One is a stand-up pouch for flavored wood chips. American Packaging Corp. received the award for the Great Outdoors Hickory Chips package that it converts for Great Outdoors Grill Co., Joplin, MO.
The 2-lb package comprises of a reverse-printed 48-ga polyester that’s laminated to 4.5 mils of white linear low-density polyethylene. Printing is done by gravure on a Cerutti press at American’s Columbus, WI, plant in seven colors, including four process colors using outdoor, fade-resistant inks, says Richie Black, corporate business development manager for American. The inks come from Inx Intl. and they prevent ultraviolet light from fading, especially the yellow and red colors, Black points out.
Later the printed and laminated material is shipped to American’s Story City, IA, plant where it’s fabricated into formed pouches on a system from Proven Designs, Inc. Along with the outstanding graphics, American adds a press-to-close zipper from Presto Products. Tear notches provide easy opening, and vent holes are die-cut into the material to allow the dispersal of moisture in the chips.
"This package was developed and introduced in the spring of last year, with the intention to market through the big retailers, primarily Wal-Mart," says Mike Kidwell, materials manager for Great Outdoors Grill Co. "It kind of mushroomed and now it’s sold through a lot of other outlets. Once we show the retailers this package, they become enthusiastic about it."
The package graphics were designed by Chaos Designs and the products are made and packed by Barbeque Wood Flavor. The chips are designed to be used in smoker grills using charcoal or gas; both types of grills are made by Great Outdoors.
"Our sales team insisted that we use rotogravure printing," Kidwell says, "because they wanted the best-looking package for this line." The same graphics are employed on a 10-lb bag. The 2-lb bag retails for $1.99; the 10-lb bag sells for $5.99. "We can hardly keep the 10-pound hickory chip package in stock, and the two-pound hickory bag is selling almost as well," Kidwell reports.
