 PM

INDUSTRY WATCH

Companies Duravant launched nVenia, LLC, a new operating company within its Packaging Solutions Segment formed by combining Arpac, HamerFischbein, and Ohlson into a single entity. ProMach acquired the assets of KHS Bartelt, which also includes the assets of Scandia and Kayat from KHS USA. It also acquired Serpa Packaging Solutions, expanding its secondary packaging solutions for pharmaceutical applications.

AD INDEX Search Packworld.com for additional information on any of the advertisers listed or visit their website directly ADVERTISER WEBSITE PAGE

AmbaFlex Inc. www.ambaflex.com 6 Bell-Mark Sales Company www.bell-mark.com

Blueprint Automation, Inc. www.blueprintautomation.com

Brenton www.brentonengineering.com

Buskro, Ltd. www.buskro.com

EAM-Mosca www.eammosca.com

Shemesh Automation purchased a new facility in Green Bay, Wis. It will serve as headquarters for its new subsidiary, Shemesh USA Inc.

Econocorp Inc. www.econocorp.com

ELPLAST America Inc. www.elplastamerica.com

Columbia/Okura LLC and Integra Systems announced a license agreement that will allow Integra Systems to produce the complete line of Columbia/Okura robotic palletizers in Brazil.

Encoder Products Company www.encoder.com

Eriez Magnetics www.eriez.com

Heat and Control, Inc. www.heatandcontrol.com

People

High Tek USA, Inc. www.hightekusa.com IAI America, Inc. www.iaius.com

Rudy Molinar was hired as Western Regional Sales Manager for Serac Inc.

ID Technology www.idtechnology.com

Institute of Packaging Professionals www.iopp.org

Chad Tyler was appointed Director of Sales for Pharmaworks, part of ProMach Pharma Solutions. WPO (World Packaging Organisation) announced that Ralph Moyle was awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021. Steve Truan was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Nobelus LLC. Eric Collier was promoted to Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Operations for BW Integrated Systems. Randy Backich was appointed Regional Sales Manager, Northeast for NJM, a ProMach product brand.

Label-Aire, Inc. www.label-aire.com

49, OBC

Michelman Inc. www.michelman.com

Nercon www.nerconconveyors.com Norwix Inc www.norwix.com

34 IBC, Targeted Cover

nVenia www.nvenia.com

P.E. North America www.penorthamerica.com

Packaging World www.packworld.com

PMI KYOTO Packaging Systems www.pmikyoto.com

The Reusable Packaging Association appointed new executive committee members: Ben Stoller, Paxxal Group, Chairman of the Board; Kevin Mazula, RM2, Vice Chairman; and Samantha Goetz, Orbis, to SecretaryTreasurer.

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies www.pmmi.org Serpa Packaging Solutions www.serpapackaging.com

The Nomination Committee of BillerudKorsnäs proposed that Jan Svensson be elected as Chairman of the Board of BillerudKorsnäs.

Sidel Inc. www.sidel.com

Nikki Johnson was appointed Director of Marketing for Domino North America.

Standard-Knapp, Inc. www.standard-knapp.com

Sullair www.sullair.com

Erik Bronander was hired to lead NCC Automated Systems’ business development team to develop a new business unit focused around complete nutraceutical packaging lines.

Uline www.uline.com

Universal Labeling Systems, Inc. www.universal1.com

Vacuum Barrier Corporation www.vacuumbarrier.com

Valco Melton www.valcomelton.com

Andy Piotter was appointed Business Development Manager, Packaging Systems for Paper Converting Machine Co. (PCMC)—a division of BarryWehmiller.

Robatech USA ww.robatechusa.com

SKC Films, Inc. www.skcfilms.com

Van der Graaf www.vandergraaf.com

Gary Tantimonico was promoted to President of PDC International.

WestRock www.westrock.com

Paul Edwards was appointed Business Unit Manager for Eco Flexibles.

