Companies constantly innovate and redesign their packaging to boost performance, enhance sustainability and improve marketability. Here’s a look at six recent packaging product launches on Packaging Dive’s radar.
It’s the pits
Summer is heating up and Coors Light wants to keep consumers cool — their underarms, that is. The beer brand teamed up with deodorant brand Duradry to offer a limited run of “the first-ever chill deodorant housed in cold-activated packaging to let you know when it's ready to be applied,” according to a news release.
Consumers are encouraged to store the product, dubbed Dura Chill, in the refrigerator. It’s inspired by the trend of chilling beauty and skincare products before application, the press release says.
The color-changing packaging works similarly to Coors Light’s cold-activated beer cans, which famously feature mountains that change colors when the can reaches optimal drinking temperature — roughly 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Likewise, when exposed to cold temperatures for prolonged periods, the mountains on the Dura Chill packaging turn blue so customers know “it's ready to deliver Rocky Mountain freshness straight to your underarms with an instant cooling effect and all-day sweat protection.”
“Sweat happens, but staying cool should be effortless,” said Jack Benzaquen, founder of Duradry, in the news release. “With Coors Light, we turned high-performance sweat protection into a fridge-worthy summer flex. Dura Chill is proof that even your pits deserve to chill like a beer.”
Limited quantities of the product with color-change packaging are available for purchase online.
I spy
Canada-based cannabis producer Pure Sunfarms, a wholly owned subsidiary of Village Farms International, introduced packaging with windows for its flower products. The company claims it’s “the first licensed producer to introduce windowed packaging at scale,” according to a news release.
The multilayer bags are designed to maintain freshness while giving consumers a view of the contents. The company said these windowed pouches could start a “new era” for cannabis shopping, in which consumers don’t have to just rely on product details, such as potency, printed on the packaging.
Consumers have had to “judge quality based on that number for too long. Real quality is something you can see,” said Orville Bovenschen, president of Village Farms Canadian Cannabis, in the news release. "This isn’t simply a packaging update. It’s a shift in how we think about cannabis quality.”
The company says it switched its packaging after federal agency Health Canada began allowing cannabis producers to use transparent containers and cut-out windows for dried flower packaging, in guidance released in May.
Pure Sunfarms is phasing in the new pouches across Canada.
The nose knows
Aptar Pharma’s Freepod nasal spray pump is now made with "mass balance biobased resins," including 52% ISCC Plus certified biobased feedstock, according to a news release. This marks the company’s first time selling a product globally using these materials.
The biobased materials are made from feedstocks including biowaste and residual oils, thereby reducing the use of fossil-based plastics in healthcare primary packaging, Aptar says.
Locked out
Closure Systems International launched a lightweighted child-resistant closure line, Defender-Lok, specifically designed for over-the-counter and nutraceutical bottle applications. The company says in a news release that the recyclable product weighs 33% less than competing child-resistant closures, allowing for less resin use and lower shipping intensity.
Defender-Lok is “certified child-resistant and senior-friendly,” according to a news release. It integrates into existing capping and filling lines.
Triple threat
Smurfit Westrock Spain collaborated with Papa Johns on a special multi-tiered pizza box that can hold a whole meal and boost “brand identity.”
The “Tremendous Triple Box” can hold two pizzas and four sides in a container that transforms into an interactive sports game. A Smurfit Westrock release said this shows “how packaging can transcend its traditional role to become a tool for customer loyalty and entertainment, enhancing the customer experience from the very first interaction.” The digital printing involved makes it fully customizable for special promotions or other purposes.
In the bag
SIG is working with wine sellers in Australia to introduce a monomaterial bag for boxed wine that it says has “a uniquely formulated polymer structure, replacing the conventional multilayer film that contains aluminum.”
The company said this rounds out a “recycle-ready” package. For instance, SIG’s Australia-based R&D team also introduced what it says is Australia’s first locally manufactured wine tap made with “light grey polymers that allow it to be easily detected by optical sorters at Australian recycling facilities, improving plastic separation and supports higher-quality recycled output.”
SIG said the pack received a “check locally” recycling designation through the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation.
“The integrity and performance of the recycle-ready bag-in-box wine packaging has been validated through extensive shelf-life tests and transport trials with SIG’s development partners Hill-Smith Family Estates, Vinarchy, DeBortoli Wines and Calabria Family Wines,” the company said in a news release.
