Hardpack: gradually fade out?

As soon as the cork was opened, the foam rushed out. People often use this method to celebrate major moments in life. Imagine how frustrating it would be if you poured out the champagne from a soft pouch and the soft pouch wobbled! Or is it difficult to accept the red wine from the tray and pour the beer from the plastic bag? At present, high-end coffee beverages still use tinplate packaging. This choice is not unreasonable. People are surprised that despite the fact that soft packaging is rampant today, hard packaging still occupies a place and is flooded with a variety of shapes and capacities in the dazzling food and beverage market. Why is that……

In recent years, the packaging has gradually completed its transition from hard packaging, semi-rigid packaging to flexible packaging. Soft packaging has become the new darling of the packaging industry, while hard packaging, especially glass bottles and cans, is still firmly in place. It must be admitted that in many applications, flexible packaging is better than hard packaging, but this does not mean that hard packaging will gradually exit the packaging market. For example, flexible packaging has become the preferred choice for many food packaging because of its low price. However, if manufacturers want to strengthen the brand effect and improve the shelf life of their products, the expressiveness of hard packaging is even better. Not only that, but hard packaging such as glass bottles and cans can be reused. Even if the contents have been used up, consumers can still be placed at home and become “wordless advertisements”. It is difficult for consumers to pack B brand coffee or tea in A brand coffee cans. In addition, both glass bottles and cans are 100% recycled.

The war between hard and soft packaging continues. What is better than good? It is generally believed that the advantage of flexible packaging lies in the innovation and research and development of plastic technology. In fact, new applications of hard packaging in plastics are also emerging. It is worth mentioning here is the PET bottle. PET bottles for packaging drinking water and soft drinks have become very popular.

According to analysis by industry experts, the choice between soft and hard packaging mainly depends on the marketing strategy. For example, if the manufacturer wants to introduce a unique product, hard packaging costs more. Hard packaging is not suitable for price-sensitive sales channels such as hypermarkets, and is ideal for high-end gifts or food markets. Hard packaging can intangibly improve consumer product evaluation.

When it comes to better examples of hard packaging than flexible packaging, it can be said to be too numerous to mention. Hard packs are strong, shelf life is longer, and can be recycled. From an aesthetic point of view, the printing design of metal surfaces is more flexible and attractive from the outside. Consumers often buy soft-packed coffee or tea, but when they return home, they store them in cans. Hard-packed advertising has a long period of effect, and they can stay in consumers' homes for a long period of time.

Hard packaging is not new, but it is not as old as a dinosaur. It follows the pace of market development. As the graphic design process is getting higher and higher, and the packaging size is more flexible, the long-lasting packaging form of hard packaging is showing new brilliance.

Glass Bottle - Unbreakable Beverage Packaging

Glass is the traditional packaging form of liquid products. Due to its firmness and transparency, it is particularly favored by the beverage industry. With the prosperity of plastic packaging, many beverage companies have switched to plastic bottles, but high-end beverages such as red wine and champagne still favor glass bottles.

Industry experts believe that glass bottles are natural, versatile, and infectious, and these are unbeatable advantages. In addition, glass bottles can be recycled with high added value, which can improve product quality. Brands confirmed that glass packaging is an indispensable part of product value. Both of these are integral parts of consumers' minds. Therefore, the glass bottle has a value-added effect on the brand, and has a wide range of applications, which greatly helps the establishment of a product image.

However, glass bottles also have drawbacks. The biggest problem is that they are brittle, especially when they are affected by internal pressure and heat. To solve this problem, it is necessary to rely on a cap with a good sealing performance. The cap must withstand high pressure and be suitable for sealed packaging.

For consumers, the touch, texture, protection, and preservation of glass bottles are attractive. The raw material of glass is single, with strong barrier property, and can well protect the contents. Because of its recyclable characteristics, consumers are very much in agreement with their environmental protection.

In the beverage industry, beer, wine, champagne and some alcoholic beverages are all favored in glass bottle packaging.

Recycling or recycling?

All the current debates about packaging are focused on post-use processing. Everyone knows the 3R principle, namely Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But for glass bottles, the problem of recycling is obviously far greater than the advantage of recycling. Recycling glass bottles consume less energy than using raw materials to process new glass bottles. According to the Glass Packaging Society, about 10% of glass bottles are recycled and reused in processing, which can help save 2-3% of energy consumption. Glass recycling also helps to save resources and reduce pollution.

However, repeated use of glass bottles can make a significant contribution to cost savings. As long as the glass bottles are sterilized, they can be re-entered into the packaging process and do not need to be powdered, melted and re-shaped. Whether to choose to recycle or reuse, there are many factors and costs to consider, specifically the following aspects:

â—†Does the bottle need a deposit to increase the reuse rate;
â—† Whether the local packaging recycling is good;
Whether the retailer is willing to accept the requirements for repeated use;
â—† Does the beverage manufacturer set up a factory near the place of sale for refilling, if the glass bottles require long-distance transportation, the cost is unreasonable;
â—† Whether the beverage manufacturer adopts the standard bottle body and whether the government has relevant enforcement measures.

Although cost analysis is certainly correct, it must also take into account the reactions of consumers, government policies, and attitudes of manufacturers. From an overall perspective, reusing glass bottles is the most economical packaging method, and even cheaper than inexpensive carton boxes. Non-reusable glass bottles are the most expensive type of all packaging forms!

