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Pocket Shot hunts for pouch sealing solution

Ultrasonic sealing virtually eliminates leakers attributable to a previous hot-seal/cold-seal approach.

FLEXIBLE PACKS. This lineup shows some of the varieties of 50-mL Pocket Shot packs.
FLEXIBLE PACKS. This lineup shows some of the varieties of 50-mL Pocket Shot packs.

Jarrold Bachmann is not only the founder of Pocket Shot Spirits, but he’s also an avid big-game hunter. In fact, he’s made at least 40 hunting trips to Africa. On one visit to his farm in South Africa, he observed workers celebrating payday by drinking liquor from small sachets. He sensed an opportunity to fill an unmet need in the spirits market for a small, unbreakable, easy-carry, easy-open, pocket-sized flexible “bottle” that stands up on a bottom gusset.

Not only would a flask-like stand-up pack be unique for spirits, but it would also be suitable for the on-the-go lifestyles that were creating a growing demand for “single-serve” portions like Pocket Shot for many consumables. So, he decided to capitalize on this trend, identifying a target audience of travelers, golfers, and other sports and outdoor enthusiasts.

In 2006, the Evergreen, CO-based company introduced the Pocket Shot, a line of spirits packaged in the unbreakable 50-mL plastic packs that are now available in 11 flavors. Products are sold at retail, through spirits distribution channels, and online by some retailers, in about 27 different U.S. states, and in Europe, Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Puerto Rico.

“Our tagline is that the Pocket Shot goes anywhere,” says Bachmann. The Pocket Shot single pack sells for $1.49 to $1.99, with price determined by the retailer. It’s also sold in what Bachmann calls “a stadium-type display box,” that contains 12 pouches, and at the distributor level in a “rainbow pack” that includes 10 boxes of 12 pouches.

Premade Pocket Shot pouches are a layer structure providing strength, sheen, and attractive graphics. Bachmann has sourced the pouches from different vendors over the years, but the primary supplier is Amcor Flexibles Europe & America. Pouches have been printed via both flexo and gravure printing methods over the years. The pack earned a Silver Award for Sustainability in the 2012 Flexible Packaging Assn.’s Annual Achievement Awards.

The pouch is an adhesive lamination of 48-ga (12 microns) oriented polyester/48-ga polyester coated with aluminum oxide/2.8-mil low-density polyethylene sealant layer that’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved for contact with alcohol.

Challenging pouch geometry
Each pack has an opening along the top edge that must be sealed once the package has been filled with product. The top contour of the Pocket Shot package simulates a bottle top with a shoulder and cap—presenting a complicated geometry to seal. To avoid potential leaks, the sealing process needs to seal through alcohol caused by splash back on the sealing surfaces that occurs during filling.

Adding complexity is that the seal process is temperature-sensitive, requiring Pocket Shot to avoid temperatures that might trigger the flash point of alcohol. Pocket Shot initially used a heat-seal process that first melted the plastic for joining, followed by a cold seal to prevent excess temperatures and smooth out voids and wrinkles created by the heat seal.

The sealing method was adequate to launch the product. But once production volume reached the necessary high-speed levels of 30+ packs/min, the hot-seal/cold-seal process resulted in frequent leaks, and lost productivity, which caused product recovery costs that threatened the viability of the product. Fortunately, few leakers actually made it to the retail level.

Through a personal relationship, Bachmann learned of Branson’s reputation in ultrasonic plastics joining and asked for a recommendation. Ultimately, Branson Ultrasonics, part of Emerson Industrial Automation, conducted a thorough analysis of Pocket Shot’s existing materials, package design and production requirements, and determined the proper pressures and ultrasonic specifications to create the necessary seal.

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