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FOAM DISPENSERS
A kitchen sink drama
Those with long memories will recall when the category language for washing-up liquids was bleak, unispiring and uniform: a cylinder of opaque, squeezable plastic with two- or three-colour direct printing. It was as if brand owners wanted their packs to reflect the monotony of washing-up itself.
The arrival of clear PET was to some extent simply a change of uniform, but at least brands and retailers now feel able to play around with shape and product colour for variety.
The fact that, according to Mintel, sales of hand dishwashing products fell by 1% in 2006 to £172m, could have something to do with year-on-year increases in dishwasher ownership of 2.5%, reaching 37% of homes by 2006. In Germany, the figure was closer to 50%, so this level of growth could well be set to continue.
In fact, growth in consumption of machine dishwashing detergents has not been offset by a comparable reduction in sales of hand washing-up products. Internationally, the arrival of foam dispensers could be helping to sustain value in this price-sensitive market.
As marketing director for Rexam¡¯s personal care division, Norbert De Jong is well-positioned to compare the rate of packaging innovation in the cosmetics and toiletries sector with this very different end of the consumer spectrum. But since adoption of Rexam Airspray¡¯s foam pump first filtered down from haircare, skincare, sun protection and hand-washing to the humble washing-up sector, the system has played an important role in differentiating brands.
Foaming format
Procter & Gamble (P&G) first used the system for its washing-up liquid brands in 2004, and Colgate Palmolive followed in 2006.
Brands using the dispenser now include P&G¡¯s Dawn in the US and Fairy Active Foam, and Palmolive Oxy Plus Foam.
¡°We wanted to take the innovation to the leading brand owners first, and were less interested in offering it to the more price-orientated own-label products,¡± says De Jong. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t be surprised to see the foam pump in private label washing-up liquids in future.¡± Airspray, like the other parts of the Rexam Group, will be present at Interpack.
Plastics converters such as Alpla are major suppliers to the washing-up liquid market, both with PET and HDPE. For some household products Alpla provides multinational brand owners with in-house bottle blowing facilities, says UK sales manager Mike Taylor.
P&G uses another supplier for hole-in-the-wall in-house supply of packaging in the UK, including clear PET for its Fairy washing-up liquids. |
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Equipment: The perfect fill
Lynda Searby, Packaging News, 03 February 2010
The right filling line will not only save cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers money, it will also help protect their brands. Lynda Searby reports
The cosmetics and personal care industry is all about image and reputation. Projecting the right image can be achieved through celebrity-fronted ad campaigns, but safeguarding a brand's reputation requires products to be unvarying in quality, cleanly filled and perfectly packaged.
The filling operation plays a distinctly unglamorous but very necessary role in ensuring the reality lives up to the glossy ad campaign. If product dribbles down the side of the container, or a bottle is too full or not full enough, or worse still, contaminated with another product, it will impact on the consumer's perception of that brand.
According to French filling equipment manufacturer Serac, the most reliable and accurate means of filling cosmetic and personal care products cleanly and efficiently is net weigh filling.
"The system is based on the weighing or ¡®taring' of the container," explains Aymeric Vague, marketing manager of Serac's industrial, perfume, beauty and health divisions. "It is the only system that controls the quantity of product at the time of filling and not upstream. This gives the certainty that every container is filled with the stated quantity, a particular advantage for aerated liquids." In addition, he says, net weigh filling prevents costly over-filling of expensive products.
Serac's net weigh filler is a rotary machine called the M¨¦tis, which is designed for the high-speed filling of shampoos, shower gels and other personal care products. Serac says the machine's ability to cleanly fill containers at speeds of up to 600 bottles per minute (bpm) with viscous products is down to the fact the container platform rises up and allows the pipe to penetrate the container neck.
Ocme UK is another firm advocate of net weigh fillers for shampoos, conditioners and lotions on the basis that it is a clean and accurate filling method. "Because you're weighing the product, it's very accurate," says sales manager Peter Mayhew. "It's also very clean, because you have no contact with the bottle mouth."
Net profits
Ocme has just supplied a complete line to PZ Cussons that incorporates net weigh filling. Installed at the company's brand new facility in Agecroft, Manchester, the high-speed line fills shampoos and conditioners, of various viscosities, into a range of bottle sizes up to a maximum of 500ml.
Ocme has also just developed a new net weigh filler incorporating a two-part tank, which is capable of filling two products into one container - either simultaneously or one after the other. This allows companies to create ¡®shake and mix' products with two components or package two products in one container that is split down the middle.
"It's a system we've been working on for some time for which we were hoping there might be take-up," says Mayhew. "At the moment a lot of companies are looking at it but nobody is going into it in a big way."
Net weigh fillers do have their disadvantages, though. One downside is that their load cells and electronics make them quite complex. Secondly, the equipment is expensive, and therefore only makes economic sense for companies filling hundreds, rather than tens, of containers a minute, says Nick Osborne, director of packaging systems supplier ACO Packaging.
ACO Packaging serves the lower-volume end of the market and says for these customers, volumetric or vacuum filling systems tend to be more suitable. The difference between the two is that volumetric or ¡®piston' fillers fill to a preset volume, whereas vacuum fillers fill to a level.
According to Osborne, where vacuum systems come into their own is filling glass bottles. "The wall dimensions of glass bottles can vary wildly so if you put 250ml into a glass bottle and stand 10 bottles next to each other, your levels will all be different. That's where vacuum filling comes in because it fills to a level."
Volumetric fillers, on the other hand, are the method of choice where accuracy is important, says Osborne, for example, when filling expensive products like essential oils.
ACO says that its piston fillers are particularly accurate thanks to a custom-designed cylinder that is more accurate than off-the-shelf pneumatic cylinders, as well as being constructed entirely from stainless steel INOX 316 grade.
Volumetric systems
Besides manufacturing net weigh fillers, both Ocme and Serac make volumetric fillers, although Ocme says it has witnessed a shift away from volumetric fillers towards net weigh fillers. "Volumetric fillers have their place," says Ocme's Mayhew. "They are quite accurate but they are very difficult to clean in comparison with net weigh fillers. Volumetric fillers have a number of seals, whereas with weigh fillers there are no internal workings apart from a couple of spray balls and a lance, so you can clean the tank very quickly and effectively. This is particularly important today as most companies are frequently changing between products."
This view is backed up by Serac's Vague, who says: "The absence of gaskets, rotary joints and dead corners on rotary net weigh fillers guarantees perfect hygiene for every product."
The company says its Cronos volumetric linear system, however, is the better option where companies have relatively low output requirements.
