That's according to Fred Lewis, president of the Clearwater, FL-based maker of salsa-style products. A year ago the company switched from an unprinted shrink band to the new band, which is supplied by Seal-It (Hicksville, NY). A 1.5-mil polyvinyl chloride band reverse-printed in red and black plus a final coat of white for opacity, is seamed into a tube. On the bottle, the perforation is horizontal, not vertical, so the sleeve remains on the bottle to maintain product identity once the tamper-evident portion is removed. Lewis says the switch added little to costs but adds a lot to visual impact. "No matter how good the product is, if consumers don't like the package, they're not going to buy it," he says. "I feel the shrink band is almost 50 percent of the packaging-especially in the hot sauce category." The product is sold at gourmet food shops nationwide and at Southeast regional chain supermarkets for $2.19 to $3.99.
