Let the consumer judge

Convenience packaging for fast-moving consumer goods makes a promising area for innovation, says a one-time outsider who became a front-runner in a core sector of the market. The entrepreneurial founder of that “new millennium” company was a dissatisfied consumer with engineering expertise who was able, in every sense, to break the mould and guarantee a future for the enterprise based on problem solving for the mass consumption market.

A century and more earlier a brand arrived, which was recognised then, as it is today, by stubby round, black and yellow packaging. It was a whimsical move – and a bit daring - to ask Marmite lovers to turn the pot upside-down and give the new tubby flexible container a gentle squeeze rather than to perform the delicate task of getting at the product with the tip of a knife. But convenience is what people want and what the packaging of everyday, ready-to-consume food and drink products has to give.

And here comes a further example of a popular perception being turned on its head. Contrary to popular belief, metal containers can be safely used in microwave ovens, if simple guidelines are followed. With the added convenience of conventional oven heating, a new generation of ready meal packaging is ready to take to market.

But let’s start with that start-up company wanting to make our lives easier by creating better caps, closures and dispensing solutions for the drinks market.

Kyrre Fredriksen, development manager of the Norwegian company SmartSeal, makes an obvious, but relevant point that for companies like his in the convenience sector “people are frequent users of our products”. Thus, it is a chance to hit the bull’s-eye with a new idea and have an almost instant runaway success, or to quickly realise you have fired a dud.

The observation, for him, is something to feel good about and which will propel his design-focused, innovation-hungry business. It is notable because in an about-turn in his career, the industrial designer now immersed in improving the consumer friendliness of convenience drinks packaging for use by the masses, formerly designed medical products such as heart starters, which people hope never to need.

The consequences of a failing drinks bottle cap and closure, however, can have a serious side and efforts to increase drinking pleasure and consumer safety are seriously undertaken.

But research and development is limited as regards to the making and marketing of new, innovative products due to high costs and risk of failure, and the designer is often forced to renovate rather than innovate, says Fredriksen. “To innovate is important to producing new sources of income whereas renovation is necessary to secure existing sources of income.”

Yet even in renovation, to stray far away from the basic concept is considered too risky, which results in “less and less differentiation between products”, he told a plastics caps and closures conference in Brussels in November 2007.

On the other hand, the incentive to innovate is the premium price potential. And from his own product category he takes the example of push-pull closures. When first launched the concept enjoyed a price advantage, but when the patent ran out it became part of the renovation cycle.

The advantage of working in plastics, he says, is the opportunity for “geometric detail implementation” and its morphing characteristics. Shaping is a route to higher product pricing: observe the price advantage of convenient cheese slices, compared with block cheese and spreading cheese triangles, for instance.

“Innovation is motivated by the inherent laziness of people,” he says, which sounds a good enough reason for convenience foods and drinks to be front-runners in the innovation stakes. The consumer is not imaginative or at least cannot be asked what he or she would like on the shelf, Fredriksen says. As such, a manufacturer simply must suggest a packaged product idea; consumers give their verdict by snapping it up or leaving it on the shelf.

Outsiders coming into an established market are unconstrained compared with the giants who already exist. “SmartSeal is an outsider”, Fredriksen says, and the market is ready he thinks for a company introducing fresh ideas into closure mechanisms.

The company was founded in 2001 with a first goal to produce a product for kids for carbonated drinks, tested by kids. The suction system prototype it created was based on the demand-valve used in scuba diving equipment and the patent ran to 64 pages detailing the numerous solutions, because “you need a strong patent to protect a product concept”.

In effect, SmartSeal was established by a dissatisfied consumer. The design originator Kjetil Naesje was an electrical development engineer who was persistent in his efforts to create new ideas to avoid the messy fall-out from giving young children drinks in the back of a car or anywhere on the move. But he learned that driving ideas to market is harder than conceiving them.

A successful initial outcome was SmartSeal Flex comprising a dust cover, spout and base for 38mm opening, the dust cover carrying the brand identification. A hinge opening to 180-degrees was added to the Flex30 version. Fredriksen claims you can drive a car over the bottle without the valve leaking.

Drinking suction causes the valve to open. The advantages are that it opens and closes automatically giving spill control, it is hygienic because the spout is untouched; and no damage can be caused to lips or teeth. In addition, it contains no silicone and is recyclable.

SmartSeal decided against the limiting descriptor of sports cap and uses instead the more inclusive term of “active closure” to target users with active lifestyles and which also describes the active nature of the valve.

Having succeeded with versions suitable for non-carbonated drinks, SmartSeal was ready to tackle carbonated soft drinks. SmartSeal Fizz is said to eliminate squirting and retain carbonation in high-carbonated drinks. SmartSeal saw Fizz28 as revolutionary and risky, but perseverance seems to be paying off. Light carbonation can be handled by a version of the Flex valve.

SmartSeal, whose products will not reach the market before the end of 2008 at the earliest, is also preparing the market for SmartSeal Serve for carbonated drinks in multi-serve containers. “This is a very different valve from both Fizz and Flex. It enables dispensing of carbonated beverages without foaming or loss of carbonation,” Fredriksen explains. Over time, drink can go flat and when it empties it gets harder to handle. Achieving a workable solution for a large size bottle for dispensing a soda product has taken four years – and there is a 2-litre version targeting the party beer keg category.

