Alliedflex Technologies used PACK EXPO Las Vegas to introduce the Push & Dose Sprinkle Pouch system to the North American market. Developed and patented by Norway’s Fimtech, the concept has been in commercial use in Europe for several years. Norway’s Lofoten Seaweed, for example, sells a variety of its dried seaweed products in the pouch (photo shown here).
Recently Fimtech and HDG, the German maker of horizontal form/fill/seal systems, struck a licensing agreement naming HDG as the exclusive maker of machinery designed to make Push & Dose pouches from rollstock. As the distributor of HDG equipment in North America, Alliedflex is able to offer the Push & Dose concept in the North American market.
Push & Dose is a standup pouch with a perforated tear-off top that holds 1 to 3 oz of product depending on product density. It lets users release sprinkles or spices or fish food or just about any other flake-type product by simply inverting the pouch and squeezing the top two corners toward the center. Inside the pouch is a food-grade silicone membrane heat sealed to the pouch material much like a roll-fed zipper reclosure feature is applied to a stand-up pouch. Die-cut into this membrane are slits that widen into holes when you squeeze the top, thus releasing product. The holes narrow back down to slits when the consumer stops squeezing, plus a pair of “wings” that overlap each other serve to close the pouch with the help of the spring tension of the pouch.