Wexxar Bel www.wexxar.com

11, 21 3

24a IFC, OFC 15

In Memoriam Mark Ewing, Packaging Sales Professional at Shurtape, passed away on January 19, 2021.

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

www.packworld.com/leaders

2/19/21 8:36 AM

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PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE

By Jane Chase, CPP

Avoid the Sidelines—Invest in Yourself During Pandemic I’ve always been skeptical of the phrase, “Never let a crisis go to waste,” but from where I sit, many in the packaging community took heed of that advice in 2020 as a response the pandemic that affected us all. Let me explain, and hopefully you will follow suit. While the pandemic changed our lives through lockdowns, then work-from-home, and now slowly adjusting to getting safely back in our offices and plants, there was a clear trend in 2020 showing that packaging professionals took advantage of time at home to invest in themselves. We are seeing ample evidence of this trend on LinkedIn. Whether it was to prepare to be ready to take on a larger role in their current organization or a need to secure a new employment opportunity, they made time to develop new skill sets to prepare for the challenges brought on by the pandemic. While in-person training opportunities everywhere were put on the back burner for most of 2020, this did not deter packaging professionals from seeking formal packaging training. The Institute of Packaging Professionals’ Fundamentals of Packaging Technology (FPT) online program showed significant growth (course module enrollments increased 96% year over year in 2020). While formal technical training is effective, I would suggest many more opportunities are available to increase your value to your employer and the packaging industry.

activities to participate in, I have personally been spending more time reading than usual. What books you choose to read can be a great way to explore a new area of interest. There are lots of great packaging publications to choose from. Again, what interests you beyond what you are immersed in day-to-day? Have you considered taking your personal development to the next level by adding new credentials to your resume? Your competition has. Domestically and internationally, more packaging professionals saw fit to invest in becoming recognized as a Certified Packaging Professional (CPP). And partnering with the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), IoPP saw this program grow in 2020 and there are now CPPs in 23 countries. Have you considered solidifying your professional standing in the industry by completing the certification process? How we are able to network has changed, but that makes it even more important to take time to stay connected. Virtual meetings are a part of your daily work. You should be networking with your peers outside of work using the same format. How about a virtual happy hour to connect and benchmark best practices with those outside your organization? Have you considered how this could benefit your organization and make you more valuable?

A year into the pandemic, I get it now. The phrase ‘Never let a crisis go to waste’ clearly can be a positive. Many in the packaging industry have been rallying around [educational] opportunities that have presented themselves as doable.

Opportunities abound Universities that have been compelled to offer online learning to their students provide everyone with convenient access to their curriculums. This makes it easier for non-traditional students to take advantage of this course work as well. Have you explored what courses might expand your expertise? Webinars have always been an option for keeping up on current technologies and trends in the industry, but the number of these offerings has exploded and the breadth of topics has increased. Have you attended a webinar that expands your horizon into an area you might not have explored and that focuses on a new area of interest? With work from home still the norm, and with fewer social

Interactions evolving Interacting with industry experts has changed as well. How do you connect with experts in the industry to get your questions answered? PackChat—The Packaging Ideas Exchange, offers an online opportunity to pose or answer questions that are pertinent to the industry and engage in conversation with your peers. Do you have expertise and insight to share? Paying it forward is also a wonderful thing to do in a crisis. Now, a year into the pandemic, I get it. The phrase “Never let a crisis go to waste” clearly can be a positive. Many in the packaging industry have been rallying around opportunities that have presented themselves as doable. And this was not necessarily through selfmotivation, but simply because many of us have had additional time available to invest in ourselves and our careers. If you’re not seizing the opportunity, why not? PW

Jane Chase is Executive Director of the Institute of Packaging Professionals and an IoPP Certified Packaging Professional and Fellow. In 2020, she was inducted into the PMMI Packaging and Processing Hall of Fame. For more information on IoPP, please visit www.iopp.org.

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