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Standing out from the competition Globally, the range of Non-Carbonated Soft Drinks on offer continues to grow. This means providers need a distinctive package design to make themselves stand out from the competition. Convenience issues, and the creation of package sizes to suit a variety of requirements, are also becoming increasingly important. SIG Combibloc meets these demands with solutions tailor-made to its customers’ needs. Batávia, one of Brazil’s biggest food manufacturers, aims to enrich the South American market with new products in innovative packaging. The company has chosen SIG Combibloc as its partner, and sells a variety of products in its renowned ‘Batavo’ range in the slender, elegant combifit format. The ‘Batavo’ range represents combifit’s debut on the South American market. Another example of a successful and enduring international partnership is SIG Combibloc’s work with Eckes-Granini. Eckes-Granini uses solutions from SIG Combibloc for many of its products – international premium brands such as ‘hohes C’ [high C] and ‘granini’, and local brands such as Clippo, FruchtTiger, Marli, Réa, Sío and YO. In France, Eckes-Granini is among the first companies to take advantage of the potential offered by a tailor-made carton pack – the company’s ‘Joker’-brand juices are offered in combishape, the first aseptic carton pack with its own distinctive shape. Creating new paths is the aim of the International Company for Agro-Industrial Projects (Beyti). The company, a subsidiary of the International Group for Investments (IGI), has introduced the combiSwift screw cap on its ‘Beyti’-brand fruit nectars in Egypt. The nectars are sold in two formats – the combiblocSlimline 1,000 ml, and the handy combiblocMini 250 ml single-serve pack with drinking straw for on-the-go consumption. Coca-Cola subsidiary Multon, one of Russia’s most popular providers of juices and nectars, has also opted for the practical combiSwift closure for its ‘Rich’-brand premium juices in the combifitPremium 1,000 ml carton pack. Aside from these convenience considerations, the growing health-consciousness of consumers is having a significant impact in the NCSD sector. Increasingly, products claiming to offer extra health benefits through special added ingredients are appearing on the market. The task for packaging designers is to communicate these extra benefits to consumers – a special challenge when it comes to products for children, who tend to turn up their noses at anything healthy. To counteract this tendency, manufacturers often use cartoon characters and motifs from popular children’s films. Johanna Foods, one of the biggest providers and co-packers of juices and fruit-based beverages on the US east coast, fills ‘Sesame Street’ juices in a range of flavours exclusively for ‘Apple & Eve’. This premium juice provider opts for the combiblocMini 125 ml carton pack with drinking straw for its ‘Sesame Street’ juice drinks. The four display surfaces of the carton pack are exploited to the full, to create an eye-catching product adorned with images of Sesame Street characters. As consumers become more health-conscious, non-carbonated water continues to gain in popularity. Because it is consumed everywhere, under all kinds of circumstances, it needs to be easy to transport and convenient to use. Krings Fruchtsaft, one of Germany’s leading beverages manufacturers, has responded to this trend, offering its still water ‘Herrather Jungbrunnen’, ‘O’Lacys’ and ‘Plus’ varieties on the German and Dutch markets in the combiblocMagnum 1,500 ml carton pack with combiSwift screw cap. And the company has opted for carton packs – combifitPremium 500 ml with the combiTwist closure – for its ‘Minute Maid’ juices, which are sold, for example, at McDonald’s. One look at the huge range of wines sold in carton packs world-wide shows that for wine, the carton pack has become a popular alternative to bottles. Winemakers are increasingly choosing this form of packaging to offer customers an attractive and convenient product. The Italian market provides a good example of the popularity of carton packs for wine. Caldirola/Giacobazzi offers ‘La Vignetta’ wines in combifitMidi 1,000 ml in Italy. Red and white wines by the same manufacturer are also available in the smaller combifitMidi 500 ml, under the brand name ‘Il mezzolitro’. There have been similar developments in Chile. The country’s biggest producer, Viña San Pedro, offers ‘Gato’, one of its major brands, in combiblocPremium 500 ml and 1,000 ml, and in the combiblocMaxi 2,000 ml carton pack – which helped the brand to a 20% increase in its market share between 2001 and 2006. And in mid-2000, the company offered a premium Cabernet Sauvignon in a carton pack for the first time. Within a matter of weeks, the wine had captured a leading position in the market. A further example that illustrates the wide range of products and markets where SIG Combibloc is active is its collaboration with Chen Kou Wei Food. Among other products, this Taiwanese manufacturer sells its teas in the combifitPremium package format. With this top-flight packaging concept, introduced in 2003, the company has established itself in the premium segment and the catering sector. |
