Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Fresh Express tests a transverse zipper

A leader in fresh-cut produce, Fresh Express Inc. of Salinas, CA, now is testing a zipper reclosure feature on 1-lb bags of garden salad. The pack is among the first to use the Z-Patch partial-width zipper, which comes from Z-Patch, Inc.

December 31, 1998

Industries: Page 787

Labels

New graphics please packager and its customer

"The consumer gets a better package and we benefit as well."That's how Beaverton Foods' chief executive officer Bill Small describes his firm's recent switch from screen-printed glass jars to jars deco-rated with full-body shrink-sleeve labels for 16 varieties of Inglehoffer brand condiments.

December 31, 1998

Protective/transport packaging

Pet treats maker chooses 'greener' void fill

The folks at Bone Appetit, maker of gourmet pet treats, have revised their thinking about foam peanuts as void fill. They now prefer Sylvacurl, recyclable, biodegradable and reusable wood shavings from Eastview Enterprises (East Hardwick, VT).

December 31, 1998

Consumer packaged goods

Supplier news: Relocations, expansions

NOVA Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) has opened its new Styrenics Pilot Plant and Quality Laboratory at the company's polystyrene plant near Pittsburgh, PA.

December 31, 1998

Closures

In brief

FDA has granted citrus juice processors an eight-month extension (ending July 8, 1999) to comply with a requirement to put warning labels on unpasteurized juiceso/ooThe Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned FDA to either ban or require specific label disclosures for the food colorings cochineal extract and carmine that can cause severe allergic reactions.

December 31, 1998

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Flex America Inc: Flex America Inc: Pressure-sensitive labeler

EPI's (New Freedom, PA) Flex-Pac Labeler(TM) is designed to integrate with Sandiacre packaging equipment used widely in the frozen food, produce and candy markets.

November 30, 1998

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Ice cream maker melts label inventory

Nutrition labeling requirements threatened to throw a real wrench in the works at one family-owned dairy. Thermal-transfer printing on-site was the answer.

November 30, 1998

Beer

Supplier news: Appointments, promotions

Schneider Packaging Equipment Co. (Brewerton, NY): Christopher M. Helt, vp, sales; Donald D. Kavanaugh, dir., sales and marketing; Robert L.

November 30, 1998

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Gallo gets shapely

Two new bottle shapes from Ernest & Julio Gallo of Modesto, CA, are shaking things up in the retail wine rack. The brands involved are Gossamer Bay and Ernest & Julio Gallo.

November 30, 1998

Sustainability

Brewers pouring into plastic

Brewers around the world have been on the fence about plastic bottles. Suddenly they're commercializing a variety of plastic barrier structures.

November 30, 1998

Closures

Miller's plastic beer bottle solves first of three marketplace puzzles

Those of us who thought Anheuser-Busch would be the first American brewer to market beer in plastic bottles at retail were surprised when, in early November, A-B turned out to be no more than a very interested observer as Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI, commercially introduced three beers in unique, five-layer, oxygen-scavenging plastic bottles from Owens-Illinois' Continental PET Technologies, Inc.

November 30, 1998

Palletizing/depalletizing

'Combo' pack puts Tropical Cheese at ease

Checkweigher and metal detector combine to reduce giveaway and help enhance quality control for this maker of natural cheeses marketed to retail and foodservice accounts.

November 30, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

Equipment brews benefits for Anheuser-Busch

From depalletizing to shipping, nearly identical packaging equipment on two new lines boosts efficiency at the brewer's Houston, TX, plant.

November 30, 1998