Multipacks – Food for Thought

08.13.19

When multipacking products in the food industry, it can be challenging to know what packaging option is best for your business. Need help deciding? Lisa, our food packaging expert, is here to help!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Welcome! This is Food for Thought with Felins Foodie.

The everyday consumer is on the move, on the go and looking for convenience in their food packaging, causing the food industry to get creative not only with the food they offer but the packaging itself.

Whether the consumer is looking for a healthy on the go treat, to pack a snack, or stock up for the family, food needs to be packaged for optimal shelf life and convenience.

We see multipacks in various forms for various applications and each have their pros and cons.

SHRINK WRAP

Some commonly seen methods include heat applied shrink wrap for full product coverage and transparency. In most food facilities, placing a heat tunnel in a cold room is not exactly economical. Plus, did you know that when putting some food products through a heat tunnel, the shelf life can actually be compromised?!

For example, in the produce industry, trays are often covered with a perforated film to help extend product shelf life. Full-coverage shrink wrap counteracts this by affecting the food product breathability.

Banding, however, uses minimal materials and is applied with a cold weld, not affecting the shelf life.

PAPERBOARD AND CHIPBOARD SLEEVES

Manually applied paperboard and chipboard sleeves use a recyclable material for unitizing. While sleeves look nice and are made of a paper substrate, they are typically applied with glues and adhesives, affecting their recyclability.

While the paper is recyclable, glues and adhesives are not.

Automatically sleeving with a band uses — get this — no glues or adhesives, but rather uses tension to securely label and unitize the multipack!

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

Custom boxes and displays are excellent for additional marketing space and shelf appeal.

Sometimes, adhesive tapes are used to hold bundles together.

Thermal form saddle packs are great for utilizing current up-stream equipment.

SUSTAINABILITY IN PACKAGING

Ok… so we’re looking for convenient AND shelf ready packaging. Pretty simple… Right? NOPE!

A multipack says a lot about a company’s attention to sustainability, as well as their consideration for Earth-friendly materials.

In fact, many retailers and club stores are encouraging food suppliers to offer products with less plastic!

Walmart has a public statement on plastics stating that “approximately 35% of plastics produced are used in packaging and less than 14% of it is recycled globally.”

BANDING

Consider the alternative with ultrasonic banding! This alternative method uses minimal materials, such as easy to recycle plastics, paper products, and compostable materials.

This innovative alternative helps the food industry by receiving single products from upstream, counting them and stacking them, leading them into the bander where a band is applied without using heat, adhesives or excessive amounts of materials.

With easy to use controls, adjustments can be made to run anything from a single product to various multipacks.

There are numerous ways to unitize products in the food industry for both retail and club store use. And while there is no right or wrong method, consumer trends help to drive the choices that we make today.

With ultrasonic banding we can not only eliminate the number of materials needed to unitize products, we can also provide a more sustainable and earth friendly solution.

Follow me, Felins Foodie, to learn more about ways you can reduce labor and packaging waste AND improve your overall bottom line with adhesive-free labeling, sleeving and unitizing solutions. Subscribe below!