Image: Sesotec GmbH
Foreign object detection and food safety – in search of the blue glove
19.11.2024
Sometimes large quantities of edible food are disposed of for safety reasons, even though only a single product may be contaminated. To avoid this, manufacturers rely on detection systems that recognise foreign objects. Systems specialist Sesotec recommends combinations of sieves, magnets, metal detectors and X-ray systems for this purpose, and thus contributes to the reduction of food waste.
Image: PAXLY GmbH
A perfect match – algorithm shows manufacturers the most efficient packaging solution
15.11.2024
Demand for greater efficiency and sustainability in the supply chain always entails the issue of ideal solutions for space-saving packaging. The packaging specialist paxly.ai provides a powerful software tool that compares the extensive requirements of a company in need of packaging with the performance data of packaging producers. If there is a match, the seekers and providers come together.
Image: Syntegon Technology
A technophile engineer leads an application technology team at Syntegon
07.11.2024
Ellen Reichmann completed an internship at Syntegon Technology while studying packaging technology. Today, she heads the Application Technology and Product Protection department at the company’s Waiblingen site and welcomes applications from former interns.
Image: Pact Group
Pact group & partners creating circular solution for pret tray-to-tray recycling
06.11.2024
Australia’s meat eaters create a lot of waste with their PET meat trays. But thermoformed PET food packaging is very recyclable, with the right infrastructure in place. So Pact Group is working with Hilton Foods, Woolworths Group and Cleanaway Waste Management to close the loop on this by collecting, sorting and cleaning these PET materials, and remanufacturing them into more food packaging.
Image: Wilhelm Rasch GmbH
For Tina Gerfer, your word is as good as written
21.06.2024
Her grandfather had the idea for a machine that could wrap delicate hollow chocolate figures like a Santa Claus or an Easter bunny in a perfectly fitting protective layer made of printed aluminium foil. Today, Tina Gerfer is head of the medium-sized mechanical engineering company, which has long ago grown beyond packaging for hollow figures.
Image: Pro Carton
Urgent need for young talent
17.01.2024
There is an urgent need for young, skilled workers everywhere, and the packaging industry is no exception. Next-generation workers often pursue unconventional approaches with bold new ideas, regardless of whether they have studied packaging technology or design at European universities or completed an industry apprenticeship.
Image: BASF
What are the environmental impacts of alternative raw materials?
12.09.2023
In mass balancing, chemically recycled or bio-based raw materials are input at the very beginning of plastics production and then computationally assigned to the end products. Using the example of flexible mozzarella packaging, a study investigated whether and how this procedure influences the life-cycle assessment of packaging produced from these raw materials.
Image: Dow
How labels are becoming more recyclable
12.09.2023
A world without labels? Inconceivable. Their endless variety of materials, shapes and functions help labels attract attention. But it should also be possible to separate them from their packaging again at the end of the packaging’s life in the interests of a circular economy. Recyclable solutions are on the way.
Looks like PET, but is PEF bioplastic. (Image: Avantium)
Bioplastics in packaging
14.02.2023
There is a reason why the packaging industry has been focusing for decades on the many different applications for fossil plastics. Now, companies are increasingly focussing on biobased plastics. But what are the possible applications, and what needs to be considered during the changeover?
Image: AdobeStock
Less material needed to produce sealing films
21.07.2022
Films are an important part of packaging: They provide an impenetrable barrier between the product and the environment. That said, industrial handling of such sealing films is not always simple. A cooperation between Plasthill and Constantia Flexibles has now led to the development of a PE film which uses less material, thus leading to reduced CO2 emissions, yet has greater seal strength.
Photo: Kier In Sight / unsplash
Mono-material sachets
21.06.2022
For packaging made of plastic, their potential to be recycled is very important. Refilling systems save material. Mono-material sachets and bags also reduce the amount of material consumed, protect packaged goods and have practical uses for customers.
Foto: Lambertz, StephanRauh
Christmas confectionery packaging
14.09.2020
Easter and Halloween fell victim to the pandemic, so let’s let the kids make the absolute most of Christmas. Christmas confectionery packaging and the tasty treats that they contain sweeten the wait until Father Christmas finally turns up.