French firm Hema, represented in the UK by F Jahn & Co, is another firm that designs rotary fillers and filler-capper monoblocs equipped with either volumetric or net weigh filling. Hema has just launched a new rotary net weigh filler called the GW, which is designed to offer cleaner, more accurate and more economical filling. It features non-drip valves to minimise product loss, as well as smaller-volume tanks, separate from the measuring system, for easy, fast and effective cleaning. GW fillers have already been installed at companies such as L'Or¨¦al, Pierre Fabre, Yves Rocher and Colgate Palmolive.
Flow meters are the other type of filler often used on cosmetic and personal care lines. They have all the advantages of weigh fillers, in that they have few moving parts, and don't have the complications of load cells.
Quick cleaning
"A flow meter is basically a tube which takes the flow of the product and works out how much to open and shut," explains Peter Kierans, sales director of Optima Group Pharma UK. "The advantage is it's easy to sterilise and clean in place if you want to change from one product to another."
Optima's Kugler Linoline is a monobloc system equipped with flow meter filling for liquid and paste cosmetic applications.
The main limitation of the flow meter filler is that it is not suitable for shampoos and conditioners containing silicon. "You can only fill these with a net weigh filler," says Mayhew. "To use a flow meter, the product has to be conductive and silicon particles don't lend themselves to this."
The filling of products like nail varnish, pressed powders and mascara is even more specialist, to the extent where until recently it tended to be done manually because it was too expensive to automate, according to Keith Gooch, managing director of Logic TPS. Now, however, thanks to improvements in machine components, the advent of servo drives and better XY axis movements, it has become easier to design machines for these applications, says Gooch.
Consequently, there are more equipment manufacturers active in this field than in the past. One relative newcomer is Korean firm Woojung, represented in the UK by Logic TPS.
"Woojung has already knocked the German and Italian machinery manufacturers ¡®for six' with the price and speed of its machines," he says. "In just under four years it has sold more than 30 lipstick machines at around $300,000 each, using new technology which uses silicon rubber moulds that are cheaper to produce and give a better finish than traditional metal moulds."
The same machine can be used to fill several different products, such as creams, nail varnish, lip balms and mascaras. "Companies tend to use the same base frame with several different filling stations on it," says Gooch. The exception to this is products like lipsticks, blushers and eye shadows, which require dedicated machines.
Net weigh filling, vacuum filling and flow meter filling all have their advantages and disadvantages. The decision of which one to invest in will depend on what you are filling, but all three will ensure the integrity of your brand is maintained.
LABORATORIOS RTB MADE UP WITH SERAC LINE
Serac has installed one of its Cronos machines at Spanish cosmetics company Laboratorios RTB for filling liquid soap, shower gel and haircare products sold under the Giorgi and Lida brands.
However, the project was not without its challenges. The Barcelona-based company wanted an extremely versatile filling/capping line, capable of processing products with varying viscosities and characteristics, in nine different shapes and sizes of container, including rectangular, oval and upside-down. Furthermore, some of the products contain alcohol, which meant the machine had to comply with ATEX standards. The line also had to accommodate eight different cap designs, from screw caps to click-on caps, pumps, sprays and push-pull closures.
Serac says its Cronos linear system has overcome these challenges without losing line speed as it is designed to cope with containers ranging in size from 50-350mm in height and 5-100mm in diameter. The containers can be transferred in adjustable trays which can be quickly adapted to the form and dimensions of each new container.
Machine settings are pre-programmed so that during each changeover, the new product to be filled is selected on the touch-screen and the filling nozzle speed and stroke is adjusted automatically. The machine, which complies with ATEX standards, is also designed for easy cleaning, which speeds up changeovers. The filling cylinders, for example, may be moved, cleaned and sterilised without being removed. |
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Tub maker Greiner slashes bills with UK-first spend
Simon Clarke, Packaging News, 05 May 2010
£1.6m investment in innovative water treatment kit brings cost and green benefits, finds Simon Clarke
Who Greiner Packaging
Aim Implement new water treatment programme and new air compressors
Spend £1.6m
What Chillers, dry air coolers, heat exchangers and variable-speed pumps
When January 2010
Targets To cut energy costs
Challenge
Relentlessly rising energy costs have put both consumers and businesses under pressure. Given that Greiner Packaging's electricity bill was more than 5% of its annual turnover, the firm clearly needed to make savings.
UK consumers will be entirely familiar with the firm's output, even if they don't know its name. The Northern Ireland outpost of Austrian firm Greiner Packaging International employs 200 people and is responsible for producing tubs and cartons for products such as Kerrygold, Tims Dairy yoghurts and Yeo Valley's range of dairy desserts and spreads, as well as the bulk of five-gallon containers for mineral water in the UK. About 10% of its output of thin-wall plastic and cardboard/plastic containers is for non-food use in the automotive and pharmaceutical markets.
The company has enjoyed strong growth since it was formed after the Greiner Group's takeover of Wilsanco Plastics in 2006. But while its output is a staple of UK supermarket shelves and office water coolers, the company has faced mounting cost pressures in recent years and has been forced to raise its prices in response to hefty increases in raw materials, transport and energy costs.
Electricity alone was costing the plant £1.3m a year on a £23.5m turnover. "It was a big proportion of our cost base," says engineering manager Seamus McGovern. So the company embarked on a project to replace its water treatment and air compressor equipment with the aim of recouping waste heat and cutting its energy bill.
Strategy
The Greiner Group had driven a programme of investment in the plant since the takeover, which included improvements in storage and PET technology. The group's significant European presence and experience also meant it had a range of suppliers and contractors on hand to take on the project.
This meant the initial focus was on planning and securing funding for the investment. Greiner approached government regional development agency Invest Northern Ireland for support during the initial research and development phase, which gave approval in August 2009 for a grant of 20% of the total water project cost.
With this in place, Greiner also sought backing from the Bank of Ireland and The Carbon Trust. Bank of Ireland's European Investment Bank Loan Fund provided a discounted rate loan for 60% of the water treatment upgrade, while Greiner worked with the Carbon Trust to assess the potential savings from installing new air compressors. When the numbers stacked up, Greiner secured a £400,000 loan from the Trust to provide efficient replacements that would reuse 80% of the energy they produce.
"There was an element of risk," admits Greiner Packaging chief executive Jarek Zasadzinski. "Funding was sought during the R&D process. We received a provisional OK from Invest Northern Ireland to work on the project until the full approval was released."
Implementation
Suppliers were sourced based on past experience of Greiner's similar projects throughout Europe. They included system design by Intemann, chillers from Axima Refrigeration, dry air coolers and heat exchangers from Cabero and high efficiency, variable speed pumps from Grundfos. Another key element of the project is an ingenious set-up which harnesses wind to cool the water - a major environmental and cost saving compared to running chillers.
