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New look for oyster packs

Induction-sealing is a key element in Minterbrook’s redesigned oyster package. Shelf life is extended, tamper evidence improved, and costs cut.

Since new labels and a large plastic cap were made part of the package, the container has much better impact on display. Inset s
Since new labels and a large plastic cap were made part of the package, the container has much better impact on display. Inset s

The Minterbrook Oyster Co. of Gig Harbor, WA, has been bringing oysters to market since 1932. Relying on glass jars for most of that time, the firm switched to plastic in 1995, primarily to lighten their package and eliminate concerns with breakage.

Even more recent than its shift from glass to polyethylene terephthalate packages is Minterbrook’s November ’99 switch from a threaded steel closure and heat-shrink tamper-evident sleeve to a threaded polypropylene closure that incorporates a membrane that can be induction-sealed for tamper evidence. Innovative Molding (Sebastopol, CA) injection molds the PP cap. It’s applied by hand and then run through an induction sealing system from Enercon (Menomonee Falls, WI). The switch has provided the benefits of improved appearance, cost savings, better product quality, reduced labor costs, and freed-up floor space. Minterbrook general manager Erika Wiksten is especially pleased by the improvement in appearance.

“The jars are often displayed on ice, and the steel lids tended to rust,” says Wiksten.

Also enhancing the containers’ in-store presence is that the deep-skirted cap is considerably larger than its steel predecessor. “It makes for a much better display, especially when the jars sink up to the neck in the ice,” says Wiksten.

Another huge drawback to the old closure system was that it relied on a full-body shrink sleeve for tamper evidence. The cost of the shrink sleeve plus the steel cap was so high that for many customers, the sleeve simply wasn’t used. By comparison, the cost of the new PP cap with its induction-sealed membrane is a fraction of the cost of the old cap and the shrink sleeve. “That allows us to offer a tamper-evident feature as a standard component on every container,” says Wiksten.

Quality improvement

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