First brewed in 1876, Budweiser is one of the best-selling beers in the United States and probably one of the most recognized beers here and abroad. Budweiser is the flagship brand of Anheuser-Busch, that reportedly holds a 48.3 percent share of U.S. beer sales to retailers. This past Wednesday, Budweiser announced a new can design — the 12th redesign since 1936 when it began using them — focused on the “Budweiser bowtie” which, according to this explanatory diagram was created as a symbol to encourage people to order the beer by its full name, instead of just by “Bud”. The new packaging was designed by London-based JKR. (So much for the “All-American” beer).

Our refreshed packaging design gives Budweiser an updated look, which dramatizes the iconic Budweiser bowtie and incorporates the brand hallmarks that loyal Budweiser drinkers will recognize and appreciate.
— Press Release

Using the same design principles as the newly designed can, the redesigned secondary packaging will be used for all package configurations and emphasizes the Budweiser creed, which highlights the beer’s unique Beechwood Aging process and 135-year long commitment to quality.
— Press Release

I have always loved Budweiser’s can and bottle labels: the busyness, the wordiness, the medallion-ness. Totally over the top but very restrained. And highly recognizable with that striking red and blue on white. The new can has lost pretty much all of that beautiful contrast. The blue is nearly all gone leaving the can mostly red, now with yellow taking on as a secondary color and just some small fields of white coming through. The bowtie element… I don’t drink Budweiser so I haven’t spent hours philosophizing about its design while I drink (as I usually do when I do drink beer) but I had never associated the bowtie with Budweiser. It’s not in any of the previous cans. So it seems a weird thing to be building the brand around.

The secondary packaging relies even more on the bowtie logo and it’s big. The logo hasn’t changed much from previous versions, it has just been cleaned and beefed up. Overall, the execution of the redesign is very well done, but it’s the strategy that seems off. I guess when you hold such a stronghold on the beer market one can afford to make this kind of bold change and just count on the dominance for the packaging to eventually become as iconic, or at least recognizable, as the previous one.

The company announces it has successfully made paraxylene (PX), a component of PET, from plant sugars. The PX molecule, when combined with existing bio-based PET technology, allows manufacturers to offer customers 100-percent renewable, plant-based PET packaging. The paraxylene, called BioFormPX, can be used in bottling, packaging and in a variety of fibers and materials. The chemical is made through a patented catalytic process, which converts plant-based sugars into PX molecules identical to those made from petroleum. All of the company’s chemicals are “drop in” replacements that enable full use of existing processing and logistics infrastructure without blending limitations.

Virent Energy Systems Inc., 608-663-0228.
www.virent.com

 Winston-Salem, NC — Rising gas prices have affected everyone, but the pain at the pump may have done one favor for us.

The price of fuel is causing some manufacturers to shy away from petroleum-based plastic packaging or clamshell. It’s that heavy duty plastic packaging that it seems live everything comes in at the store. And a Winston-Salem company is reaping the benefits.

“We do packaging for things from food products, everything from energy bars, powdered energy drinks and dietary meals to recreational products like golf tees,” said President and CEO of Winston Packaging, James Gordon.

Winston Packaging, which is now 100 years old, packages products for about 50 companies using paper board.

“CVS Pharmacy is one of our largest customers. All of their photo finishing products, those envelopes, we do them nationally,” Gordon said.

According to Gordon, more companies are making the switch from clamshell to paperboard.

“We have a line of marker pens where they were doing them in clamshells about four or five years ago. Then they went to a board product, but then transitioned further to a more sustainable paperboard item and now it’s on recycled board,” he said.

Gordon said the reason manufacturers are making the switch is actually two-fold: The cost and the environment.

“Everyone’s gotten more conscious of the environment, so they’re looking to reduce the amount of material that’s used,” he said.

Gordon said some people try to recycle plastic, but in most cases it can only be used once, so most of it ends up in the trash. On the other hand, paper can be recycled five to seven times a year.

Big box retailers, like Wal-Mart and Target, and other stores have also pledged to become more environmentally friendly.

“At the end of 2009, Whole Foods mandated anybody selling products in their stores, if they were in a container or a plastic board, they had to be a sustainable item,” Gordon said.

While Gordon calls paperboard a win-win because it is cheaper, easier to open, and better for the environment, there is one downside.

“There are times where the package may be set up for a liquid or something, so certainly plastic would have the better application,” he said.

WFMY News 2

Packaging is a very important marketing strategy to glamorize a product in order to attract the consumer’s attention. Often however, packaging can be neglected by business.

Here I have compiled a selection of beautiful packaging designs, some conceptual and some that made it to the shelves but all great examples of the designer going the extra mile to ensure that all important first impression is a positive one.