Work began in August/September 2009 and lasted just over four months. The build was extensive, involving replacing all the pipework in the factory to create a new water cooling process. To add to this, engineering manager McGovern had to juggle integrating a full new system during the very busy September-November period.
"We were installing a massive infrastructure project during one of the plant's busiest times," he says. "The work needed careful planning to ensure the factory still met volume targets and consumer demand."
Results
According to McGovern, though, the project went very smoothly, especially considering its scope and impact. "It went very well - we haven't had any major hiccups so far," he says. Over the next year, Greiner will be validating the system. "We need to run it over the whole climate cycle to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible," he adds.
The aim is that the installation, which is the first of its kind in the UK and only the 10th in the world, will cut the firm's annual electricity bill by £400,000 a year and oil costs by £60,000 a year. Annual water usage is also predicted to fall by five million litres. Greiner expects to meet the UK Government's 2050 emissions target set out in the Climate Change Act within three years, as it works its way through a menu of energy costs, from the heating of plastic polymer to cooling of tools, compessed air and lighting. So far, Greiner has burned no oil since January as the factory is now heated entirely by recovered waste heat.
Work has not stopped there, however. The plant provisionally expects more investment to come as it has set a target of two years to meet Carbon Trust standards to reduce its carbon footprint. It is embarking on fresh consultancy with the Carbon Trust to look at electrical loss, and plans to carry out a lighting survey and monitor its heating targets. |
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Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado to stock rPET Go Naked bottles
Jane Ellis, packagingnews.co.uk, 02 October 2007
Three more leading UK retailers will begin stocking Go Naked personal care and cleaning products in 100% recycled plastic packaging this month.
Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado will join John Lewis and Waitrose stores, which began stocking the brand - owned by Method Products - in 828ml rPET bottles in August.
Method Products said all of its UK stockists, including The Co-op and Selfridges, would switch in due course to these bottles, which are made by Amcor PET Packaging Europe.
Method Products' chief executive for Europe, James Tugendhat, said around 100,000 rPET bottles had been supplied so far.
¡°By this time next year we hope to have produced more than two million,¡± he added.
The next product to be re-packaged will be a handwash in a 354ml bottle, followed by a speciality cleaning product in the same size in the next four to six weeks.
All UK-filled products will be in 100% rPET bottles by the end of this year, followed by the firm's US-manufactured brands in 2008.
¡°As part of our commitment to being sustainable, we are looking for a reliable supplier of recycled pumps and triggers, so watch this space,¡± said Tugendhat.
Method Products is also developing vegetable- or soy-based inks, which are compatible with the surfactants in its cleaning products, for printing the recycled paper labels.
It is trialling refillable bottles in the US, and plans to introduce them in the UK in the future.
Method Products was founded in the US by Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry. In 2006 it opened its London office in Richmond, which employs seven staff, and it plans to expand and direct its European operation from there.
The original all-purpose spray bottle for the firm¡¯s dye- and fragrance-free cleaning products was designed by Karim Rashid, who also revamped Prada¡¯s packaging. |
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Serac targets pharma sector
Packaging News, 01 July 2006
French machinery manufacturer Serac has released details of the Cronos, its latest modular filling and capping line, designed for cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.
Able to handle a wide variety of containers, caps and product types, the line is made up of two Serac machines, a Hera linear filling machine and a Gaïa multi-station capping machine, linked with a closed-loop conveyor system.
The line has the capacity for up to five capping modules, which can process all common closure types including screw-caps, click-on caps, directed apertures and pumps.
The machine is also capable of both volumetric and flow filling. It¡¯s volumetric filling system is based on Serac¡¯s patented technology, which allows the filling cylinders to operate independently, eliminating the risk of overfills. It also allows each cylinder to process a different product, enabling the machine to fill two-stage or three-stage multi-layer products.
The Cronos (pictured) can handle bottles and pots of between 50-350mm high and 5-100mm in diameter. The company says that the line¡¯s simple drive mechanism improves machine synchronisation, filling precision and efficiency. Sealless filling cylinders, which can be opened and sterilised without removal, improve machine hygiene.
Product-filling parameters can be pre-set into the machine allowing for efficient product changeovers via a touchscreen. |
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RPC to supply packs for new Oxy shaving range
Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 09 October 2008
Oxy, the US acne treatment brand, has adopted RPC's Magic Star and CD Smart packs to launch its range of shaving products.
Manufacturer Mentholatum selected Magic Star for the metered-dose airless pumps that provide a hygienic application and are easy to use.
The CD Smart pack has been chosen for Oxy spot treatment acne fighting gel formula, which is produced in a 15ml size.
RPC Bramlage-Wiko USA provide the dispensers in colouring to match the product's branding ¨C a black container, red dispenser head and clear overcap.
Meanwhile, RPC Group has confirmed that the operations from the Beaut¨¦ plant in Mozzate, Italy, will be transferred to the firm's Bramlage-Wiko facility in France.
The Mozzate plant, which employs 81 staff, is due to be closed by next March.
The Beaut¨¦ plant's closure, which was announced last week, forms part of RPC's strategic review that was launched in June. The next update is expected when the firm publishes its half-year report in November.
The enhanced Bramlage-Wiko operation is expected to halve sales of €250m (£198m). |
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Spectra Packaging targets growth after Liz Earle success
Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 13 May 2009
Spectra Packaging is hoping its work for Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare will be a springboard for growth in the sector.
Suffolk-based Spectra started in the packaging arena in January 2008 and is confident that being able to meet Liz Earle's exacting standard for its Orange Flower Hand Wash and Hand Repair products will be a good calling card for future business.
Sales manager Jonathan Powell told Packaging News that the contract had tested the firm's tooling resources from the beginning and demonstrated its capabilities. "It sets a high standard that we can offer to all our customers," he said.
Liz Earle wanted a HDPE bottle, rather than the more usual PET, and also specified the pumps pointed to the left when closed and the front when being used. The firm was also required to print the four-colour design on the correct face.
Errol Mills, packaging manager at Liz Earle, said: "Spectra met every challenge with clear thinking and a positive attitude, providing us with a product that only served to enhance the brand in the marketplace."
Spectra was set up in 2007 as a supplier of masterbatches, mostly to the toiletries sector, and started in the packaging sector last year. The ongoing Liz Earle project began in June. |
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Drugs counters
Lynda Searby, Packaging News, 04 September 2008
Vast quantities of pharmaceutical tablets and capsules might be packed into blisters, but a sizeable proportion are still filled into bottles - IMA Safe estimates that bottles account for 40% of all solid drug packaging. Essentially, there are two methods of filling tablets and capsules into bottles: mechanical counting and electronic counting.