Packaging for Marmite, a controversial yet widely loved savoury bread spread in the UK, has quite literally undergone a revolution. The familiar round jar that has marked out Marmite since 1902 is now in a squeezable version from Alpla, designed to stand top-down on a custom yellow cap by Seaquist Closures.

The large footprint flip-top closure gives stability and the SimpliSqueeze silicone valve system is designed to deliver product with minimum effort. After squeezing and when the pressure is released, the valve seals for a clean product cut-off and no messy build-up around the opening.

Similarly, to give sweet-toothed users an easier life, Macphie of Glenbervie launched its O.T.T. (Over The Top) dessert toppings in convenient 500g top-down packaging by RPC with a standard 54mm Seaquist SimpliSqueeze cap, to guarantee no drips or product waste.

RPC also provided plastic packaging for Spanish fish processor Salica to enable its tuna-based ready meals to be heated directly in the microwave. The range of tuna balls in two different sauce flavours was previously packaged in a metal tin. The plastic substitute does without the consumer having to remove the contents from the packaging.

RPC Bebo UK Corby supplies a 350ml Royal bowl thermoformed in white PP/EVOH/PP. Its barrier properties allow storage for a longer shelf life without the need for refrigeration. The project was developed with RPC Barrier Containers France to ensure the successful sterilisation, filling and sealing of the products.

It recently emerged that brand owners and consumers have the choice to use metal containers for packaged ready meals that can be prepared in a microwave oven or conventional oven. Under normal conditions of use, shallow and wide, open steel and aluminium containers are safe to be used in microwave ovens, says an independent study carried out last year by the German Fraunhofer Institute. Although microwave heating times for food in metal containers are longer than for equivalent plastic containers, tests showed there is less temperature variation and heating is more uniform.

The findings could open up a wealth of opportunities for consumers and brand owners alike, says the metal packaging industry. In tests by food can manufacturer Impress in France, Germany and the UK, consumers showed a high level of acceptance of the use of metal in a microwave oven.

The option appealed of being able to choose a conventional oven for heating and people saw the advantages of a container, which remains rigid when hot, and which can be recycled.

Impress believes it possible for new microwaveable designs in metal to be used to support new recipes and new product ranges in heat processed ready meals and could even be used as a point of differentiation for chilled products.

Paris-based Urban Foods set out to bring convenience and style to a fresh soup range for the takeaway market with an innovative pack comprising a 89mm cup and lid from RPC, suitable for ambient soups.

According to Urban Foods, Greenshoot Soups is the first really convenient individual fresh soup range to be launched for the French market, and the company wanted the packaging to offer practicality and ease of use as well as shelf impact.

The container is co-extruded and thermoformed in PP/EVOH/PP by RPC Bebo Nederland, offering “significant barrier protection”. The cup’s rounded design is said to deliver the durability required to withstand high filling temperatures and will fit into standard in-car cup holders so the soups can be consumed on the move.

The recloseable lid is injection moulded in polypropylene by RPC Halstead and features a drinking spout and sip hole cover.

Greenshoot Soups come in five flavours: carrot and coriander, peas and bacon, pumpkin, lentil and cumin, and tomato and basil. The pack features a bold design with a black cup and lid and striking graphics in bright colours illustrating each product’s ingredients.

Julien Ponceblanc, of Urban Foods, says: “Fresh takeaway soups are a relatively new concept in France so we wanted this new product launch to reflect this innovation with stylish, convenient and high quality packaging, which attracted attention.”

A double-pack concept launched by margarine brand Lätta with the help of RPC is being aimed at single occupant households and those with busy lifestyles. It also lends itself for use in the office or being taken on a picnic.

Lätta im Frischeduo consists of two 100g portion-packs labelled respectively “Knick!” and “Knack!” and joined together across a perforated edge. After purchase, the packs are designed to be split up, the first one opened and the second one kept closed to keep the product fresh for longer.

RPC Bebo Plastik devised a method to overcome the difficulty of creating perforations in polypropylene and for the Frischeduo double-pack to be filled on Unilever’s existing filling lines for the regular 500g Lätta tub.

“Lätta im Frischeduo would not be possible without effective packaging, and RPC Bebo Plastik has achieved stunning results both in terms of functionality and aesthetics,” says Henk Jansen, packaging development manager at Unilever.

Heinz Baked Beans were an instant hit when they were first sold in London’s smart food emporium Fortnum & Mason’s in 1896. Even then the Heinz 57 Varieties tagline introduced in 1892 undersold the true number of product lines and, nowadays, new ones are splintering off in all directions. Numerous handy meal and snack suggestions are targeting multifarious needs and specific age groups.

Big Eat is a range of hearty, wholesome snack meals in 350g pots and microwaveable to be prepared quickly by hungry teenagers, including pasta, hotpot and curry recipes.

To keep younger children happy on days out and make sure they get plenty of nutrition, there is the Heinz It's All Good range of handy snacks in the form of organic honey or apple rice cakes and crackers, biscuits and fruit pouches.

From this snapshot of a healthy market it appears the youngest and oldest packaging suppliers are helping young and old brands to target younger and older consumers with ever more convenient ways to eat and drink.n

Alpla
T: +43 5574 602 0; www.alpla.com

Impress
T: +44 (0)1685 354457; www.impressgroup.com

RPC Containers
T: +44 (0)1536 263488; www.rpc-group.com

Seaquist Closures
T: +44 (0)113 220 3200; www.seaquistclosures.com

SmartSeal
T: +47 51 63 16 50; www.smartseal.no