P&G gets a handle on fabric softener packs

To unite the two bottles, the Cincinnati-based consumer products giant selected a new handle from PakTech.

The TP-202-547 injection-molded, high-density polyethylene handles are “platinum pearl” in color, to match Downy’s injection-molded polypropylene closures. The PET bottles are tinted purple for a vanilla and lavender version, blue for jasmine scents.

P&G packaging engineer Jodie Zaveri says company employees saw the handles “in club stores for many different products. P&G decided to use the handles for its launch of the Downy Simple Pleasures twin pack. The low cost and short leadtime of the handles helped to make the decision to work with PakTech.”

For now, P&G manually applies the handles. Sales will be the key to justifying automatic application of the handles. Zaveri notes, “the PakTech handles make it easy to bundle packages together.” The twin packs are sold nationwide at Target and BJ’s Club Stores. Consumer reaction and pricing details were not available. —Jim Butschli