California untaxes returnables

California has removed the sales tax from the rental of reusable pallets and containers in the agriculture industry, thereby granting reusables the same tax status as disposable pallets and corrugated boxes.

Cecelia Blalock

Dec 31st, 1999

The new law was praised by the Reusable Pallet and Container Coalition (RPCC) as good for the environment and commercial competition. RPCC says the new law should encourage other states to remove similar sales taxes. Florida has already done so.

Leinenkugel’s to Update Logo, Trader Joe’s Says “No”

The Miller Brewing Company brand will remove the image of a Native American from its packaging in 2021, but Trader Joe’s stands firm against public pressure to remove “racist” packaging references.

Nesquick packaging AFTER the redesign

Nesquik Bunny Quiky Reimagined for Brand Expansion

Facing competition in the RTD category, Nesquik updates its packaging to emphasize its nutritional value for all ages, resulting in a more mature, silhouetted bunny mascot.

Dr. R. Andrew Hurley

E-Comm Package Storytelling

Unlike retail packaging, e-commerce packages are first viewed after purchase, providing brand owners the opportunity to present a new insight or character of the brand with each shipment.

Quest developed a flexible robotic system to load meat and poultry into an Ossid ReeForm E40 thermoformer.

Robotics Special Report: Food-Safe Solutions Emerge

New opportunities for the direct and indirect handling of foods emerge as manufacturers begin developing robots for handling unpacked goods.

2800 Series Mini Laser Pro in production at Cannabiz Supply Headquarters

Digital Label Printing Comes In-house

Cannabiz Supply, a packaging company serving a variety of businesses in the cannabis industry, recently improved its production capabilities with in-house digital label printing.

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Hand Sanitizer Spike Here to Stay

U.K. co-packers’ association reports that inquiries for personal care items rocketed by more than 500% shortly after the coronavirus lockdown was implemented.

CP/CMs Navigate COVID-19

Sean Riley, Senior Director, Media and Industry Communications for PMMI, speaks with CPA Managing Director Ron Puvak about how COVID-19 has affected the co-pack/co-man industry.

Kawasaki Robotics Trend Manager failure prediction software is designed to help companies avoid unexpected downtime by allowing them to predict failures and fix issues before loss of production.

Robotics Special Report: Big Data is the New Currency

New software systems for robotics collect and analyze data to increase OEE, protect against cyberattacks, and predict failures.

At PACK EXPO Las Vegas in fall 2019, Syntegon’s Pack 102 horizontal flow wrapper with three Fanuc robots was demonstrated loading meal kits.

Robotics Special Report: Vision for the Future

New vision systems for robotics, including 2D and 3D machine vision, enable broader packaging applications.

Oan Fallas Speedybot

End-of-line Specialist Moves Toward Condition Monitoring

Fallas Automation places an even greater emphasis on integrating early warning systems for predictive maintenance since COVID-19 set in.

The Spider 200i from BluePrint Automation uses a multi-axis robot to pick snack bags on-the-fly and vertically case pack them into a cassette that forms a vertical pack pattern.

Robotics Special Report: Mass Customization Demands Flexibility

A growing omnichannel environment requires that CPGs have the flexibility to produce a range of package sizes and styles. Automation provides that capability.

According to Ekroth, the paper bottle initiative is a step-by-step journey to reduce and replace the need for polymers.

Absolut Sustainability

Karin Ekroth, Senior Manager of Communications & Sustainability for The Absolut Company, shares how the world’s sixth-largest international spirits brand—with production of nearly 26 million gallons in fiscal year 2018/19—works toward a circular economy.

ASDA will introduce a 100% recyclable own-label crisp (potato chips) tube.

Recycling drives sustainable packaging

COVID 19 has caused significant disruption to the packaging industry across the world. However, sustainability remains an important area of opportunity for anyone involved in bringing new packaging to market.

The MSP-200 features semi-automated changeover, which allows it to convert to different case configurations in less than 10 minutes.

Robotics Special Report: Case Packer for Croutons Saves Dough on Corrugated

Specialty food products manufacturer installs a robotic case packer for croutons that can keep pace with the rest of the packaging line, while saving costs on shelf-ready packaging, as well.

CPA Webinars Offer Help During COVID-19

In other news from CPA, The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers, the group announces its new board as well as its annual scholarship winners.

