Consumers are seeing Tree Top applesauce a bit more clearly now. The grower-owned cooperative recently launched its applesauce snacks in clear, stand-up pouches that ensure the health and safety of its products while building trust with consumers.
Sela, Washington-based Tree Top, which makes a variety of fruit snacks and beverages, introduced the see-through packaging in early 2018, claiming that it is the first transparent pouch in the applesauce category. The launch comes on the heels of voluntary recalls from Mott’s in 2017 and GoGo squeeZ in 2016 when consumers found mold in their applesauce, which Mott’s and GoGo squeeZ package in foil-lined pouches. While Tree Top has not had a recall on its applesauce products, the company switched to clear pouches from foil-lined pouches so consumers could see the freshness of the products in the packaging before buying and eating them, offering a point of differentiation on the retail shelf.
“We decided to switch to a clear pouch because we want to be transparent with our consumer. We want to show them that the products that we’re packaging are safe and healthy and quality,” says Andy Juarez, director of engineering at Tree Top. “With having a clear pouch, they’re able to see that firsthand and know they’re giving something to their children that they can physically see that’s safe and looks how it should.”
The Tree Top clear pouches are made from a film called ClearGuard, a high-barrier flexible packaging technology from Sonoco. The film features three-ply adhesive lamination of polyethylene and two layers of PET. It delivers comparable shelf life, vitamin C retention and barrier properties as the previous foil-lined pouches Tree Top used, which Sonoco also provided. The clear pouches have oxygen barrier and moisture vapor transmission rates of <.022 cc/100 sq. in. The film is rotogravure printed in eight colors.
