INNOVATIVE PET RECYCLING COLLABORATION

Those who resented paying R30 for a bottle of Budweiser at stadiums where World Cup matches were being played should take heart from the innovative recycling collaboration between PETCO (PET Recycling Company), Extrupet and Anheuser-Busch.

During the build up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser’'s parent company) contacted Coca-Cola South Africa, who put them in touch with PETCO. They advised they would be importing Budweiser Beer in multilayer PET bottles, and asked PETCO to facilitate recycling of these bottles. Problems revolved around the fact that the bottles were brown and that these multilayer bottles included a nylon barrier layer. Extrupet took up the challenge and was able to recycle them, blending the bottles into their manufacturing process for composite ‘timber’ planks – and a novel black fibre that will eventually be used for T-shirts! A win-win situation for all involved, and a good example of considering the end of the product’s' lifecycle upfront, and taking extended producer responsibility!

VACU-FRESH OLIVE OIL

I wonder how many are aware that ‘air’ is the worst enemy of olive oil and that prolonged exposure to air causes oxidation, followed by rancidity? To counter this phenomenon, Linda Costa (SA's olive oil doyenne) and Sandra van Schaik of Olives Go Wild developed and registered their earthy looking Vacu-Fresh packaging concept which completely protects the delicate contents from air and light to keep the oil fresh to the very last drop.

Olives Go Wild Vacu-Fresh 1,25-litre was introduced to the market in May 2009 and has since attracted significant media and consumer interest. Cape Town-based design agency Kreatif developed the label design and arranged the printing; Industribag in Blackheath supplies the bags; the spirally-wound core is ex ITT; and Conro in Epping makes the taps.  

PRIMI PIATTI TAKE AWAY CARTONS

Primi Piatti wanted to create a totally different looking range of cartons for ‘take-home’ orders. The group has a reputation for taking the mundane, the routine and indifferent and turning it into inspired innovation. Primi Piatti staff take pride in wearing overalls with ‘Work is Love Made Visible’ emblazoned on the back.

Using Black Sheep Design Studio’s bold design work and ink from Hostmann Steinberg, Durban-based Shave & Gibson cleverly proposed using a kraft board imported from Brazil for the ‘take-home’ cartons, where the ‘white’ surface (normally reserved for printing) became the inside of the carton and the kraft back became the print surface for branding and various environmental messages! The result is a very acceptable recyclable organic looking range of cartons.

BIG BIG CHOC MAX LUNCH BAR

Who can forget the legendary ‘Makhatini from Maritzburrrrugh’ Lunch Bar commercial? Voted ‘South Africa'’s most loved chocolate’ in the Sunday Times Top Brands survey a year ago, Lunch Bar is the ‘Oviaas’ choice (reference to new media campaign) for millions of chocolate-lovers. The introduction of a new limited edition Choc Max still offers ‘Much Much More’, but is no longer promoted using the African/Scottish theme. Lunch Bar Choc Max is now crammed with a bigger chocolate ‘hit’ of chocolate wafer, chocolate crispies, caramel, peanuts and added raisins.

EH Walton supplies the brightly coloured shippers/display units while Nampak Flexible gravure prints the wrappers on BOPP ex Fima on a Rotomec in six colours, cold seal and release lacquer ex Eagle Inks, using the design work of packaging and iconography specialist Berge Farrell.

KNORR CUPaSOUP GOES STICK SACHETS

I realised there were no boundaries to Unilever’'s creativity when I saw ‘smoke’ coming from one of the billboards promoting Knorr CupaSoup Go. With spring approaching and inclement weather still around, these little flat stick sachets make for an easy-to-prepare lunch for busy mums and office-bound personnel.

Positive Packaging (India) supplies the gravure printed triple laminate in reel form to Midrand-based Collaborative Packing Solutions (CoSo), a third party outsource packing company specialising in packing dry food products. The attractive display cartons are ex Nampak Cartons & Labels Pinetown.

REDD’S DRY & ORIGINAL REVAMP

There’s long list of local and international credits for the roll out of the new Redd’s. Six packs of SAB’'s Redd’s Dry and Original Cider variants can be found in local bottle stores packed in beautifully printed shrink film ex LR Plastics (Prospecton, KZN), in corrugated trays supplied by APL (Worcester, Western Cape), Corruseal (Wadeville, Gauteng) and Nampak (Pinetown, KZN). The bottles with their eye-catching raised embossing are supplied by Nampak Wiegand Glass and Consol Glass. Using artwork designed by Claessens (Netherlands), Spear prints the back and neck labels for the 330ml and 660ml bottles, while CCL (Germany) prints the body and back labels. Closures for all sizes and variants are printed by Coleus.

About Clive Glover

After many years in FMCG sales and marketing, and later in packaging as marketing manager of Kohler Plastics and then Kohler Flexibles, Clive formed his own packaging consulting company in 2000. He also started writing articles for various packaging magazines, and purchased his first digital camera to support his articles. Two weeks later was given his first professional photography assignment – and the rest is history.

Clive is now first-choice photographer for many FMCG and packaging companies as he has the valuable knack of working digital magic in the specialised area of pack photograpy.

Clive’s Column appears every month in PACKAGiNG & Print Media Magazine and covers new packs on shelf in SA.

First published in PACKAGiNG & Print Media Magazine, September 2010