"One of the main problems bagel chip manufacturers have is that the product is so brittle," says David Scheib, vp of bakery/deli sales at International Baking Co., a recent Sara Lee acquisition that produces the chips. "We wanted packaging that protects our product in transit while conveying the premium image of Sara Lee." Sara Lee's choice of a reclosable stand-up pouch provides the needed cushioning against breakage. Pouches arrive preformed from Seville Flexpack (Oak Creek, WI), which laminates the film and forms the pouch. From the outside in, the 41/2-mil adhesive lamination is 48-ga polyester, reverse-flexo printed in six colors/11/2-mil white low-density polyethylene/60-ga metallized oriented polypropylene/2-mil clear linear low-density polyethylene. A reclosable zipper helps to keep the product fresh on consumers' shelves. The product is currently available only through test distribution in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. At the present time, it's filled manually. Scheib anticipates national distribution of the bagel chips to grocery chains and delis by the end of 1996. Five varieties are available, with a suggested retail price of $2.79.