June 22, 2011 10:00 ET

DENVER, CO–(Marketwire – Jun 22, 2011) – The first signs of summer are in the air, and for Blue Moon Brewing Company, that means the welcome return of its Artfully Crafted, award-winning summer seasonal, Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat Ale. Adding to the summer fun, Blue Moon will award legal aged beer drinkers with prizes through the end of August, including a grand-prize trip to the Sandlot brewery in Denver.

Blue Moon fans are encouraged to share their artfully crafted moments by uploading photos to the “Photo Crafter” tab on the brand’s Facebook page, where the application will transform their photos into artfully crafted Blue Moon paintings. And by doing so, fans have the chance to enter to win daily prizes, as well as the grand prize of “Honorary* Brewmaster for a Day.”

Those who enter the Blue Moon “Artfully Crafted” sweepstakes will have the chance to win branded cooler bags, collectable barware and Blue Moon merchandise. The grand prize winner will receive a trip for four to Blue Moon Brewing Company at the Sandlot Brewery, to become an “Honorary Brewmaster for a Day.” The winner will collaborate with Blue Moon brewmasters Keith Villa and John Legnard and create a beer based on their most memorable summer moments, and participate in an insider tour of the brewery.

“We look forward to meeting our ‘honorary brewmaster’ and giving the winner and their guests a behind-the-scenes look into the art of crafting beer at Blue Moon Brewing Company,” Villa said. “And the fact that the promotion coincides with the return of Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat makes this time of year even sweeter. With its notes of honey and citrus, Summer Honey Wheat Ale is the perfect way to celebrate, whether you’re heading to the beach or grilling out in your backyard.”

The 5.2% Alcohol by Volume (ABV) Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat Ale is crafted with Rocky Mountain clover honey for a hint of sweetness that’s balanced by a touch of orange peel for subtle citrus notes. For the first time, the summer brew will be available in cans, making it perfect for picnics, the beach, golfing and countless other outdoor summer activities. This refreshing beer has earned three gold medals at Great American Beer Fest® and one gold medal at the World Beer Cup.

Legal-drinking age consumers can enter the promotion by visiting the “Photo Crafter” tab on the Blue Moon Facebook page between June 21 and August 31, 2011. For more information about the promotion and Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat Ale, visit www.Facebook.com/BlueMoon.

* No employment contract implied

About Blue Moon Brewing Company:
At Blue Moon Brewing Company everything we do flows from our artistic approach to brewing. We craft our beers with flavorful ingredients and wheat for an inviting taste and a smooth finish that is perfect for enjoying the moment with friends. It’s been that way since we added our first flavorful twist back in 1995 in Denver, Colorado. And that’s why we say our beer and everything we do is artfully crafted. More information is available at Facebook.com/BlueMoon.

Source

A new global strategic report about the beverage packaging market predicts revenues to reach $118.8 billion by 2017. The report being distributed by companiesandmarkets.com cites three growth drivers for the beverage packaging industry: environmental concerns; hectic consumer lifestyles; and increased demand from the Asia-Pacific region.

flickr.com: _e.t

The study–Beverage Packaging: A Global Strategic Business Report-notes that one trend borne from the recession that appears to be here to stay: The use of minimal, lightweight packaging materials that incur lower manufacturing and transportation costs and can be sold at lower prices. This was particularly noted in developed regions, where there has been a distinct focus on cutting household expenditure.

The report also notes that plastic is the beverage packaging material that is seeing the most demand, on account of its appearance, lightweight qualities, ease of manufacturing and the fact that it is widely recycled. Plastic’s qualities, the authors say, appeal to environmentally conscious consumers that also seek convenience. Researchers also note that busy consumer lifestyles mean that there is demand for food and drink ‘on the go’, including convenient single-serve beverages. A healthy interest in drinks that promote wellbeing also was observed, and the authors expect wellness features to be incorporated into future beverage packaging styles.
Soft drinks and beer continue to be predominantly packaged in metal cans, and it is thought that there is potential for growth in this segment, given the interest in 8-oz containers within the energy drinks market. New beverages and unusual packaging designs may also see an increased demand for aluminum packaging, potentially in bottle format.

Source: The Packaging Digest

In tests on experimental packs of fine noodles, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, found that food rapidly absorbed 10 times the recommended limit for concentration of these contaminating oils from the transport box.

The world-recognised limit for these oils is 0.6mg in each kg of food, but researchers discovered that after standing in packaging for just six weeks, food could contain 6.1mg/kg.

And this was in food that had a two-year shelf life, so it is quite possible the value could increase further over time.

