Wrapping up soap dispensing innovation

An ergonomic “Euro Pump” screws into the top of the container allowing easy filling and dispensing. A rigid “partition” molded into the container confines soap within the front of the container while leaving an open space in the back to serve as a caddy that “hides” a sponge. Four oval-shaped holes at the bottom of this part of the container presumably allow liquid to drain from the sponge.

At retail the sponge is held in place with a clear polyvinyl chloride shrink-sleeve label from Integrity Seal Intl. (Wilkes-Barre PA). Printed in five colors the 1.5-mil sleeve includes copy and graphics that provide product usage details. The sleeve is removed by the consumer. A tab along the bottom of the container holds the sponge in place in the back of the container.

The acrylonitrile butadiene styrene container is supplied by Palm Beach Precision Molding (Palm Beach FL). The stylish pump dispenser is made of polypropylene though Designer Dispensers declined to identify its supplier.

“The primary thing was to have something that would keep the product together without putting it in a box and hiding it” says Mary Ellen Colquhoun entrepreneur and president of Designer Dispensers. The sleeve performs those functions eliminating the need for an outer folding carton.

Three different versions of the sleeve labels are printed to coordinate with the black white and ivory containers. Palm Beach Precision Molding assembles the components and applies the sleeves. Containers are then sent through a shrink tunnel. The Kitchen Soap & Sponge Caddy is available for $5.95 to $6.95. Newly introduced into the market Colquhoun says it is being received well by supermarkets and mass merchandisers nationwide. —ALR