For large volumes and high speeds, mechanical counters are generally considered the best bet. These use either slats or discs to count the tablets and operate at speeds of up to 400 bottles per minute. But such high speeds come at the expense of flexibility ¨C size parts changeover is very difficult and expensive.
Those manufacturers looking for flexibility over speed tend to opt for electronic machines, which count products as they freefall in front of an electronic scanner. These systems operate at much lower speeds of, say, 50 bottles per minute, but require few or no change parts.
However, most pharmaceutical manufacturers and contract packers don¡¯t want to have to choose between flexibility and speed ¨C they want both. Equipment suppliers have responded with machines that deliver on both counts.
Logic TPS (Tooling & Packaging Solutions), for example, has started acting as UK distributor for US equipment manufacturer IPS, whose Procount machine is said to combine the benefits of both counters.
It uses the slat counter to pick up and separate the tablets and a laser counting system to check the right amount of tablets has left the slat and gone into the bottle, explains Keith Gooch of Logic TPS. It achieves speeds of 100-200 bottles per minute.
The main feature of the Procount is said to be the ease with which changeover and cleaning can be carried out. The patented design allows downtime to be cut by over 50% versus other counters on the market, says IPS.
IPS has installed 70 Procount machines in the US and Gooch says he has quoted on several projects in the UK already.
Improving accuracy
Another issue with electronic counters, according to Gooch, is that they are not always 100% accurate. To this end, Logic TPS supplies a tare and gross checkweighing system that can be fitted under an electronic counter to guarantee fill accuracy to +/- 20mg.
Called the TC8210, the system will pre-weigh and zero a bottle weight before filling and then check the final weight of the count after filling.
It¡¯s a double-check for the filler in case of a funnel blockage or a malfunction on the machine, he explains. Particularly on electronic machines, if an air valve malfunctions, it could give an undercount or an overcount. There¡¯s no way of checking this after the tablets have been counted other than an operator checking each individual container.
The system is already in use at contract packer QBL, on a line that is filling 90 bottles per minute.
IMA Safe has gone one step further and incorporated product control capabilities into its counting machines. The Conta series of counters screens tablets and capsules for shape, colour and integrity and is capable of ensuring that bottles are filled with the right quantity and type of product. It is also claimed to be the only tablet counter on the market to feature single-tablet reject ¨C eliminating full-bottle rejects and the associated rework.
Competitor Marchesini believes product control will remain a key focus for innovation in the future. Innovation in tablet counting technology is mainly focused on electronic devices, and in particular on product control, says a company spokesperson. This is certainly the area where we¡¯re likely to see the most improvement in the future.
Shift in focus
That said, Marchesini¡¯s R&D work in recent years has concentrated more on reducing the footprint of its electronic counters. Its newly developed Compact counter integrates an electronic counting head and an intermittent motion capper within one enclosure. The company says the system combines ¡®the latest counting and capping technology with perfect integration¡¯: a single base frame, a single electrical cabinet and a single HMI.
With liquid pharmaceuticals, closing the margin for error is also a key objective for equipment designers, but here, the focus is on process control rather than product control, driven by the burgeoning biopharmaceutical market. This growing market requires new ideas, says Matthias Poslovski of Optima Group Pharma. The highly active materials lead to small filling volumes. At the same time, a tiny amount may represent a massive value. The onus is on the filler, therefore, to make sure every tiny drop is used.
In Process Control (IPC), developed by Optima, performs automatic fill checks, and a statistical analysis of filling weights gives a signal to the filler to reduce or increase the dose.
Another advantage, says Poslovski, is that random samples are no longer necessary. Previously they had to be done manually which meant product was lost.
When filling liquid pharmaceuticals into bottles, the main decisions are the method of filling and the choice between a separate filler and capper or a monobloc.
According to Masterfil, part of the Adelphi group, at present, the pharmaceutical industry is showing greater interest in flowmeter technology.
The main advantages of flowmeter fillers are that they have no areas where product can collect, therefore they are very clean, changeover time is reduced as cleaning effluent is minimised and with no moving parts, maintenance is reduced, explains the company¡¯s Russell Martin.
He adds that optional touchscreen programming and the ability to store up to 100 filling profiles on Masterfil¡¯s systems has greatly increased throughputs. Adelphi Manufacturing also offers equipment for volumetric filling, a method that is suited to filling thicker liquids at higher speeds.
It says a trend among contract packers and biopharmaceutical companies towards monobloc machines is driving sales of its Cerberus system. Everyone is looking to achieve a higher output, but in the same space, observes the company¡¯s Dean Willis.
Cleaning up
Although the Cerberus occupies less space than a separate filler and capper, he admits it is not the most compact of all the monoblocs on the market, but there¡¯s a reason for this: Some other machines may be half the size of ours, but if you can¡¯t get in to clean them, that¡¯s irrelevant. On our machines everything is spaced so you can get in and clean and they are manufactured to allow for laminar flow. We also seal the top of the machine off from the bottom, as the bottom may be oiled or greased, and this prevents contaminants from getting through to the top.
A Kugler monobloc from Optima has just replaced an older machine of a different make at an Austrian contract packer. It is being used to fill a range of products, from syrups to dietary supplements, into a variety of glass and plastic containers.
Containers are fed from a turntable into the monobloc and positioned intermittently at a weighing cell where the tare weight of each container is determined. At the filling stage, rotary piston pumps fill the product. The gross weight of the containers is then checked at the second weighing cell, and the control system determines the net filling weight from these two values. Any deviation from the target weight is transmitted to the dosing station to optimise dosing accuracy.
Closures are fed from sorting bowls to the packaging process and made available to the closing units in swivelling motions, making it possible to first insert droppers or plugs, then pre-screw caps or insert and pre-screw spray pumps or PP caps. After checking the presence of closures, the system tightens or closes the caps.
A number of features ensure the system is flexible enough to accommodate the various containers, closures and products. The operator control unit, combined with servo technology, means format changes can happen at the touch of a button. The linear and modular construction of the system is also said to be advantageous when making size changes.
WHEN PRECISION IS PARAMOUNT
When filling liquid pharmaceuticals into tiny receptacles such as ampoules and vials, precision is paramount, both from a cost and a patient health perspective.
The German-built Rota range, which is sold in the UK by Adelphi, achieves fill accuracy of 0.02%.
Two Rota lines ¨C one for vial filling and one for ampoule filling ¨C are in operation at Torbay PMU (Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Unit), a medium-scale supplier of sterile fluids ¨C mainly injectables ¨C to secondary care NHS.
When choosing our equipment, we tried to get most of it from one source, explains Phil Bendell, head of production at Torbay PMU. It makes it much easier for spares and for maintenance.
Flexibility was also a major consideration ¨C the ampoules PMU produces range from 1ml to 10ml, and the vials from 10ml to 100ml.
