Ajinomoto Selects Reclosable Stand-up Pouch from Ampac

CINCINNATI, Ohio—The launch of Ajinomoto USA’s Amino Vital Jel marks the first time a reclosable pouch is being used to market a nutritional, energy, and recovery enhancing gel product in the United States.

Ampac Flexibles, a unit of Ampac Packaging, LLC, designed a custom 140-ml (4.73 fl. oz.) QuadPAK side-gusset, stand-up pouch that features a resealable closure. The pouch’s structural advantages give athletes and other users more consumption flexibility than previously available in this product category.

“The packaging had to reflect the uniqueness of our Jel and had to appeal to all healthy and active people, not just endurance athletes. We also wanted a packaging material that was durable, resistant to punctures, and flexible,” explains Yuichiro Nakajima, general manager of Nutraceuticals Division, Ajinomoto.

Amino Vital products were originally launched in Japan where nutritional gel products are commonly found in stand-up pouches. Ajinomoto first introduced the Amino Vital sports supplement brand to American consumers in 2003 via drinks, powders, caplets, and bars. This month, Amino Vital Jel—in apple and grape flavors—hits U.S. shelves.

For the first time in the United States, the resealable, squeezable QuadPAK enables Ajinomoto to put portion control in the hands of the user. (Other energy gels on the market do not offer a reclosing option, so the user has minimal usage flexibility.)

“Amino Vital Jel is refreshingly light and delicious, with an irresistible jello-like texture. The revolutionary squeeze-pack with twist-off cap makes the Jel easily transportable for the on-the-go individual, and it also allows you to customize your portion size,” explains Nakajima. And although Ajinomoto considered two-panel pouches, it decided that it wanted to replicate the four-panel design in which it markets its Amino Vital Jel in Japan. “The aesthetics of the pouch, when filled and made to stand, appealed to us,” Nakajima says.

The QuadPAK pouch is made from polyester/foil/nylon/polyethylene and “looks and acts like a box, except it’s flexible and it dispenses the gel through the spout” says Craig Rutman, director of sales and marketing, Ampac Flexibles.

Dispensing is enabled by combining Seaquist Closures’ spout technology and Ampac’s insertion know how. The dispensing assembly features components from Seaquist, a polyethylene spouted-base fitment topped with an EZ Turn Cap—a tamper-evident, swallow-resistant closure. Its enlarged, ergonomic design makes it easy to grasp, turn, and access the gel.

But before the product could be commercialized there were several obstacles that needed to be overcome.

“When engineering a small pouch, you have to strike a delicate balance between height/width ratios so that it can accommodate the targeted volume and still be commercially viable,” says Rutman.

Due to the small size profile, Ampac had to find solutions to multiple pouch geometry issues. The pouch had to be wide enough so that there was enough room for the spout base to be inserted and heat sealed to the top of the structure. The height/weight ratios had to accommodate target fill volumes yet still offer the stability necessary to enable the pouch to stand up.

The lamination needed to be rigid enough to meet drop test criteria, yet have enough “give” so that an overfill situation did not arise when the nozzle was inserted through the valved spout.

Ampac’s years of pouch expertise enabled it to find the right lamination thicknesses and package geometry to meet Ajinomoto’s stringent production and marketing criteria. Also, the Hensen Packaging Concepts spout inserter was modified to work within the tight tolerance needed to execute the mandatory leak proof seal.

And finally, it was critical that the stand-up pouches could be filled at commercially acceptable speeds. Ampac’s partnership with The Jel Sert Company, West Chicago, Ill., a contract packager and food manufacturer with more than 80-years experience, has created a turnkey environment for those wanting to commercialize pouch applications without significant capital expenditure.

To facilitate filling, the spout’s base has been engineered with a patent pending, molded feature that allows the pouch to slide onto parallel rails positioned on either side of the fitment. This allows the flat, flexible pouches to be moved through the filling process easily and efficiently.

After the pouches are assembled at Ampac’s Minneapolis facility, they are then transferred from stainless steel rails used for in-plant assembly to plastic rails, which are used to transport the packages to Jel Sert for filling. At Jel Sert, an attendant removes the empty, rail-mounted pouches from the Gaylord container and uses the same rails to mount them onto the Hensen filler’s conveying system. The continuous-motion unit then fills each Amino Vital pouch at a rate of up to 200 per minute.

The back pouch panel encourages consumers to “experience the smooth texture and refreshing taste of Amino Vital Jel. Packed with branched-chain amino acids for muscle energy and accelerated recovery, plus arginine for overall health and fitness, Amino Vital Jel is based on a proprietary blend of amino acids, for your toughest workouts and most demanding days.”

Ajinomoto envisions that the product will not only compete against energy gels, but also against Ready-to-Drinks, nutrition bars, and similar products that health-conscious people consume throughout the day to maintain their energy level, or after workouts to help their bodies recover faster. For more information, visit Ampac’s Web site at www.ampaconline.com.