Assignment 3

PACK 750
Design of a Flexible Package for Hot Filled Products
Objective

The objective for this project is to design a flexible packaging system for a hot filled product (of
your choice) that is currently offered to consumers in rigid jars, bottles, or cans. Hot filled
products are packaged at 195°F, cooled and subsequently stored at room temperature. Typical
shelf life is 6-18 months.

A) Current Food product details:

a) Company name: Hunt’s

b) Product name: Diced Tomatoes
c) Product Weight / Volume: 14.5 oz
d) Shelf life (unopened and opened): Unopened – 36 months
Opened – 5 to 7 days (Refrigerated)
e) Materials used: Aluminum can with BPA free plastic lining (Usually polyester)
Paper label
f) Ingredients of product: Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Less than 2% of: Salt, Citric Acid,
Calcium Chloride
g) Liquid / dry: Liquid with semi-solid tomato chunks.
h) How and who uses it?
Can be used by any consumer for cooking purpose.
i) Tamper evident feature(s): No separate tamper evident feature provided. The lids of the
can are seamed shut.
j) Transparent/opaque container: The container is made of aluminum hence it is completely
opaque.
Benefits and weaknesses of current packaging system (include analysis for all components
of the packaging system (e.g. container, lid, label, etc):
 Component:

Component Container Label

Benefits  Convenient, protective packaging  Paper labels are cheap as compared to other
allowing ambient storage for substrates.
food products.  Gives good printability of substrate.
 Provides excellent barrier against  Paper labels are 100% recyclable.
water, gases and light.  Paper labels do not have any wrinkle issues
 Large surface area provides more and edge lifting.
branding space.
 It is 100% recyclable.
 Shelf stale, impact and puncture
resistant.
Weaknesse  Product is not visible and hence  Paper labels are easily prone to wear and
s consumers cannot check the tear.
contents.  Has low abrasion resistance.
 Bulky container’s occupy large
storage as well as shelf space.
 Weight of the package is higher
as compared to plastic packaging
and hence transportation and
material costs increases.
 No easy opening features
provides and hence a can opener
is required.
 Can’s can easily be bent
throughout the distribution
channel.

B) New package design:

The new flexible packaging design is centered on the user’s need. Ergonomics, user-friendly and
convenience features should be included in your design.

New Package Dimensions including dispensing mechanism/feature(s)

The new package design suggested is a bottom gusseted stand-up pouch with a side laser scored
zipper.
Width – 140mm
Length - 210mm
Gusset- 80mm
Laser scored tear strip with corner Ez Zip pull tab for reclosibility.

C) Material selection:

1) Film composition & thickness:

7μm Al Foil

12μm PET

(Outer 100μm PP
Layer)
(Inner
Layer)

Ionomer
(Tie layer)
12μm PET – Used as the outer printing layer.
PE (Tie layer)
LDPE- Use as a tie layer to laminate PET to Al Foil using extrusion lamination process.
7μm Al Foil- Used as the barrier layer.

Ionomer – Used as the tie layer between Al Foil and PP.

100μm PP – Used as the inner sealant layer.

2) Major reasons for selection of these materials:

PP (Polypropylene): High melting point of PP makes it a good application for hot-filling as it
exhibits thermal resistance. PP films are smooth and have good melting characteristics. PP films
are relatively stiff. When cast, the film is glass-clear and heat sealable. PP is chemically inert and
hence can be used to package acidic foods like tomatoes. It is a barrier to water vapor and has oil
and fat resistance.
Ionomer (Surlyn): It is clear, tough, having high puncture strength, and has excellent oil and fat
resistance. It has excellent hot tack and heat-sealing properties, leading to a stong seal between
Al-foil and PP.
Al Foil- Aluminum foil has excellent barrier properties against light, air and moisture. The shiny
metallic surface gives good contrast for printing. Good temperature stability and prevents
oxidation of the packaged food. It has superior dead fold properties.
LDPE: Used as a tie layer between PET and Al Foil. LDPE has excellent heat salability and
hence adheres the 2 layers.
PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)- PET has high tensile strength, high melting point, low gas
and moisture permeability, high impact strength and dimensional stability. Pet has good printing
characteristics. It has high heat resistance which prevents it from burning while heat sealing.

3) List of equipment required for the packaging process and quality assurance (packaging line):
Laminate:

The individual layers of the laminate are formed using cast film extrusion process. And the
lamination process is done using extrusion lamination.

Printing:

Flexography or gravure printing stations can be used in-line for printing.

Stand-Up Pouch:
Pouches can either be formed from reels of laminated material either on in-line form/fill/seal
machines or they may be obtained as preformed individual pouches sealed on three sides, cut and
notched. Vertical form/fill/seal machines can be used for liquid products. Forming consists of
folding the laminate material in the middle, PET side out, heat sealing the bottom and side seals
and cutting to present a completed pouch. Alternatively, two webs can be joined, heat seal
surfaces face to face, sealed, cut and separated. Hot bar sealing is mostly used. Additionally a
laser scoring equipment is used to make the easy tear feature and the zipper tab is heat sealed to
the inner layer of the pouch using band sealers.

Quality Assurance:

 Selection and continued monitoring of the manufactured laminate materials with regular
testing of formed pouches for seal strength (post-sealing inspection and testing of closure
seals), product resistance and leaks.
 Maintenance and control of filling, sealing, processing and handling machinery specifications
for absence of defects and contamination control of critical parameters.
 Visual inspection of all pouches to check sealing after processing, lasers identify and check
print registration mark online to ensure proper printing.
 The laser scored tear area is checked for it’s placement and the zipper pull tab is checked to
ensure it is properly sealed.

D) Features and advantages of new package to consumer over traditional rigid container

 The move from a rigid aluminum container to a flexible stand-up pouch not only saves the
material cost as the overall weight of packaging material used has significantly reduced but
also saves on transportation cost and storage space used.
 The stand-up pouch design gives the same shelf presence and branding area as a can while
maintaining product shelf life and storage conditions.
 The pouch is light-weight and hence easy to carry. The laser scoring feature allows easy
access to the product as compared to the can where a can opener was required to open it.
 The zip-up closure allows the consumer to reclose the pouch and hence the product’s
integrity is maintained and can be used multiple times. The zipper is only given on the corner
to ensure guided flow of the diced tomatoes and avoid messy re-closing.