In the last several years, olive brands have stepped up their packaging game, offering new single-serve formats—flexible pouches and aluminum cans among them—to position their products as a healthy and portable snack alternative. The latest contribution to this category is Musco Family Olive Co. of Tracy, CA. Launched in spring 2013 and expected to be fully available nationwide by spring 2014, new Olives To Go! puts the company’s Pearls brand Black Pitted Large California Ripe Olives in a multipack of single-serve plastic cups.
“Black ripe olives are a mature category in the grocery store center aisle, and—before the introduction of Pearls Olives To Go!—the category was flat,” says Musco Vice President of Corporate Development Kristin Daley. “This was likely because jarred and canned olives weren’t addressing consumers’ increasing demand for convenience, portioned servings, and versatile portability.”
The Olives To Go! package consists of four 1.2-oz clear plastic cups, sealed with a clear, “e-z peel” film lid, and unitized in a brightly decorated paperboard carrier. Each cup offers 40 calories’ worth of product, amounting to 2.5 servings as defined by the FDA.
Daley relates that development of the proprietary cup construction, which bears a #7 Other resin identification code, was a lengthy process. “A thorough search was performed to find a packaging supplier with the technical capability to provide a high oxygen-barrier container that could maintain the olives at the same high quality and with the same delicate flavor our consumers have grown to love in our classic canned products.” Produced by a proprietary supplier, the cups provide an 18-month shelf life.
