Companies constantly innovate and redesign their packaging to boost performance, improve marketability and enhance sustainability. Here’s a look at four packaging launches and revamps on Packaging Dive’s radar.
Shape shifting
Seagram’s introduced slim cans for its Escapes brand of flavored malt beverages. The new packaging shape accompanies a broader brand refresh, including new background colors and taglines on packaging. The company said in a news release that the slim cans are “perfect for on-the-go fun.”
Seagram’s Escapes products previously had been available in standard 12-ounce cans and glass bottles. The company says the new slim cans, which also hold 12 fluid ounces, have already rolled out nationwide onto store shelves, joining bottle packs.
Old wine, new format
Another new format for alcoholic beverages comes from J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, which for the first time is releasing its 2022 Seven Oaks cabernet sauvignon wine in a reusable stainless-steel keg, as well as bottles. The kegs are designed for on-premise beverage dispensing and reduce packaging waste compared with single-use bottles, the company said in a news release. The refillable and reusable kegs sport a 76% lower carbon footprint than glass bottles and a 36% lower footprint than PET kegs, according to information emailed by a spokesperson.
One keg holds the equivalent of 16 bottles of wine. The kegs keep the wine fresh for up to 12 months when untapped and 3 months when tapped, according to the emailed information.
If the cap fits
Germany-based Koehler Paper collaborated with France-based cardboard packaging manufacturer Wimbée to create an aerosol can cap made of 100% cardboard and paper. Wimbée’s website says the company is the first to design, patent and produce the cap.
Koehler said in a news release that its NexCoat Smart flexible packaging paper is well-suited for use on the surface of this product due to its laminating, shaping and printing properties. It says the paper exhibits high fold-crack resistance.
The product is recyclable and biodegradable, according to Wimbée, and it can be made of recycled cardboard upon customer request. The cap is available in standard diameters of 51 millimeters and 63.5 millimeters and additional sizes are in the works.
Keep the kids out
Contempo Specialty Packaging unveiled what it calls the first plastic-free, child-resistant cannabis cigarette packaging. The cigarette box is 100% paperboard, can be recycled and can be made from recycled paperboard, according to a company news release.
Conventional packaging for cannabis pre-rolls often features a flip-top design that has shown to tear during testing and potentially allow children access to the product inside, according to the release. But Contempo’s new design is durable and secure while still sporting a familiar package style that consumers like, according to the company.
“We’ve received countless customer requests for a truly sustainable child-resistant box that opens like a traditional cigarette box,” said Contempo Specialty Packaging CEO Michael Markarian in the release. “Utilizing plastic parts for the hinge would have been the easy answer, but that runs counter to our mission of sustainability.”