We wanted interchangeability of the filling pumps and some components on the machines, as producing more than 50 products means we do a lot of changeover. The Rota machines seemed quite straightforward for the operator to change and understand. They were also priced quite reasonably and Adelphi seemed to offer the best service back-up of all the agents we spoke to.
Torbay PMU is about to upgrade its current ampoule filling system to an even larger one to cope with increasing demand, and is designing a new facility which will house a new vial filling line. |
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STO-Flaconnage unveils new perfume bottle
Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 20 August 2009
STO-Flaconnage has added a new 100ml oval bottle to its standard range for the perfume market.
The Knottingley, Yorkshire firm said the Fiona was a traditional-looking bottle with a large surface area that could be decorated with a wide range of printing techniques such as spraying, acid etching and hot-foil stamping.
Mark Devonald Smith, STO group director for perfumery, toiletries, cosmetics and personal care, said: "This is a bottle that reflects the style and quality of classical fragrance without development costs or lengthy delivery times."
STO said its printing prices were very competitive and the firm also offers a wide range of standard closures.
As well as its standard range, STO-Flaconnage offers a custom design service. It is part of Austrian firm Stölze Glass Group. |
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North America: Cosmetics beat stateside slump
Packaging News, 03 February 2010
In this month's round-up of global packaging trends, we head to North America and find that, while badly hit during the recession, brand development in the region still has plenty of tricks up its sleeve
The impact of the recession on brand development in North America is made clear by the sharp drop in figures for new products hitting the market. While more than 51,000 were recorded by Mintel¡¯s Global new Products Database (GNPD) in both 2007 and 2008, 40,843 new lines hit US and Canadian supermarkets in 2009.
The skincare, non-alcoholic beverages and healthcare categories in particular saw big drops, while colour cosmetics and air care products stood up well and avoided any slowdown in new product development.
Flexibles continued to dominate the choice of packaging for new products. The use of cartons in new products dropped by a third, while other pack types ¨C including flexible packs, bottles, tubs and trays ¨C all slid around a quarter. |
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PiP unveils new medical and cosmetics packaging kit
Packaging News, 02 May 2007
Partners in Packaging (PiP) will show a number of new packaging machines at Total.
From Etipack, the European manufacturer of print-and-apply labelling systems, comes the System 1 for cylindrical bottles and jars. The unit will be shown on PiP¡¯s stand applying a self-adhesive label to a round pharmaceutical bottle. Handling products from 18-80mm in diameter, it runs at speeds of up to 300 bottles a minute.
Lancashire-based PiP will also show the Eclipse intermittent end-load cartoner from US-based Cartoning and MGS, which is targeted at the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Capable of speeds of up to 90 cartons a minute, it is supplied with feeding systems for ampoules, vials, syringes, bottles, transdermals and tubes.
The Isis tray de-nester, available in multiple lanes to handle plastic, pulp and cardboard trays at speeds of up to 50 cycles per lane, is also new. Complementing this is the Speed-disp de-nester for the ready meals sector.
As distributor of US-based Theile Streamfeeder¡¯s Universal friction feeders and collators, PiP will also show the new Flow-fold Pro series feeder for folding U cards and feeding them into flow-wrapping machines for the food industry. |
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Rexam targets personal care sector with plastic jars
Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 21 April 2008
Rexam, the global packaging firm and can maker, is targeting the European beauty, personal care and home care markets with a range of plastic jars.
The injection-moulded containers, made from polypropylene and polystyrene, are available in single- or double-walled models.
There is also a single-wall model that offers the flush finish of a blow-moulded jar, Rexam said, and the packs were stackable to provide a better use of shelf space.
The jars are fitted with a multi-lead threaded closure aimed at making opening and closing easier for consumers. |
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Graham Packaging reveals multi-layer PET jar
Jane Ellis, packagingnews.co.uk, 21 February 2008
Graham Packaging has introduced what it claims is the first clear PET multi-layer plastic jar with a wide-mouth finish and barrier properties suitable for hot-fill foods such as pasta sauces, salsas and fruits.
The US plastic packaging firm said the five-layer jar could be designed in round, square, rectangular and special shapes, with wide-mouth finishes up to 82mm.
The jar can provide a shelf-life of up to 18 months and be hot-filled at temperatures from 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dry-packed or cold-processed products that are oxygen sensitive can also be protected, the firm said.
Graham Packaging's vice president and business manager for food packaging, Paul Bailie, said the jars had been produced using a combination of its SurShot multilayer technology and jar blow-moulding.
"The marriage of these two technologies yields long shelf-life and good aesthetics at an affordable cost," he said.
Bailie said the market potential of the multilayer jar was driven by consumer demand for clear, lightweight, non-breakable packaging and by the opportunity to cut manufacturing and distribution costs.
The firm claimed the PET jar would weigh 87% less than glass on an order of 50 million jars a year.
Graham Packaging said the jar contained post-consumer and post-industrial recycled materials and the oxygen barrier could be separated from the PET in the recycling process.
PET Containers Recycling Europe (PETcore) endorsed the recyclability of Graham's SurShot multi-layer technology in 2007, as Graham was able to show that its SurBond system enabled an EVOH barrier to be almost completely removed during recycling.
The multi-layer jar material has two barrier layers and three layers of PET.
The material was not endorsed for sheet applications because of a possibility of haze, PETcore added.
Graham Packaging is based in Pennsylvania and produces more than 20 billion blow-moulded plastic containers for food and beverage, household, personal care and automotive products.
The firm had sales of $2.5bn (£1.3bn) in 2006. |
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BNP faces legal action over Marmite jar in election broadcast
Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 22 April 2010
Unilever has threatened the British National Party with legal action to block an online political broadcast that features a jar of its Marmite spread.
In a statement, the FMCG giant said that it was initiating injunction proceedings against the BNP to remove the Marmite jar from the broadcast and prevent the party from using it in future.
"We want to make it absolutely clear that Marmite did not give the BNP permission to use a pack shot of our product in their broadcast. Neither Marmite nor any other Unilever brand are aligned to any political party," the firm said.
In a blog entry on its website, the BNP referred to a spoof election campaign run by Unilever as a "disgraceful smear campaign" against the party.
The 'election', broadcast on the Marmite News Network website, plays on Marmite's "love it or hate it" slogan and features two parties ¨C the Love party and the Hate party.
The BNP said the Hate party was "clearly based on the BNP".
"Quite simply, if you start a spoof, you should expect to get spoofed," BNP leader Nick Griffin said. |
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Graham Packaging supplies Hartley's squeezy jam jar
Liz Wells, packagingnews.co.uk, 19 September 2008
Graham Packaging has supplied Hartley's, the Premier Foods jam brand, a custom designed polypropylene container for its new range of 'squeezy' jams.
