Unilever Phase-In Makes Transition To PET 'Seamless'

Often, when a product changes packaging materials, the move is an “all at once” proposition across the entire product line. Unilever Foods opted to phase in the transition of its Hellmann’s mayonnaise from glass jars into PET containers.

Pw 9616 Hellmannsmayo

Unilever converted its 32-oz Hellmann’s jars to PET in 2005 and is now rolling out the conversion of its 15-oz jars.

Vinod Bansal, group manager, packaging technology, says the decision to convert the two different jar sizes was made at the same time, but he believes the two-stage launch eliminated the need for going through the same learning curve twice.

“We had already converted the lines from glass to plastic to run the 32-oz jars. Adding the 15-oz jars a few months later was virtually seamless,” Bansal notes.

Bansal explains that it’s more economical to convert to PET in larger jar sizes; the resin weight-per-unit volume decreases

as the jar size increases. However, Unilever determined the economics were right for the 15-oz container when it opted to use blow-and-trim technology from Amcor PET Packaging (www.amcor.com).

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