The research showed that even if the food was contained in clean paperboard boxes from fresh fibres, printed with inks free of mineral oil and wrapped into a polyethylene film (also free of mineral oil); mineral oils from the corrugated card transport box far exceeded the limit.

“There is a tension between the need to recycle paper and board and the need to keep food free from high levels of these mineral oils,” Dr. Koni Grob, an analytical chemist who headed the research team based at the Official Food Control and points out that none of the three presently discussed solutions are easy to put into practice, said.

Many companies have realised the problem and recently some have changed their packaging materials to fresh fibre paperboard printed with inks free of mineral oil.

“But they are still using recycled card in the corrugated board transport boxes which renders their efforts fruitless,” Grob said.

“In terms of amounts of food packaging material involved, this problem exceeds all those experienced in the past. It needs to be addressed with corresponding care,” Grob added.

The findings were published in the latest edition of Packaging Technology and Science.

Source-ANI

@ Medindia.net

Ampacet has developed molecular tags for plastics.

By Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay

A company has come up with a way to let original equipment manufacturers, brand owners, and others keep their eyes at all times on their products. The aim is to help manufacturers and retailers deal with product security, counterfeiting, liability, and other issues by keeping track of unique signatures in plastic packaging.

Ampacet Corp. has developed a new type of masterbatch that is chockful of molecular tracers. A masterbatch is a solid plastic, rubber, or elastomeric substance in which pigments are nicely dispersed at high concentrations. The substance is compatible with the plastic with which it will be blended during manufacturing to give the final plastic product the color from the masterbatch.

As reported in Plastics Today, Ampacet goes one step further with the masterbatch. The company loads molecular tracers as well as the pigment into the masterbatch so that the masterbatch becomes essentially a tracking device molded into a plastic product, such as rigid or flexible packaging.

Ampacet refused to reveal the kinds of molecular tracers it was using, but, as the article explains:

Such tracers, previously used primarily with high-value or controlled products such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, currency, agricultural products and explosives, now are being used more frequently for a variety of consumer and industrial products to verify brand ownership, manufacturers’ lots and tamper evidence.

The type, ratios, and concentrations of the molecular tracers in these special masterbatches can be tweaked to give each masterbatch a unique signal that can be measured by visual, audible, or standard laboratory analytical tools. The tracers can be based on UV or infrared radiation, ferromagnetism, and other detection systems. The unique signal of each plastic product can act as a special “product fingerprint.”

A press release by the company says:

Ampacet works with manufacturers to tailor AmpaTrace™ molecular signatures to their packaging needs. The company also provides analytical services to positively identify the molecular tracer in a package at the store or plant level, if needed. Depending on the complexity of security required, AmpaTrace technologies provide low cost options to high security optimization.

Source: “Track plastics packaging with tracer-loaded masterbatch,” Plastics Today, 06/03/11
Image of the Ampacet Corp. logo is used under Fair Use: Reporting.

Source: Polymer Solutions

Do consumer packaged goods, too, need their very own social network? Zagat’s former head of mobile, Ryan Charles, sure thinks so — and so do a few brands. Even before Mr. Charles has had a chance to wrangle venture funding or a critical mass of users for his new CPG-focused reviews site, Consmr, brands such as Chobani and AriZona have backed it.

Here’s the sell: Search for a coffee shop or a dentist and you’re bound to see at least one user-review site rating the product or service, if not many. But search for product names or categories such as “Greek yogurt” or “iced tea” and no such luck. There’s no Yelp or RottenTomatoes for products we buy at the grocery or drug stores as there are for local businesses and movies.

“Product discovery hasn’t really changed yet because of the social web,” said Mr. Charles.

That’s not to say no one’s buying frozen food, skin-care products, toilet paper or other packaged goods online. Packaged goods is now a $12 billion business in e-commerce, Jason Katz, exec VP-general manager of Etailing Solutions, told Ad Age in March. We just don’t buy those products according to online reviews or numbers of stars like we use to chose restaurants on Yelp.

Enter Consmr. The website gives each of 50,000 products their own brand page and provides space for user reviews and ratings. Consmr has also partnered with magazine publisher Rodale to import product reviews from “Men’s Health,” “Women’s Health” and “Prevention” and is providing incentives to product bloggers to cross-post their reviews.

Like other social-media properties du jour, users will be able to check in to products on Consmr. (Since the site is just launching in beta today, only time will tell if they actually will.) While check-ins for packaged goods are, surprisingly, not a new concept, check-ins have largely relied on barcode scans with mobile phones to verify you’re actually holding the product. Mr. Charles, now co-founder and CEO of Consmr after leaving his Zagat gig in April, says check-ins are faith-based for now and a mobile product is in the works.