The pack has a standard bottle with a 38/400mm neck finish and is multi-layered to increase the shelf life of the product by ruling out oxygen ingress.
The jar has been produced using Graham Packaging's proprietary barrier technology, it delivers a high level of reliability in terms of barrier specification and its speed in operation ensures economics for this high value pack are kept at a low level.
Seaquist dispensing closures in differing sizes have been added to accommodate for the 'Smooth' and 'Best' variants of jam.
David Atkinson, general manager of spreads at Premier Foods, says: "We hope this exciting new design for Hartley's will expand our appeal in the market to adults and children alike.
"Eating patterns have changed dramatically and we are pleased that Britain's favourite jam is able to cater for this demand through pack innovation."
The squeezy range is available in several varieties: Strawberry and Raspberry Best, and Strawberry and Blackcurrant Smooth. |
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Darlingisbeautiful creates limited edition jar for Belgian jam
Liz Wells, packagingnews.co.uk, 11 December 2008
French branding consultancy Darlingisbeautiful has created a limited edition pack for Belgian jam brand Materne to mark a 120 years since it first hit supermarket shelves.
The packaging recreates the iconic design Materne had on its jar 120 years ago with contemporary materials.
Darlingisbeautiful developed the look using a new clear label, printed in one colour, on a standard jar used by Materne.
The company said: "Using brand history allowed Materne to claim more than a century of practice, competency and expertise, which corroborates the new brand's values and reinforces its national leadership.
"Moreover, beyond the nostalgic affection conveyed by this trendy vintage style, this project emphasises the positive and authentic qualities that make Materne a great brand in Belgium."
The jar is currently on sale in Belgium and as a luxury item in Japan.
The limited edition pack is the fifth project created and managed by Darlingisbeautiful for Materne-Conflux since the agency launched in early 2008.
Darlingisbeautiful is looking to partner with designers and agencies in the UK to enable it offer worldwide design skills.
The company aims to build strong outsourcing relationships with companies and designers in France, Belgium, UK, the US, Japan and China. |
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China: Snacks show Far Eastern promise
Packaging News, 03 March 2010
In our analysis of trends from across the globe this month, we look at new products launched in China, a country that hasn't been immune to the economic malaise but is quickly bouncing back in some sectors
China has felt the impact of the global recession, and new products recorded by Mintel¡¯s Global New Products Database fell from a 14,000 high in 2007 to 11,760 and 10,177 in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
The leading markets of skincare, bakery, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages have all slowed in the last three years, although the snacks sector rebounded in 2009 after new product launches halved in 2008. The alcoholic drinks market remains weak, with just 61 new products last year.
Flexible packaging remains the most popular for new product launches, but bottles and tubes are gaining ground. The use of most other pack formats has remained fairly constant, but jars have become less popular and around 50% fewer new products are packed in cartons compared to two years ago. |
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A roar inside the lions' lair is no match for some real-world nous
Des King, Packaging News, 04 March 2009
Most people reckon they have a book inside them; best place for it, too. The same can often be true of a great business concept. For what it's worth, mine's an absolutely cracker: a food service proposition so good that I wouldn't dream of sharing it with you. Nor would I ever risk serving it up in TV's Dragons' Den, only to have it either patronised into banality or else scoffed at with derision. In fact, hang on; I'll just write a book about it instead. Two dead ducks for the price of one. Sorted.
To the mutual delight of the BBC and millions of regular viewers, a stream of erstwhile entrepreneurs far less precious than yours truly are queuing round the block to lay their innovative acumen on the line as fodder for the dragons to chomp on.
They have my admiration; that it transmutes into smug snorts of derision is what gives the programme its sizzle. For every winning recipe there¡¯s a string of souffl¨¦s that just don¡¯t to rise to the occasion. We enjoy success, but savour it most when accompanied by comparative failure.
The Easyfairs organisers cooked up their own version last month: the ¡®Lions¡¯ Lair¡¯, into which they invited seven putative innovators to pitch their shtick. True to form, there was a clear winner: a rather nifty pump mechanism, sure to be a shoo-in for any awards it cares to go for this year. It was presented with that air of calm assurance that already knows there¡¯s a tangible market in its sights. True to the TV format, it also shone in comparison with the rest of the pack, whose lesser attributes were summarily damned with faint praise or otherwise under the lions¡¯ baleful glare.
It would help all new solutions to pass through some realistic objective examination prior to chancing their arm on the shelf. If everything that came off the drawing board was the best, then what price genuine distinction? Superlatives should be just that; not ten-a-penny appendages slapped on by the copywriters.
When venturing into the real dragons¡¯ den (aka the market), you need to be appropriately armed, and recognise that not everyone wants the next best thing, so second best doesn¡¯t have to mean second-rate. Ensuring that the bullet hits the target is more a matter of taking accurate aim rather than the punch it packs.
The point was nicely made in the Lions¡¯ Lair with disarming candour by a banding machinery manufacturer. While acknowledging that there couldn¡¯t conceivably be anything new about his proposition, he explained that in order to sell more equipment he¡¯d come up with a whole host of hitherto unrealised uses to which it could be applied. It didn¡¯t win on the day nor ever would on a reality TV show, but it¡¯s just the sort of lion-taming nous that always deserves to succeed in generating new business. |
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easyFairs Packaging Innovations: Ideas generation
Jill Park, Packaging News, 28 January 2010
As businesses and industry continue to feel the pinch, investing in innovation may not make it to the top of many boardroom to-do lists. But, says Jill Park, taking the plunge could pay bountiful rewards
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower," Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said. In terms of its packaging, Apple was quick to understand the importance of aesthetics in selling a product. Its sleek plastic and cardboard creations have become an integral part of the brand.
Taking an innovative punt made Jobs a fortune - easy enough when you have nothing to lose. But when your company is attempting to weather a recession, the temptation to batten down the hatches and avoid risk of any sort becomes an appealing option.
But for those companies willing to take the plunge, like Jobs, the rewards can be extensive. This year's Packaging Innovations show at easyFairs is a prime opportunity to explore the possibilities of innovation in the packaging market and the technologies with which to assess these - leading eyetracking company Eyetracker being a major draw.
The critical element
"Innovation is critical," says AVA Packaging Solutions' managing director Alison Vincent, who spoke at last year's show and will be attending this year. "At the moment it's even more critical than before the economic downturn. I think that's because there are so many brands and products out there and consumers are being very penny-conscious. The brands really need to differentiate themselves and come up with a new solution to get consumers to spend on their products against such intense competition," she says.
Vincent's comments are echoed by Chesapeake's (stand 530) corporate marketing and communications manager Bob Houghton. The carton manufacturer will be showing its latest creation CartonBag, a pre-made bag in a covered carton that is being targeted at loose products, such as wrapped confectionery, dried fruit and personal care items.
