Catch the Wave
July 2004
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A wave of innovate pouch packaging is sweeping over North America, but will the U.S. flexible packaging industry catch it?
VISIT YOUR LOCAL supermarket and you can see a major packaging shift taking place—the use of flexible packaging is prevalent down every store aisle. Cartons and canisters are being replaced or partnered with stand-up pouch packaging that use reclosable zipper features. Retort pouches are being introduced to create a value-added line extension to mature products traditionally marketed in other packaging formats. Things are changing and flexible packaging appears to have the "right stuff" at the "right time."
Form and function
Just a few short years ago, many new product introductions were launched in the same traditional package methods that had been used for decades. But today more than ever, packaging is being used as a strategic marketing tool to better position a new product, stimulate flat sales, and re-invent a mature brand.
It is common that some form of flexible packaging is put on the table as part of the mix of potential packaging options. And, more often than not, flexible packaging is winning out over many of the classical rigid-packaging formats.
Helping this movement is that flexible packaging has come a long way in recent years; it's no longer just a simple pouch or bag, but a real packaging solution worthy of serious consideration. Innovative flexible packaging is providing true form-and-function benefits for creating a well-balanced packaging design and successfully promoting a new realm of product line extensions in the market.
New features and functionality are being integrated in today's flexible packaging designs to add consumer convenience, build brand identification, and dramatically improve the dynamics of the "product package-consumer interface." The ability to add reclosable zippers, slider zippers, hang holes, handles, tear notches, laser scores, separate product compartments, spouts, and special closures has truly revolutionized the pouch category.
The technology to design shape into a flexible package with the use of diecutting at the converting level (as a pre-made) or on-line as part of the form/fill/seal process can now offer the ability to add character and personality to the package. These value-added features, in combination with the use of spectacular graphics produced in rotogravure or enhanced flexography, all add up to a packaging solution second to none.
Opportunity knocks
The business of supplying pre-made pouches is perhaps one of the greatest opportunities to come along for the packaging industry in a very long time. The pre-made pouch business represents the supply of a wide variety of pre-formed and pre-fabricated bags or pouches. Pre-mades have certainly been around for a while, but the market is continuing to evolve and grow. This is mainly being driven by market dynamics to satisfy consumer convenience and by the advancements of related machinery technologies.
VISIT YOUR LOCAL supermarket and you can see a major packaging shift taking place—the use of flexible packaging is prevalent down every store aisle. Cartons and canisters are being replaced or partnered with stand-up pouch packaging that use reclosable zipper features. Retort pouches are being introduced to create a value-added line extension to mature products traditionally marketed in other packaging formats. Things are changing and flexible packaging appears to have the "right stuff" at the "right time."
Form and function
Just a few short years ago, many new product introductions were launched in the same traditional package methods that had been used for decades. But today more than ever, packaging is being used as a strategic marketing tool to better position a new product, stimulate flat sales, and re-invent a mature brand.
It is common that some form of flexible packaging is put on the table as part of the mix of potential packaging options. And, more often than not, flexible packaging is winning out over many of the classical rigid-packaging formats.
Helping this movement is that flexible packaging has come a long way in recent years; it's no longer just a simple pouch or bag, but a real packaging solution worthy of serious consideration. Innovative flexible packaging is providing true form-and-function benefits for creating a well-balanced packaging design and successfully promoting a new realm of product line extensions in the market.
New features and functionality are being integrated in today's flexible packaging designs to add consumer convenience, build brand identification, and dramatically improve the dynamics of the "product package-consumer interface." The ability to add reclosable zippers, slider zippers, hang holes, handles, tear notches, laser scores, separate product compartments, spouts, and special closures has truly revolutionized the pouch category.
The technology to design shape into a flexible package with the use of diecutting at the converting level (as a pre-made) or on-line as part of the form/fill/seal process can now offer the ability to add character and personality to the package. These value-added features, in combination with the use of spectacular graphics produced in rotogravure or enhanced flexography, all add up to a packaging solution second to none.
Opportunity knocks
The business of supplying pre-made pouches is perhaps one of the greatest opportunities to come along for the packaging industry in a very long time. The pre-made pouch business represents the supply of a wide variety of pre-formed and pre-fabricated bags or pouches. Pre-mades have certainly been around for a while, but the market is continuing to evolve and grow. This is mainly being driven by market dynamics to satisfy consumer convenience and by the advancements of related machinery technologies.
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