subject: Rigid Containers Fit The Bill For Family-size Appetites [print this page] Just as flexible films are gaining ground in a number of food applications, so too are rigid plastic packs, which offer many of the same performance benefits, with the added advantages of recyclability and reusability in many cases. Notes Freedonias Food Containers: Rigid & Flexible study, which estimates a 4.8% increase in rigid plastic packaging machine from 2008-2013, Gains in plastic containers will be attributable to performance advantages over glass, metal, and paperboard alternatives, as well as improved resin and processing technologies.
In meeting the growing trend of at-home meal preparationincluding brown bag lunchesSara Lee Corp.s Hillshire Farm brand chose a 1-lb, resealable, reusable GladWare polypropylene tub for its new family-size offering of Deli Select lunchmeats. The tub, from The Glad Products Co. was launched in August, just in time for the back-to-school season, in both Ultra Thin and Hearty Slices lunchmeat varieties.
According to a study conducted by NPD Group and cited by Hillshire Farm, families can save up to $2,000 a year by bagging kids lunches. With brown bagging on the rise, Hillshire Farm is pleased to be able to offer our customers quality products in these harsh economic times, says Tim Roush, vice president of lunch and dinner brands for Hillshire Farm. We also understand the demands that mom is under, so being able to make her life easier, and now a little more economical, is a requirement that is always at the top of our list.
The family-size tubs are designed to preserve freshness, with an inner clear-film pouch and a resealable container lid, and can be reused and recycled, resulting in an attractive sustainable beverage packaging line proposition.
In the area of beverages, rigid PET packaging machine continues to be the fastest-growing segment of the beverage container market. In fact, in Beverage Containers, Freedonia estimates that plastic beverage bottles will grow 3.1% between 2007 and 2012, versus the nearly static to negative growth of metal, glass, and paper, at 0.2%, 0.7%, and -1.1% respectively.
With PET bottles besieged lately by concerns surrounding their sustainability, a number of beverage companies have unveiled new containers that reduce packaging materials, raise the levels of post-consumer content (PCR), and even boast renewable-material content. 2009 examples include:
The switch by Honest Tea to Graham Packagings Escape PET bottle, said to be the lightest-weight bottle in the smooth-walled, hot-fill category, to reduce its packaging weight by 22% (see greenerpackage.com/node/1162);
The launch by Naked Juice of its reNEWabottle, constructed of 100% recycled PET (rPET) (see greenerpackage.com/node/1339); and
The announcement by The Coca-Cola Company of its PlantBottle, made from 30% renewable, plant-based materials (see greenerpackage.com/node/1111), which made its commercial debut in November.
To meet environmental concerns, other beverage companies are implementing programs to encourage container plastic recycling machine . One example is Nestl Waters North America, which has partnered with Whole Foods Market and Waste Management to launch its re-source bottled water. Through the program, consumers are rewarded when they recycle re-source bottles away from home, receiving points redeemable for retail discounts and coupons.
New beverage categories, formulated to meet consumers increasing health and wellness concerns, are also opening up new growth areas for plastic bottles. Expanded drink options emerging in the last year include beverages that meet relaxation, weight-control, functional, brain-power, beauty, and detoxifying needs, among others.
One example, Supraliminal Labs Red Stuff with LuraLean,Tomball, TX, was introduced in September in an 8-oz custom plastic bottle. The drink is described as a hybrid sports drink that combines energy, appetite control, calorie burners, and 100% natural GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) fiber that the company says expands 200 times its original size upon reaching the stomach.