Alongside the CartonBag, Chesapeake will also be exhibiting shaped composite tubes from its Figured service and the new holographic effect Glint, which was recently used on the label for Jingle Knockers Christmas ale from Cornish brewery Skinner's.
"Focusing on innovation is the only way the industry can develop solutions to challenges such as a greater environmental awareness, improving efficiency and increasing the brand support that packaging has to offer as marketing budgets become stretched," says Houghton.
Walking around a trade show is "a good way to see what's out there", adds AVA's Vincent. "It's a good
way to get a feel of trends and the mood of the industry - it is quite subtle, but you can pick up on that when you walk around."
Appetite for the new
Chris Barber, creative director of design agency Dragon Rouge, agrees. "It's a chance to find out about innovative materials and new technology to give brands the edge," he says.
"As designers, our job is to have the appetite for all things new, creative and innovative in packaging," he says. "EasyFairs is a focused, inspirational day allowing designers to top up their existing knowledge in order to make client relationships more enriching and brand design more desirable."
Barber is quick to advise visitors to check out the lecture programme in advance so they can plan which day is most suited to them. Iain Janes, research director at Eyetracker (stand 671) will be giving one of a series of lectures in the Packaging Innovations arena on eyetracking and will also be exhibiting at the show.
Watch the eyes
Eyetracker was established in 2002. As the name suggests, the company specialises in eyetracking by selling and renting equipment to companies and offering eyetracking market research for brands. At Packaging Innovations the company will be giving visitors the opportunity to test two types
of equipment.
The first piece of equipment on show can be used in the "real world" and comprises a pair of glasses that can be worn to trace the movements of the eye while on the move, for example in a supermarket. The second piece of equipment is screen-based and more suited to evaluating packs.
"Packaging is a big market for us," says Eyetracker's Janes. He says that eyetracking as a concept is becoming "increasingly important" in a world where we are bombarded with visual information. "If something is not being looked at, it is not being considered," say Janes.
Pack for beauty
Packaging is of the uppermost importance in the health and beauty sector, where it can even be used in the application of the product. "Innovation in both design and function helps to distinguish a product from its competitors and create a ¡®personality' for the products," explains John Anderton, managing director of cosmetics packaging supplier Vetroplas (stand 553).
The company will be exhibiting the complete range of airless dispensers from Megaplast, for whom Vetroplas has recently become the exclusive UK agent.
Vetroplas will also be exhibiting the latest designs from Eurovetrocap in glass and plastic, and flexible and laminate tubes from CTL/Tube Hispania. "We will also show the range of high-end acrylic jars from M-G-S in France," adds Anderton.
Similarly, M&H Plastics' (stand 554) creation of a range of HDPE character bottles is hard to ignore. The easy-grip 250ml bottles, which take a snap-on flip-top closure, have been designed to work as a set for children's toiletries and will be a colourful addition to the plastic packaging manufacturer's display area.
Material changes
However, not all innovation is as visually arresting as M&H's bottles. Veriplast Solutions will be exhibiting the work it has done in moving its PET cups to rPET so as to cut energy use and raw materials as the cups will be manufactured from 35% post consumer waste. Despite the change, the company insists there is no impact on the physical or visual performance of the cups.
Innovation, it seems, comes in many guises. Wandering around a show like Packaging Innovations not only shows what's going on in your sector but highlights opportunities for cross-fertlisation of ideas from other sectors. What's more, being brave enough to take the risk and invest in innovation could highlight the difference between being a leader or a follower
Innovation stations: best of the rest
Injection moulded plastic packaging products manufacturer Plasticum (stand 627) will be exhibiting its Jimmy spray cap at Packaging Innovations. The cap creates an ultra-fine, horizontal spray and is available in three diameters; 49mm, 52mm and 57mm. It is suitable for necked-in tinplate cans and is applicable to all high-speed capping lines.
Cosmetics packaging specialist Toly Products (stand 717) will have an array of products on display, including its recent development, the Dual Airless. The new twin airless pack contains two 15ml airless tubes, which dispense through the nozzle, mixing the products at the point of use.
Malvern-based Pendragon (stand 556) will feature a range of its products at the show. The company's capabilities include rigid boxes, folding cartons, promotional paper bags and hand-made envelopes. Highlights on the stand will include a rigid box created for the luxury retailer Harrods, which is illuminated by small lights when it is opened, as well as a fabric-covered Faberg¨¦ jewellery box.
Suffolk-based Spectra (stand 698) will use the Packaging Innovations show as a launchpad for its Verona 250ml bottle and tottle and a 200ml Seaquist Gemini cap. The company has also made developments in its printing and has added hot-foil stamping and peripheral banding to its capabilities.
Visitors to Pakready's (stand 358) display will be able to learn more about the Manchester-based company's offering for short-run boxes, speciality packaging and point-of-sale. Pakready can create 3D mock-ups of packs so customers can see and feel the pack before it enters production.
Neville and More (stand 668a) has launched a spray pump capable of spraying 360 degrees. The pump is being aimed at everything from personal care to garden sprays. Using the pump, consumers are able
to spray the product into those hard-to-reach places.
Lion's Lair: Roar talent
The latest developments in packaging technology will be put under scrutiny at easyFairs' Lions'
Lair event at this year's show. Entrants from a range of sectors will be given the opportunity to
put their ideas to the esteemed Lions before a winner is named.
This year's judges will include Paul Beer, purchasing manager, NPI&D and operations of BCM; Alan Moffat, packaging development manager, Heinz; Dr Mark Masento, technical manager of Tesco corporate purchasing; Karen Graley, packaging and reprographics manager at Waitrose; Dr Gordon Stewart of the Packaging Society; and Josh Brooks, editor of Packaging News.
Companies presenting to the Lions include:
- Supranet for its Spooncup coffee cup lid;
- Polythene UK and its Polycomp compostable bags;
- Chesapeake Branded Packaging's CartonBag;
- Dongguan City Jingli Can Co's new tin product;
- Clifford Packaging's BB2 Wine Box; and
- H&O Plastics' 25/30-litre plastic container, which comes complete with a gasket and band.
Last year Quantex, part of London-based design agency PDD, won the contest with an airtight disposable pump for packaged liquids that distributes precise quantities of liquid, such
as drink, detergents or medicine. |
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Laundry: A concentrated effort for change
Des King, Packaging News, 01 April 2010
With so many formats, just looking at the laundry products shelf is enough to make your head spin. Would the category benefit from a more uniform approach, asks Des King
There are any number of solutions for keeping the family kitted out in clean clothes. Powder, tablets, capsules, liquids, gels and concentrates all compete for attention on the supermarket shelf where size is no longer an indicator of substance. Refillable pouches are the latest option being trialled by Asda (see box).
