The company's Minute Fudge was launched mid-2002 in a microwavable kit form using a black polypropylene tray and a clear PP reclosable lid.
Friesinger's won't divulge packaging specifications or suppliers.
The packaging helps make fudge preparation fast and convenient, "just three minutes start to finish, and five minutes if they need to read the detailed directions," says brand manager Jeff Kreidenweis. To make fudge conventionally requires the proper ingredients, a double boiler, usually taking 30 to 60 minutes, he points out.
The kit comprises the shrink-wrapped lidded tray that contains a 14-oz plastic pouch of dry ingredients that makes one pound of fudge, either vanilla or chocolate. A 20-pt paperboard sleeve carries four-color process-printed graphics. Shelf life is one year.
"The tray provides convenience, which is the product's main selling feature," Kreidenweis states. The ingredients are mixed by consumers right in the tray.
Rather than employing structure-strengthening ridges, the 18-mil PP tray's flat bottom facilitates the removal of the fudge after preparation, according to general manager Kyle Maschino.
Upright thinking
The paperboard graphics sleeve is folded over so that, without glue and with the rigidity it receives from the tight shrink wrap, it forms a stand that enables the tray to be displayed upright. That design helps ensure that the trays would not be shelved in the cake mix aisle where Kreidenweis feels the product "would be lost." Instead, the fudge kits are usually displayed as a temporary specialty item in custom corrugated display units. Die cuts in the paperboard sleeve add a dimensional look.
The friction-fit, resealable lid keeps the fudge moist after it's prepared, notes Maschino. The fudge kits sell for $3.99 to $4.59 from Salt Lake City eastward in stores such as Smith's, a division of Kroger, and Hannaford Bros.
