Genuine innovation creates bright future for alufoil

Alcan Packaging Singen, of Germany, demonstrated its expertise in the pharmaceutical sector with its innovative Formpack® with Desiccant. The blister pack was awarded a Trophy for its contribution to extending the shelf life of moisture-sensitive pharmaceuticals.

David Smith said: “This is an excellent product linked to developing markets where medicinal aid can often fail due to insufficient protection against climatic conditions.”

Formpack® with integrated blue desiccant on the inner sealing layer meets the challenge of restricting cross diffusion of moisture by providing a 100% barrier.

The base laminate is made from OPA/ALU/TIE LAYER/PE +DESICCANT/PE; and the lidding layer from LACQUER/ALU/PE.

Constantia Teich, of Austria, won for its innovative Low Seal Lidding for Unilever Food Europe’s margarines. Developed by Constantia Teich in conjunction with Unilever it provides a tight and peelable seal on PP and PS containers at significantly lower temperatures than were previously possible – 150°C compared with more than 200°C.

To achieve the low temperature seal properties a co-extrusion coating of selected polymers replaces the normally used lacquered sealing layer. Low Seal Lidding can be printed conventionally in rotogravure and flexo but can also be printed using UV-flexo technology. The result is an attractive alufoil-based lidding that eliminates the risk of shrinkage of the sealing area which can lead to badly fitting snap-on lids.

David Smith described the product as “an innovation that offers very interesting savings in the production process and eliminates a potential customer and consumer dissatisfier”.

Ecopla Benelux, part of Nicholl Food Packaging, won for Visiopac®ALU which, said John Smith, “has the key consumer attributes of good on-shelf visibility and consumer convenience”.

Dubbed The Dome, the 115mµ smooth wall alufoil tray with flange from Ecopla is topped by a transparent and anti-fog APET dome from ANL Plastics, and is being used by Westvlees and Carrefour Belgium for a range of roasting joints of meat.

The oven to table development is designed for consumer convenience and is packed in a modified atmosphere to give extended shelf life.

Elvir, of France, entered a novel and innovative Doypack pouch with screw cap for its Elle & Vire Crème Epaisse, which has no preservatives or colouring agents. It was extolled by David Smith as a good example of how a product can be taken successfully into a different packaging format. He added, “Importantly it signifies freshness and hygiene to the consumer.”

Claimed to be first use of a Doypack for a thick cream, the easy open, pour and re-close concept features an alufoil barrier layer to extend shelf life to 60 days at 2oC-6oC, compared with the more usual 28 days. Consumers do not need a spoon to dispense the cream and can re-close the pack for storage in the fridge.

The PET/ALU/PE laminate is supplied by Alcan Food Packaging Europe rotogravure printed in nine colours. The pouches are converted, filled and the closure applied by Gualapack, of Italy.

Firestar’s ‘NALCO’ is a new deep-drawn alufoil container and printed multilayer lid for a safety fuel paste used in catering to heat products such fondues. David Smith described it as a “clever adaptation of forming technology to create a functional and convenient pack for a new application”.

Based in Switzerland, Firestar’s lightweight container and flexo-printed multilayer lid (30mµ ALU/30mµ LDPE) provide excellent sealing characteristics to produce a lightweight refillable container. The packs are stackable and can be produced in variety of sizes and combustion times.

Leuthold Mechanik, of Switzerland, manufactures the deep-drawn containers in cooperation with Process Point Services Lichtenstein. H.Rychiger AG, of Switzerland, designed the filling line to the strict guidelines required for filling flammable materials.   The lids, which are manufactured by Hueck Folien GmbH & Co KG, of Germany, feature a clever pull tab opening section that was particularly praised by the judging panel.

Huhtamaki Ronsberg, of Germany, won for the first market use of ‘Cyclero®’, its new generation multilayer flexible packaging concept. Used to create an easy open and re-close circular container for Amaroy Kaffee Pads, David Smith described the pack as a “very creative lightweight hermetic pack blending rigid and flexible packaging options, promising a lot of future opportunities across a range of products”.

Produced for Aldi Süd, one of the largest discount retailers worldwide, the 8-colour rotogravure printed OPP/PET/ALU/PP laminated container offers much improved product protection and real differentiation at point of sale. It is easy to open and re-close, while the rounded body is tactile and comfortable to hold, and stable on shelf.

Among the benefits of the ‘Cyclero®’ development for coffee pads is the ability to use a form/fill/seal system from Q-Bag, an affiliate of the Optima Group - Consumer, to assemble and fill the packs inline.

The pack prevents damage to the coffee pads and gives a higher volume filled percentage.  The packs also feature a valve from Q-Bag, situated in the bottom of the pack, to allow CO2 to escape.

mpress Metal Packaging, of France, entered a new format aluminium pack and Easy Peel® lid for Daesang Corporation’s Club Luncheon Meat. The lid and stepped out rectangular aluminium can have been cleverly combined to create a pack with greatly improved product release. The pack is sealed using a rectangular Easy Peel® lid manufactured from 70mµ ALU/25mµ PP which is sealed to the aluminium ring.

David Smith said: “This aluminium pack signals to the market that there is a real alternative to EOE (easy open end) steel cans for products such as luncheon meats. The pack provides a simple opening method and allows easy dispensing of the complete product by just gently shaking the pack.”

The judges also gave special mention to the use of Easy Peel® for Petites Salades and Les Délices de Thon from Marine World Brand.