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Look what's coming down the packaging pike

From sustainability to high-pressure sterilization to nanotechnology, developments in food and beverage packaging hold tremendous promise.

From SoBe and from Trinity Springs: hot-fill PET bottles that don't require vacuum panels in the sidewalls.
From SoBe and from Trinity Springs: hot-fill PET bottles that don't require vacuum panels in the sidewalls.

Forewarned is forearmed, the saying goes. And if anybody needs to be forearmed these days, it’s packaging professionals who operate in the food and beverage sector, where fast-paced change is the only constant.

So here for all you food and beverage packagers—as well as those operating in other market segments who can learn from food and beverage trends—is a peek at what’s coming down the packaging pike. It doesn’t aim to be comprehensive or all-inclusive. But it’s based on the outlooks of leading experts in the food and beverage space, so it should provide some useful signposts on the road to what’s next.

Why not begin with sustainable packaging?

“Consumer awareness of sustainable packaging is growing,” says George Kellie, director of UK packaging consultancy Microflex Technologies. “People want the packaging to reflect the ethos of the product, especially where organic food is concerned. The packaging must be as good for the environment as the food is good for the body. In addition, people are finally beginning to accept that oil is a limited resource and suitable alternatives have to be found. The legislation passed recently in France that would ban plastic packaging in 2010 if it isn’t biodegradable, that’s an extreme example of this trend. But it does reflect public opinion. So despite the many vital contributions to society made by plastic packaging, the fact remains that public opinion of plastic packaging is negative. At the very least, it says clearly to suppliers and users of plastic packaging, ‘Wake up, it’s a changing world.’”

Nestle’s launch of Dairy Box chocolates in a compostable/biodegradable tray made of Plantic, based on corn starch, is one clear sign that the message is getting through (see page 12). That package is in the UK, but interest in sustainability is equally high in North America. The Sustainable Packaging Forum sponsored this past October by Packaging Strategies drew more than 200 attendees to Philadelphia.

Among the comments made were those by Matt Kistler, vice president of product development and private brands at Sam’s Club/Wal-Mart Stores. He encouraged suppliers to bring sustainable packaging ideas to the Bentonville, AK-based retailer, even if they come at a premium. He also described a sustainable packaging initiative that was launched at Wal-Mart stores last month. It involved the elimination of 114 million clear petroleum-based plastic clamshells and their replacement by containers made with corn-based polylactic acid from NatureWorks. “This is a way to make a change positive for the environment and for business,” said Kistler at the forum.

Consultant Mark Niemiec agrees with Kellie’s thoughts on sustainable packaging and its ability to reflect the ethos of the product.

“It could grow significantly in those cases where product and package become one,” says Niemiec. “Take water or milk, for example, where the product is good for you and the package is good for the environment. To what extent will mainstream food and beverage packaging be affected? We’ll have to wait and see.”

Niemiec attended the October sustainability forum in Philadelphia and had this to say about Kistler’s remarks. “It might represent a turning point. I do know it was a different message than what the people in that room are accustomed to hearing.”

Niemiec also wonders if corporate behavior where packaging is concerned will grow more receptive to the idea of a triple bottom line. Under those circumstances, CEOs will have to ensure that their companies are socially and environmentally, as well as fiscally, sound.

“Look at Dannon,” says Niemiec. “They used to have a plastic overcap on each cup of yogurt. Now they’ve done away with it and have a message on the foil lidding explaining why.”

Expect to see the interest in sustainable packaging continue to grow, especially now that rising oil costs have practically eliminated the premium that packagers used to have to pay for packaging materials made from renewable resources.

Hot-fill vs aseptic

Some industry observers have been predicting that we’ll soon see an influx of aseptically filled plastic containers in place of hot-filled PET. Their reasoning: bottles can be lighter and cheaper, minimal thermal processing will improve taste and nutrition profile, and the beverage industry’s entrenched investment in hot-fill lines consists of older equipment that’s in need of replacement anyway.

Gordon Bockner, president of Business Development Associates and a well-known observer/analyst of PET markets and technologies, is among those who believe that North America is about to see significant growth in low-acid beverages filled aseptically in PET. “Teas and milks, for example, or nutrition supplement products like Ensure or Boost, are perfect candidates,” says Bockner. “Currently PET is precluded from use in aseptics because the FDA prohibits any sterilant other than hydrogen peroxide. And hydrogen peroxide is unsuitable for PET because it’s absorbed by PET and can negatively impact product flavor. In Europe they use oxonia as a sterilant for PET, but in the U.S., the FDA hasn’t allowed it to date.”

Still, the popularity of PET among both consumers and brand owners—in particular, its clarity compared to the high-density polyethylene multiwall barrier containers that are currently being filled aseptically in the U.S.—will cause the beverage industry to find a way to make PET part of the aseptic filling picture, says Bockner.

“What I expect to see,” he says, “is Krones, Shibuya, Stork, Procomac, Tetra Pak, and KHS—the big players on the aseptic filling machinery scene—continuing to develop innovative sterilization processes that work with PET yet can be approved by the FDA. Will the solution be oxonia? Maybe. But maybe not. Remember, just because something works in Europe doesn’t mean it’s a slam dunk here.”

Ray Bourque, president of packaging consultancy Ray-Pak, Inc., agrees that aseptic filling of low-acid products in rigid plastic should see wider acceptance. “Especially since some of these ‘new-age’ drinks don’t lend themselves to being hot-filled from a quality and nutrient-content point of view,” says Bourque. “At the same time, aseptic filling systems have advanced considerably over the last few years. You see smaller aseptic chambers and higher speeds now that rotary, as opposed to linear, systems have been developed. And to some extent, the complexity and upfront cost of an aseptic filling system are tapering off. So what you see are some of the barriers to entry coming down.”

Another recent development in aseptic packaging that could be a sign of things to come is the October launch of Nautix by Jumex of Mexico City. This line of flavored waters aimed at children represents the first commercialization of Tetra Pak’s Tetra-Wedge Aseptic Clear technology. Nautix beverages are packaged on a Tetra Pak TVA-19 machine similar to those that produce foil-based Tetra-Wedge packs (see page 11). What makes Nautix special is that its package structure uses clear silicon oxide (SiOx) instead of foil as its barrier layer. The 200-mL wedges still have a one-year shelf life like other shelf-stable drink packs that are aseptically filled. But clarity becomes a key differentiator that brings marketing and shelf-impact advantages.

Here comes hot fill

Paralleling these and other advances in aseptic filling are improvements in hot-filling of plastic containers. “Hot-fill still will have its place, especially in the juice and sports drink segment,” says Bourque.

That brings us to Trinity Organic from Trinity Springs and Adrenaline Sport from SoBe Beverages. Both bottles represent breakthroughs because they are free of sidewall vacuum panels. These panels have traditionally been required in hot-filled PET because when the filled and capped bottle cools, an internal vacuum forms and must be dissipated to prevent the sidewalls from collapsing.

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