Food Processing - June 2008 - (Page 57)

Snack food manufacturers are some of the most innovative packagers. Portion control, convenience and sustainability are driving their designs. By Kate Bertrand Connolly, Packaging Editor hree divergent issues – healthy eating, demand for convenience and sustainability – are motivating new ideas for snack food packaging. The growing number of single-serving, portion control and easy-to-use and -tote packages is the most noticeable shift. On the sustainability front, snack processors are lightweighting their packaging and focusing on wrapper recycling. In the nut category, Blue Diamond Growers, (www.bluediamond.com), Sacramento, Calif., is leading the way in packaging innovation. The canister for Blue Diamond Natural Oven Roasted Almonds is portable, offers one-handed opening and has a built-in portion control mechanism. Describing the development of the package, Blue Diamond Growers marketing manager Maya Brown says, “One of the key drivers was that not a lot of people know how much a serving of nuts is. Typically it’s a handful a day. That’s what drove us to come up with the flip-top lid – you can shake out a handful.” Further, the package’s full-body shrink label features a transparent, unprinted vertical strip down the side of the package that is calibrated in 1-oz. increments. Consumers can quickly see when they have shaken out one serving, or roughly a handful, of almonds. foodprocessing.com T Completing the concept, text on the back of the package explains that “a handful of almonds a day is a healthy snacking choice.” In addition to standard nutritional data, percentages of micronutrients such as selenium and copper are included in the Nutrition Facts panel. Designed to appeal to women, the shapely, 8-oz. plastic canister “is an ergonomic package with an hourglass shape designed to fit a woman’s hand,” notes Anna Frolova-Levi, director of marketing at Twinsburg, Ohio-based Weatherchem Corp. (www.weatherchem.com). The dome-shaped closure, supplied by Weatherchem, extends the curved profile of the container. The shrink label extends over the lid, providing tamper-evidence. Also with an eye to portion control, Blue Diamond Growers has introduced a 100-calorie bag of almonds. Weighing 0.625 oz., the bags are sold in multipacks of seven. Likewise, Procter & Gamble Co. (www.pg.com), Cincinnati, has launched a 100-calorie pack for Pringles Reduced Fat Potato Crisps. The primary package is a plastic tub with foil seal; secondary packaging for the eight-packs is a paperboard sleeve. The packaging is structurally similar to that of Pringles Snack Stacks, a product for on-thego consumers. June 2008 food processing • 57 http://www.bluediamond.com http://www.weatherchem.com http://www.bluediamond.com http://www.pg.com http://foodprocessing.com

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Food Processing - June 2008 Editor's Plate NewsBites Show Report The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Consumer Taste Test A Bevy of New CEOs Ingredients Packaging Plant Operations MRO Q&A New Supplier Products Toops Scoops Contents

Food Processing - June 2008

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