Concentrates are a convenient format best suited to ¡®dial down to 30¡ãC' sustainability. However, there are fundamental differences of opinion - some of them force of habit, others a matter of perception - between consumers and manufacturers as to whether less constitutes more.
"Getting consumers to break out of existing habits can be really difficult, although seeing something similar in other categories does help to provide reassurance and get the message across," says Will Davis, chief executive of Studio Davis, the company behind the packaging design of Ariel Excel Gel. "If they're used to powder then that's what they'll stick with; same for liquid. Communicating the idea that you can use a smaller amount that will still deliver the same result is pretty much getting them to suspend disbelief.
"The reason that concentration has taken a while to come to the laundry care category is that big - as in terms of the pack size - has normally been perceived to be best, simply because of the shelf-pop it creates."
Small but perfectly formed
Nevertheless, concentration is what brands - and in their wake, own-label detergents - are increasingly focusing upon. Procter & Gamble led the rest of the pack, says Davis. Ariel Excel Gel was an NPD initiative that led to a new formulation that effectively redefined the category. "Getting smaller was basically going against the established trend - so what we aimed to ensure was that it had distinctive stand-out," he says.
Studio Davis opted for polypropylene (PP) rather than the usual high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to achieve more
control over the spring-back of the body of the pack, and to help consumers with accurate dispensing. The pebble-shaped pack also features a flip-top closure and an integrated ¡®visi-strip' to indicate content level at a glance.
Other detergents have followed suit, and are taking the packaging further. While gels, such as Ariel Excel, operate on the squeeze principle, the latest development in the US is the Method brand's introduction of the spray pump - designed to deliver a measured single dose of concentrate.
Method uses 95% natural ingredients concentrated down so the consumer only has to use a quarter of the equivalent amount used by other concentrates. It also claims that its pack uses 36% less material, and is made of 50% recyclate.
With around a 33% share of the UK's annual £1.5bn detergent and fabric conditioner retail market, Tesco is strategically positioned to drive the trend towards liquid concentrates. "As customers become more interested in the environment and cutting their carbon footprint, we've seen increased demand for concentrated laundry products. They're also cheaper to buy so are proving popular," says senior laundry buying manager Amanda Hart.
Along with P&G, the category's leading supplier, the multiple is also phasing out tablets. "As they're powder compacted they require an extra layer of production," notes Hart. "When you consider the energy required to achieve that, concentrates are much better for the environment.
"In 2008, we introduced carbon labels on to our own-brand powdered laundry, tablets, liquid and concentrated liquid. This showed customers directly how much carbon was needed to produce each and illustrates that concentrated liquid is the more environmentally friendly option. We want to provide customer choice, so that they can make their own informed decisions."
The consensus view is there's unlikely to ever be a single format. For example, despite its somewhat outmoded image, powder still exercises a cross-demographic appeal not least to the more cost-conscious consumer. It's also the format habitually preferred by a number of overseas markets - for example, in Central Europe where tablets or liquid capsules are not commonly available.
Spoilt for choice
"As long as there is more than one brand fighting for share of the wallet there will be different formats, so there'll be choice in pursuit of competitive advantage," says Dragon Rouge creative partner Sam Dumont. "In our experience, consumers want the packaging to be simple, easy to use and no mess - and self-dosing can be a messy business."
As can the adoption of refillable containers, a well-worn step towards greater sustainability that some brands and retailers are currently revisiting. "We've already reduced packaging on thousands of products and we work closely with Wrap on many initiatives," says Hart. "We're keen to see the outcome of the trial they're doing on fabric softener (see box) - which when finished, we'll be in a better place to see how and if it could work for us."
Studio Davis' Davis believes legislation would probably be required to drive refilling, and that in any case it goes against current supermarket philosophy. "They don't even like filling their own shelves," says Davis.
"They insist upon brands creating more and more shelf- ready packaging, so I can't see them introducing a refill system. They're just logistics organisations when you get down to it. They want the convenience of having everything bottled and packed for them." Asda's trial should hopefully determine whether the same can be said of the consumer.
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THE ULTIMATE IN CONVENIENCE
Suppose the entire rigmarole of optimising the use of detergent could simply be delegated? That's the solution being suggested by PDD Group FMCG principal Alex Peacop, who is exploring ways in which the design consultancy's Quantex pump could be adapted to fit within detergent bottles loaded directly into the washing machine itself.
"You would replace the existing drawer with three circular holes at the top left of the machine, into which you load a 200ml bottle of detergent, a 150ml bottle of fabric softener and a 100ml bottle of pre-wash. The machine rotates the pump installed within the closure of each bottle, so it knows exactly how much liquid it's delivering at the right temperature and at the right time in the cycle.
"The pump only requires a stepper motor in the machine: three turns, for example, would deliver a very accurate amount. The machine then knows that after, say, 200 turns the pack is empty. It can also recognise the pack from the bar code if you take it out and put it back in again."
Ironically, the stumbling-block to this eminently practical solution is a disinclination among consumers to relinquish control over what is perceived as a highly personal activity.
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FILL IT UP AT ASDA
Refillable packaging has been largely viewed as environmentally ¡®right-on' rather than ¡®commercially right' in the front-line retail outlets. However, if trials currently being conducted by Asda with laundry detergents at five of its UK stores prove to be successful, topping up in the aisle could become as commonplace as using a self-service petrol station.
The trial is part of a Wrap initiative, and is being supported by own-label laundry products manufacturer McBride and in-store dispensing systems specialist Eziserv.
Instead of taking new bottles of fabric softener off the shelf, customers are being encouraged to buy from a vending machine that dispenses the liquid straight into a plastic refillable pouch. When used 10 times, compared to buying 10 1.5-litre bottles of fabric conditioner, taking the refillable route will save £3.70 and cut packaging consumption by up to 96%.
The liquid is pumped direct to the aisle from a 1,000-litre tank at the back of the store, and the system has had a positive response as well as generating a good upturn in sales, says Asda buying manager for packaging and the environment Shane Monkman.
"Customers like to think that they are helping the environment, and each time they use the machine they are shown on screen just how much packaging they have actually saved," says Monkman.
"Ultimately the success of the project relies on customers taking the empty pouch back and not simply getting a new one each time, so it was designed to have the optimum ease of use, being easy to fill, easy to handle, and easy to measure
and dispense.
"If the trial continues to gain momentum there will be plans to roll out to the wider store base. The laundry sector is an ideal product area to achieve this in, due to the physical properties of the product, and the shelf life it has, as well as a higher consumer acceptance of innovative packaging formats in this category." |
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