Baking & Snack - March 2020 - 98

RECLOSABILITY

AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES IN
CPG, A PLETHORA OF RECLOSABLE
OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE, RANGING
FROM ZIPPERS TO SEAL STRIPS
TO LOCKS AND TWIST TIES.
president, Formost Fuji. "Function has to be simple
and easy," he said. "Slide-Rite is more expensive than a
simple zipper, but people know how to use it; they don't
have to be taught. It opens one way and closes the other."
However, this doesn't mean that bakers and snack producers should overlook an opportunity to educate the end user.
Sometimes it just means making better callouts for easyto-use reclosability. "Educating consumers in eye-catching
ways can keep them from wasting the package," said Angela
McDaniel, Formost Fuji marketing and sales coordinator.
When people purchase a premium baked good or
snack, they expect a commensurate experience every
time they come back to the bag. "An item closed with
a Kwik Lok comes with a benefit because the package
can be reclosed time and again, and the product stays
fresh," said Ron Cardey, senior vice-president, customer
engagement, Kwik Lok.

Implications on the line
Reclosable packaging is typically introduced for one of
two situations: a new packaging design for an existing
product or an entirely new launch. In either case, a sim-

plified user experience may well require some complexity on the packaging line, so bakers must be prepared.
"Reclosability can make the processing line a little more complicated," Mr. Gunnell said. "It all depends on what reclosable feature you add and its level
of complexity."
Bakers often default to what they're most familiar
with, such as the zip lock. "That's because it's universally
known," Mr. Gunnell suggested.
However, familiar doesn't necessarily equate to easy,
and adding a zipper to a wrapper is not a "set it and forget it" type of application. "If you're applying the zipper
on the machine as you're running, it takes an operator
who knows what he or she is doing to keep it running
smoothly," Mr. Gunnell said.
It's possible to purchase the pre-applied film, but that
could change how the material is stored and run on the
line. "You might have to make machine modifications to
run a film with the zipper already applied," Mr. Gunnell
said. So, while the intent is to make an easy user experience, bakers have a lot to consider before making that
happen. They must do their homework first.
"Zippers are what everyone knows, but that's not the
only option," Mr. Gunnell said, noting that bakers can
rely on packaging equipment suppliers' expertise to
weigh all the options out there. "We suppliers can say,
'Would "this" be a better option for you?' And that's
when they start thinking about what else they could use."
As technology advances in CPG, a plethora of reclosable options are available, ranging from zippers to seal
strips to locks and twist ties.
"As a wrapper manufacturer, we have the capability to

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