Flexible packaging now has consumer conveniences, sustainability, reduced costs

By Tom Polischuk

Ampac’s Retort Pouch for Sprout Baby Food

Ampac was awarded the Alufoil Trophy for Resource Efficiency by the European Aluminum Foil Association (EAFA) for its Sprout Organic Baby Food pouch. The EAFA awards are designed to reward excellence in aluminum foil packaging in Europe, and the Alufoil Trophy recognizes companies that show innovation in consumer convenience, technical development, and sustainable solutions.

Ampac partnered with Sprout to provide a more sustainable alternative to standard baby food products packaged in glass jars or rigid cups. Sprout desired the added convenience of reclosability in case the product was not consumed in one sitting, and an easy-open feature to improve access to the product, as well as for consumer convenience. Although the pouch could have been designed to be microwavable, Sprout desired a foil barrier pouch to ensure the consumer would not use the microwave or any other potentially harsh heating method. One of Sprout’s product advantages is to provide a fresher food product, therefore, by design, the product is meant to be heated in hot water and not boiled or microwaved.

Ampac provided a recloseable stand-up retort pouch with photo-quality rotogravure printed graphics and incorporated Ampac’s Linear Tear technology for straight and easy tear opening of the pouch. Ampac also incorporated a retortable recloseable zipper. The new pouches achieved all of Sprout’s requirements and provide significant savings in shipping and storage weight, while also minimizing product breakage versus a glass jar.
Ampac’s John Shipley said, “It’s a great honor for Ampac to be recognized by our peers in the packaging industry. Our retort zipper stand-up pouch demonstrates Ampac’s commitment to innovation in action, offering customers sustainable, flexible solutions to challenge traditional rigid alternatives in retort.

Flexible packaging has a lot going for it. Somewhere within its many variants it can provide a variety of consumer conveniences, sustainability advantages, reduced costs, improved product quality, and improved processing. Advantages can be found up and down the supply chain, with a common denominator being innovation.

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