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Can Shortages Hit Food and Beverage Industries

Supply chain issues with aluminum, steel, and tin cans are ramping up as COVID-19 changes buying patterns, resulting in a trickle-down effect on product offerings and time-to-market.

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Packagers Stay the COVID-19 Course

Packaging pros adjusted fast to the ‘new normal’ of a pandemic, and have been maintaining for months now, a new Packaging World survey reveals. Three months on from our first survey, we see improvements in CAPEX freedom and a reduction in hiring freezes.

The Cobot Expo will take place online July 28-30.

Cobot Deployment Shines in COVID-19 Pandemic

Leading up to its virtual Cobot Expo this week, Universal Robots highlighted several cases where small companies have been using collaborative automation to keep production going amid the crisis.

Mark O’Malley, CPA President and President/CEO of Paket Corp.

CP/CMs Meet COVID-19 Challenges

When I assumed the role of President of CPA, I never could have predicted our collective experience since that day.

Volatility Breeds Leaps Forward

I may have mentioned it here before, but one of the advantages of reading every issue of Packaging World from cover to cover is the speed at which I can pick up on trends or recurring themes.

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Robby Martin, Engineering Specialist, Bush Brothers & Company

The Purpose of Honesty; The Place for Negotiation

Truly effective relationships between CPGs and co-mans/co-packs call for a kind of honesty that does more than just tell the truth when we speak or write. They go deeper into a level of honesty that causes both parties to find common ground.

At 33 meters in length, 13 sub-machines, up to 33,000 bottles an hour – the new packaging machine at Rotkäppchen-Mumm not only has an impressive set of statistics but also provides outstanding flexibility.

Big Packaging Line in a Small Footprint? No Problem if it Handles a Dozen Formats

With the large but flexible Innopack TLM packaging system, a KHS and Schubert collaboration, this many-SKU winery used just one machine to pack a dozen formats and varieties.

Anne Marie Mohan, Editor, Contract Packaging magazine

E-Comm Accelerates

COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders catapult e-commerce growth three to four years into the future, offering opportunities for CPGs and co-packers to work together on e-commerce strategy.

Amazon box reuse for play

In a USA Today article, Amazon reveals inspiration came from the well-known fact that kids and cats often like to play with the box things come in.

The shrink-sleeve labeler features servo drive technology and applies either a full-body or a neck label (shown left).

A Line Designed for Container Variety

When your growing contract packaging business has you using one line for filling glass and plastic in eight sizes and applying both lug and CT caps, that line had better be versatile.

Bonded Pac chose an Arpac Brandpac BPTW-500 Series combination shrink-film tray wrapper and heat tunnel for the Coke-Consolidated job.

Core Values Translate to Project Success

Co-packer Bonded Pac puts the company’s core values into play to bring on the capabilities needed to produce print-registered club-store multipacks for Coke-Consolidated in record time.

Coke Plans to Dump More “Zombie” Brands

In an effort to cut costs, Coca-Cola is cutting underperforming brands, products, flavors and packaging that are not delivering on returns.

Intimations of Sustainability

I’ve always told anyone who would listen that the main reason I’ve so enjoyed being a packaging journalist for all these years is because my job consists of talking with some of the smartest problem solvers on the planet.

It took nearly 10 years for Numi to develop its compostable overwrap for individual tea bags.

Compostable Overwrap for Tea Bags

Listening to the stakeholders behind this determined effort is a vivid reminder of how many factors must be weighed before a compostable film can be commercialized.

Holding 1.3 oz of ground coffee, the new can from Starbucks features an aluminum ring-pull top on a steel body and bottom.

Canned Coffee from Starbucks

Nestlé and Starbucks have unveiled Starbucks® Fresh Brew, a range of pre-portioned coffee in an airtight can that locks in the peak flavor of ground coffee for fresh taste every time.

Vellamo, its name pronounced “vel-emo” and originating from the goddess spirit of water in Finnish mythology, uses packaging that conjures the water’s origins while using materials—glass and wood—that come from equally natural sources.

Ice Age-Era Water Taps Mother Nature for Product, Packaging

Finnish natural mineral water Vellamo combines glass packaging with a transparent, wood-based polypropylene label to complement its brand story and sustainability goals.

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Packaging Pros Bullish on Security & Salary Despite Uncertainty

Packaging seems insulated from much of the economic fallout of COVID-19, though not everyone is fairing equally. Women, for instance, seem to be entering the industry, and soon should be matriculating into higher salaried positions left by retiring men.