The problem with the old package (shown on the right) was that customers would often open the flip-top paperboard lid so they could smell the fragrance inside. This would break the protective seal, leaving behind an open, virtually unsaleable package.
The company turned to Roberts PolyPro (Charlotte, NC) to create a fitment that could be opened and closed repeatedly. Since the deodorizer is sensitive to moisture, Church & Dwight wanted a fixture that would allow shoppers to smell the fragrance and reclose the carton. So the new fitment, hinged like its paperboard predecessor, snaps shut (shown on the left). Roberts cold-forms the fitment from high-density polyethylene sheet. The fixture is then hot melt-glued to the body of the package on a specialized machine from Roberts.
The body of the package is from Smurfit-Stone (Chicago, IL). It’s made of recycled paperboard with a polyester back liner for barrier and printed offset in six colors. Frank Lindsay, senior manager of package development at Church & Dwight, acknowledges that the new closure fitment costs more to manufacture. But it greatly reduces the costs associated with returned goods, so the investment, he says, is well worthwhile.
