Companies constantly innovate and redesign their packaging to boost performance, enhance sustainability and improve marketability. Here’s a look at three recent packaging developments on Packaging Dive’s radar.
Fresh formats
Bath & Body Works on Monday launched Fruit Fusion, a new line of skin and personal care products. It features “instantly recognizable” soft-touch texture packaging made with silicone, according to a company spokesperson.
The line’s packaging includes a pump dispenser format for body wash and a pocket spray format for sanitizer. “From the rounded bottle silhouettes and playful ombré treatments to the soft-touch finishes and silicone accents, every detail was created to reinforce the collection's joyful, sensorial, benefit first, fruit-forward personality,” the spokesperson said.
The design team didn’t treat packaging as a separate decision, according to the spokesperson. “Because body care is inherently tactile, we wanted the packaging to reflect the same attention to touch and comfort as the formulas inside.”
Plugging paper
Blue Ocean Closures, the European business focused on fiber-based closures such as cellulose screw caps, introduced Paper-Plug. The company says the opening and dispensing concept combines “a fiber internal screw closure with a direct interface to carton and corrugated board structures,” with opportunities in food, home care and other applications.
“Unlike traditional approaches that often rely on tear openings, separate plastic fitments or more complex assemblies, Paper-Plug is designed to integrate directly into board-based packaging structures, creating a new route toward highly functional renewable packaging solutions while maintaining simplicity and cost efficiency,” the company said, targeting convenience packaging that was “previously difficult to achieve in paperboard.”
Blue Ocean considers this a customizable product that it will offer “both standardized solutions and proprietary collaborations, enabling converters, brands and technology partners to develop differentiated packaging systems together.”
Pragmatic tracking
Semiconductor specialist Pragmatic recently expanded its portfolio with Pragmatic NFC Connect, a tamper detection solution that can be integrated into packaging at scale. It aims to help mitigate issues like product refilling or dilution.
“Flexible and imperceptible to the touch, the new chip integrates seamlessly into products and packaging, including on curved surfaces, enabling brands to build trust while preserving aesthetics and maintaining consumer experience,” the company said. Pragmatic highlighted opportunities in wine and spirits, pharmaceutical and wellness products, beauty and cosmetics, industrial products, baby food and pet food.
The sensing capabilities from incorporating ultra-thin NFC, or near field communication technology, mean consumers or brands could verify a product’s status and seal integrity “with just a tap of a smartphone,” the company said.
Amcor and Avery Dennison are among the investors in Pragmatic. “By making tamper detection practical at scale, this innovation could help brands strengthen trust while unlocking new opportunities for protected packaging,” Amcor’s Frank Lehmann, vice president of corporate venturing and open innovation, said in the announcement.