Foto: BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT
Trademark law interview: How do I go about protecting a form of packaging?
14.09.2020
A fight’s afoot in the packaging sector. No question about it: manufacturers of packaging and also manufacturers of packaging machinery are brought before their competitors in courts of law at lightning speeds when it comes to competition law matters. When is it worth putting up a fight, and what should companies protect using trademarks?
Photo: Langnese/Unilever
Our ice cream packaging for 2020: From ice lollies to ice cream for dogs
10.09.2020
When the temperatures rise, grab an ice cream. In the dog days of summer, when temperatures reach over 30 degrees Celsius, everyone is desperate to cool down. The wide variety of types of ice cream in the frozen aisle increases every year and the colourful world of ice cream packaging design develops to keep pace with it. We present a selection of our ice cream packaging for 2020 here.
Foto: Nestlé
Nestlé protects bees with SMART BEES
15.06.2020
The SMART BEES app turns this limited SMARTIES edition into a masterclass on bees. Here, children can find out all there is to know about the busy honey-foragers and support bee projects across Germany with every purchase.
Foto: HARIBO
Haribo celebrates its 100th anniversary
07.04.2020
The family business was founded on 13 December 1920 and will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Today, consumers around the world enjoy this popular confectionery, which is regularly brought to market in new packaging designs. Easter 2020 is no exception: new special editions have been released this year.
Foto: Mondelēz International
The Milka cow is now a real, live cow
03.04.2020
The Milka cow has lost her lilac colouring, and it’s all thanks to an advertising campaign that focuses on real cows on the packaging of the limited editions and immediately laid the company open to the criticism of dedicated fans.
Foto: Lidl UK
Cartoons on confectionery packaging are to be removed
27.03.2020
Cartoons on confectionery packaging aim to tempt children – and consequently, their parents – to purchase products, say critics of such packaging. Lidl GB has now voluntarily banned these colourful characters from its own brand.
© Ritter Sport
Variety in confectionery and baked goods packaging
21.02.2020
Consumers want variety on their supermarket shelves. The confectionery and baked goods industries are answering this call by providing a wide range of seasonal special editions.
© Messe Düsseldorf
Number of the Month Confectionery and Baked Goods 2020
19.02.2020
Regardless of whether we prefer sweet or salty – the global confectionery and baked goods industry is delighted to see an increase in sales. Customers are looking for a varied range of products and packaging as well as practical packaging solutions for out-of-home consumption that are sustainable at the same time. Responsive and flexible modern technologies and equipment are in high demand.
© Ritter Sport
Packing Ritter Sport in paper
18.02.2020
Whenever German consumers hear the words Quality. Chocolate. Squared., they immediately think of Ritter Sport chocolate – and have done for almost fifty years. After all, the chocolate brand, manufactured by Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG, has been around for nearly one hundred years. But the iconic packaging and its sweet content are popular outside of Germany as well.
Photo: Fisherman’s Friend
Fisherman’s Friend: Strong tablets in a plain package
30.12.2019
Take a deep breath! Fisherman’s Friend lozenges are that strong, they are only available on prescription in the USA. Other countries, such as Germany, import the iconic paper packaging and its strong content as confectionery.
© Nestlé Deutschland
The Personalised Special Edition KitKat: Your own creations in personalised packaging
20.12.2019
Mixed drinks created just for you, personalised boxes of muesli and confectionery packaging tailored to the customer: Nestlé UK is getting in on the trend too and has introduced its first direct-to-consumer offer in Great Britain with its KitKat Chocolatory.
Photo: Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli GmbH
2019 Christmas packaging for confectionery
17.12.2019
For decades, sparkly packaging has been just as much a part of Christmas as the tinsel on the tree – and yet both are being used less and less. The sustainability trend in 2019 Christmas packaging for confectionery has now reached this Christian holiday and is causing packaging producers, confectionery manufacturers and supermarkets to rethink.
High-Tech against spoilage of food
03.07.2015
Over 80 kilos of foodstuffs are disposed of per year per capita in Germany according to statistical assessments. Innovative packaging material is to contribute to longer shelf-life.