But again, some brands believe there’s something to the idea. Chobani and AriZona will be giving Foursquare-like badges — here called “flair” — that affix an image of congrats to users that complete some task. For checking in to all Chobani’s many flavors of Greek yogurt, for example, a reviewer can win “flavor fiend” flair, reserved only for “Chobani connoisseurs.” However, the brands that are participating today are most likely of the build-it-and-they-will-come mentality. There currently aren’t many reviews on the site and searches like “granola bar” only bring up one review out of many products.

If nothing else, Consmr definitely has good timing. The site launches at a time when packaged goods companies are hammering out how exactly their products hang online. Procter & Gamble Co. recently launched a new Facebook commerce platform and has been testing its own direct-to-consumer e-commerce store. Other retailers are buying up e-commerce start-ups to be there when consumers want to buy their soap and cases of Coke online. Walgreen’s recently purchased Drugstore.com for more than $400 million and Amazon scooped up Soap.com and Diapers.com parent Quidsi for $540 million.

“When you try a product the natural next step is to tell people if you like it or don’t,” said Emily Schildt, a spokeswoman for Chobani. “What appeals to us is that we have people coming to Facebook and Twitter to share their thoughts, so a site like [Consmr] could provide a community for consumers.”

Origional Article can be found at AdAge

Consumer products makers spend billions to find out what sells and why. Now, technology allows companies to see exactly what catches the eye.

Eye-tracking with eyetracker tools at a supermarket in London. (Courtesy of eyetracker)

Ian Janes of eyetracker wears the eye-tracking device.

TESS VIGELAND: We’ve noticed quite a few companies rolling out new packaging lately. 7-Up has gone all retro. Bob Evans has updated its grocery store packaging. The sausage maker calls it a “relaxed” look, whatever that means. Even Jack Daniels unveiled a new label. Makers of consumer products spend nearly $30 billion a year to figure out what sells, what doesn’t and why. And increasingly, they’re using a technology first developed to help train British fighter pilots. It’s called “eye-tracking.”

We sent reporter Christopher Werth to have a look.

*

IAN JANES: If you can pop those on.

Mounted on top are two small cameras.

JANES: One is a… we call it a field of vision camera, which collects everything that’s in front of you.

And the other camera is pointed at my pupil and follows it wherever I look. When that’s laid over the video of what I actually see, you get a set of crosshairs tracking every detail I focus on in the store.

JANES: And if you go off and do your shopping. And come back, and we’ll have a look at the tape.

Now, if I can just find what I’m looking for…

WERTH: Sorry to bother you. Could you point me to the laundry detergent aisle?

The clerk leads me to a long row with at least a dozen brands to choose from.

WERTH: Liquid detergent. Powdered detergent.

Christopher Werth tries eye-tracking

But my eyes quickly settle on a big blue box with a red logo and an image of a father and son playing in the grass — a detergent called Persil. I pick it up.

WERTH: And it costs six pounds, 40 pence.

I bring the glasses back to Janes and we look at the tape of my purchase.

JANES: OK, so you’re going to the detergent aisle. You’re trying to decide which one to go for.

I like to think of myself as a price-conscious shopper. But when we watch the tape, I realize I hardly look at price tags at all. Janes says most shoppers are surprised to learn this about themselves.

JANES: The amount of time people actually spend looking at price is very, very small.

Instead, my crosshairs zero in on things like bright colors and logos with clear easy-to-read lettering.

JANES: Some of the best packaging we’ve ever researched has actually been incredibly simple.

Janes says my little test shows why eye-tracking is so useful. Instead of relying on what people in focus groups say they look at — marketers can see for themselves what packaging catches a shopper’s eye. And eye tracking can also help marketers figure out why we connect with certain products.

NICK WIDDOWSON: Generally, we shop in a subconscious mode.

I played my video for Nick Widdowson, who works with eye-tracking at Unilever. It’s the company that makes that box of Persil laundry detergent. Remember that picture of the father and son on the front? Widdowson notices I can’t take my eyes off it.

WIDDOWSON: From the amount of time you were looking at it, suggests that image seems to have struck a chord with you as a shopper.

Nick Williams is an expert on eye-tracking at the market research firm Ipsos MORI. He says the image might be tapping into some kind of deep, fatherly instinct.

NICK WILLIAMS: Your paternal or otherwise thoughts won’t be the key driver in what you’re doing. But it’s going to be relevant to how you shop.

And when I think about it, he’s probably right. I am getting married soon, and my fiancee and I are thinking about starting a family. Who knew that shopping could be so revealing?

In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.

Original Article found at the Marketplace