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5-lb bag offers handle and spout

Retailers’ requests result in a smaller, value-added bag for EcoTraction from Earth Innovations.

Pw 5589 Ecotraction Adjusted

This worse-than-usual winter has proven a boon for marketers of snow-related products. Among them is Earth Innovations, Ottawa, ON, Canada, maker of EcoTraction, “the world’s safest and most effective traction agent to prevent winter slips and falls on icy surfaces.”

EcoTraction is a green-colored, all-natural volcanic mineral that is completely safe to the touch or if accidentally ingested by children, pets, or wildlife. From the time of its debut in January 2006 and its subsequent acceptance in fall 2007 at Home Depot nationally in Canada until October 2008, EcoTraction was available only in a 22-lb bag. Last fall, Earth Innovations introduced a 5-lb bag, developed on a fast-track pace just in time for the 2008-2009 winter selling season. Rather than being simply a straightforward downsizing of the larger bag, the stand-up bag offers a carrying handle and a pour spout.

“We really had interest only in the 22-pound size up until last summer,” says Earth Innovations vp of operations Marc Appleby. “That’s when we had interest from retailers in a smaller bag better suited for their retail space.” These included convenience stores, gas stations, and specialty stores. “Retailers would tell us, ‘We’d carry [EcoTraction], but only if you had a smaller bag,’” he notes.

It was mid-July before the company even decided to proceed with developing a small bag. That presented a tight-turnaround time frame ahead of a selling season that begins in-store in October, Appleby says.

“Given the requirements of design, printing, and filling, a two and a half month lead time pushed us to the limits,” he adds. “But by working with great partners, we managed to have everything fall into place.”

One of those partners was Peel Plastic Products (www.peelplastics.com) of Toronto, which supplies the premade bags, constructed of 48-ga PET reverse flexo-printed in eight colors and laminated to 5-mil linear low-density polyethylene. EcoTraction’s requirements include moisture-resistance, UV protection, and the durability to withstand a Canadian winter.

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