Flexible packaging transition

As a traditional form of packaging, glass is highly favored by high-end products. But in the face of reality, plastics seem to be more popular because of cost considerations. The scope of application of plastics has been continuously expanding, and has gradually extended to the traditional glass bottle packaging field. Red wine is one example.

Not long ago, a French wine producer launched a wine product in the United States that uses Tetra PRISMA packaging. The packaging capacity is 1L, recyclable, and easy to carry. Compared to traditional glass packaging, this package can save up to 90% of the cost. Because of its light weight, the cost of transportation is also greatly reduced. This example shows that soft packaging is gradually penetrating the field of traditional hard packaging and poses a certain threat to hard packaging. Of course, if you really want to replace hard packaging, flexible packaging needs a long way to go, especially in the beverage industry. However, the industry has already realized this inevitable trend, that is, plastic is gradually replacing the status of glass and metal.

Threat from plastic

Plastic hard packaging has three major advantages: strong, lightweight and low cost. If you add transparency, it will be comparable to glass. In fact, most of the condiments originally packaged in glass bottles have been converted to PET bottles. Not only that, plastic hard packaging is widely used by vegetable oil, bottled water and other products. Transparency is a very important feature. Consumers want to see the quality of the contents through packaging, especially products such as vegetable oils.

The most typical representative of plastic hard packaging is a plastic bottle with a very thin wall. This bottle accounts for almost half of all plastic packaging on the market, and it covers vegetable oil and bottled water. The reason why thin-walled plastic bottles are so popular is the low cost. Manufacturers use this plastic bottle to meet consumer demand for price.

There are many points in plastic packaging. For example, plastic packaging can adopt multi-layer structure design, and even can add aluminum foil layer, which makes the function of a single package rich. But this does not comply with the 3R principle, especially the last R - recyclable (recycle).

Plastic Bottled Beer

How to fill oxygen-sensitive beverages with clear plastic bottles is the focus of current technology research and development. The PET bottle weighs only 1/7th of the glass and does not break. It has achieved great success in the packaging of soft drinks, especially the 2-3L bottles. In recent years, small-capacity, single-serve, ready-to-drink beverages have slowly given up on the original glass or canned packaging and instead used PET bottles.

However, it is extremely difficult for beer to change from glass bottles to PET. Bottle body must have strong barrier properties to carbon dioxide and oxygen, and must have the advantages of transparency and sturdiness. The unit cost of a PET bottle is twice that of a normal glass bottle, and its air permeability is high, especially oxygen and carbon dioxide. The shelf life of beer depends on the longest period of time its taste can be maintained, and the infiltration of oxygen directly affects the taste of the beer. In addition, the decrease in the degree of carbonation also leads to changes in the taste of beer. The current research focus of plastic materials is on how to improve the barrier properties of plastic bottles to oxygen and carbon dioxide, and how to extend the shelf life of plastic bottled beer.

Another major obstacle is the filling of beer. At present, 80% of the world's beer is sterilized by tunnel pasteurization. The temperature at which this process is used is not always acceptable for PET bottles.

Currently, the types of plastic bottled beer that can be used are very limited. There are only a small amount of beer that can be seen on the market in some sports competitions.

Of course, technical R&D personnel will not easily admit defeat before the challenge. Through painstaking research, they launched several plastic bottled beer programs to meet the requirements of manufacturers and consumers. However, none of these existing solutions can fully meet the needs of the market, but each has its own strengths. Different products and different markets require different solutions, but the products are often driven not by technology but by the market. Barrier coating technology extends shelf life and improves oxygen barrier properties, while active multilayer bottles have high processing flexibility and oxygen barrier properties, but have a shorter shelf life.

In addition, sealing is still a big issue, regardless of the oxygen barrier ability of the bottle body. For a small-capacity bottle, the oxygen infiltrated from the bottle's mouth has a great influence on the taste of the beer, so that the effort spent on the barrier of the bottle is totally in vain. Currently available caps are metal crown caps, plastic caps, and aluminum caps. Plastic bottled beer requires a complete solution that combines the bottle body and the bottle cap. Therefore, high barrier performance bottle caps are also in urgent need of development.

Judging from the current development situation, glass bottled beer will still be used for some time, and the future of plastic bottles is also very optimistic. With the efforts of R&D personnel and the continuous improvement of technology, plastic bottled beer will have a good development prospect.

The development prospects of plastics

The properties of plastics determine that it cannot be regenerated, even in hard plastic packaging. There are various innovative technologies and materials applications in the field of plastic hard packaging, including blow molding, injection molding, extrusion, thermoforming and vacuum forming.

PP is a raw material that is worth paying attention to in plastic hard packaging and is applicable to various processing technologies and applications. It can be used to process various sizes of bottles, tubes, barrels, cans. PP can be used to package food and industrial chemicals. PP trays can be used to package fresh, refrigerated or frozen foods such as salads, snack foods, etc.

At present, the most commonly used plastic bottle material is PE, which is widely used in carbonated beverages, bottled water, fruit juices, and personal care products.

With the rise of plastic hard packaging, the accompanying challenges have caused technicians to continue their efforts day and night. Currently, they need to find a complete solution for plastic bottled beer, including solutions for gas infiltration problems and plastic bottle packaging designed to meet the taste needs of beer consumers. Carbonated beverages also encountered many problems when packaged in plastic bottles. Let us wait and see how to overcome these difficulties one by one.





Source: International Food Processing and Packaging Offers