Film changes reflect product heritage, positioning

Dale and Thomas uses slightly different bag film structures, supplied in rollstock by Printpack, for its two brands. Each reflects the individual brand’s market: specialty and upscale for Dale and Thomas—which carries a rich yet subdued look—versus the wholesale/grocery/mass merchandise market focus for Popcorn, Indiana, which is characterized by a distinctive red color scheme.

In September, the Dale and Thomas brand changed over to a matte paper finish for an old style bag look. The 5-layer structure is eight-color flexo print on 30# brown kraft paper/extruded polyethylene/48-ga metallized PET/extruded PE/Dupont Surlyn® sealant.

Dale and Thomas creative director Frank Benintendo says, “The look goes back to our company’s roots when we packed popcorn in brown paper bags.” The company also changed the orientation of the printed film from vertical to horizontal to be able to present the bags in a different direction to the customer when they open the package, an aspect Benintendo says is unorthodox: “It lies down on its side, it doesn’t stand up.” The brand’s sealed edges pick up the red color from its Popcorn, Indiana brand.

The Popcorn, Indiana structure remains the same as the Dale and Thomas bags with the exception of the outer layer, a 70-ga matte-finish oriented polypropylene that replaces the kraft paper.

Benintendo says the emphasis on red for Popcorn, Indiana extends to its popular movie theater kettle corn: The black and white “marquee” depicted on the bags carries the product titling in red. The bags’ backs on the brand carries the story of Popcorn, Indiana, a real locale near Bloomington, IN, according to Benintendo.

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