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.
Square meals
At this year’s Pack Expo International, Tetra Pak unveiled its Tetra Reva container that’s slated to launch in the United States and globally in the first half of next year.
Tetra Reva is primarily made from paperboard and has a plastic pull ring on top. The company is developing single-serve sizes ranging from 125 mL to 200 mL.
The container is suitable for refrigerated foods eaten with a spoon, such as yogurt, cottage cheese and pudding. The carton is square instead of the round plastic cups traditionally used for those products, which allows more packages to fit on a store shelf, according to Tetra Pak. Plus, the ability to stack the squared-off containers tightly without requiring secondary packaging materials allows for up to 57% more units per pallet, the company said.
Cube out
Keeping with the square theme, American Packaging Corp. introduced its FlexCube, a flexible pouch that’s preformed in a cuboid shape.
The pouch reduces excess headspace compared with rigid alternatives and can use 30% to 40% less material than traditional flexible packaging formats, the company said in a news release. This product can be made with postconsumer recycled content.
FlexCube is suitable for applications including pet food, laundry detergent, lawn and garden, coffee and a variety of other applications, according to the company.
Slice solutions
Hormel is tackling challenges with portioning bacon by introducing a package with smaller sections.
Three individually perforated sections come folded and can be separated before use. Each section contains four slices of the company’s Black Label bacon. Hormel says this design lets consumers choose how much bacon they want at once while also cutting down on food waste.
