Food and Beverage Packaging March 2010 : Page 6

Editor’sNote Spicy packaging keepS leaderS from playing ketchup protection? Convenience? Point-of-sale appeal? My belief is that not only are all of these important, Y but they can be summed up as a single concept: Get consumers to use the stuff. Sometimes it takes packaging for some really basic products to stress that concept. And what could be more basic than ketchup and spices? They’re in just about every pantry and refrigerator. They’re used on all kinds of food. Spices have been around since the dawn of civiliza- tion, and ketchup, seemingly, since the dawn of American civilization. But sometimes it takes the simplest, most basic products to show you just what packaging can do. The leading American purveyors of ketchup and spices—H.J. Heinz Co. and McCormick & Co., respectively—have introduced packaging concepts that open up whole new dimensions. You’ll find them fully described in our New Packages section, begin- ning on page 10. Briefly, McCormick has rolled out Recipe Inspirations, a great concept that seems like simplicity itself. It’s a blister card with just the right amount of spices needed to make the recipe printed on a card on the back. And Heinz has developed a revolutionary improvement on fast-food single-serve ketchup packets, a package that traditionally has spread annoyance faster than it spreads ketchup. Its new Dip & Squeeze packet offers french-fry fans what amounts to a neat little tub. This is not, of course, the first time Heinz has discovered new red zones for ketchup. Its packaging leadership has ranged from introduction of the plastic ketchup bottle in 1983, to putting the bottle upside down (with broad closure and auto-shutoff valve) in 2003, to the Fridge Fit in 2006. If there’s a more pure demonstration of the power of packaging than these two companies’ offerings, I don’t know what it is. The more basic the food, the harder it is to emerge from the ubiquity of “commodity.” With all due respect to the great formulations people at Heinz and McCormick, ketchup and spices just don’t offer as much potential for distinguishing yourself from your competitors as, say, fro- zen dinners. That highlights the importance of packaging. McCormick’s Recipe Inspirations will make sure the spices inside don’t sit in the pantry collecting dust. Heinz’s Dip & Squeeze won’t sit forgotten at the bottom of the fast-food bag. It’s all about use. A simple concept—as basic as ketchup and spices. F&BP ou can always start a debate among packaging pro- fessionals by asking what they consider the single most important function of packaging. Product EDITORIAL PAn DEmETRAkAkEs Editor pand@bnpmedia.com RIck LIngLE Executive Editor lingler@bnpmedia.com mIcHAEL EscOBEDO Senior Art Director BILL AnTkOwIAk Art Director ADVERTIsIng mIkE BARR Group Publisher (630) 499-7392 barrm@bnpmedia.com RAnDy gREEn Publisher (248) 244-6498 greenr@bnpmedia.com sTEVE LIPuT Senior Sales Manager (847) 405-4112 liputs@bnpmedia.com ERHARDT EIsEnAcHER International Sales +49-228-2499860 info@eisenacher-medien.de cATHERInE wynn Senior Classified Sales Manager (847) 405-4010 wynnc@bnpmedia.com VIncE mIcOnI Advertising/Production Manager miconiv@bnpmedia.com AuDIEncE DEVELOPmEnT cHRIsTInE A. BALOgA Corporate Audience Development Director kOuRTnEy BELL Audience Development Manager ERInn DEEgAn Multimedia Coordinator cAROLyn m. ALExAnDER Audience Audit Coordinator For subscription information or service, please contact customer service at: Phone: (847) 763-9534 or Fax: (847) 763-9538 E-mail: FBP@halldata.com web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com LIsT REnTAL Postal contact: ROB LIskA at 800-223-2194 x.726 or robert.liska@edithroman.com Email contact: sHAwn kIngsTOn at 800-409-4443 x.828 or shawn.kingston@epostdirect.com cORPORATE DIREcTORs TImOTHy A. FAuscH Publishing JOHn R. scHREI Publishing cHRIsTInE A. BALOgA Audience Development sTEVE m. BEyER Custom Media RITA m. FOumIA Corporate Strategy scOTT kEsLER Information Technology VIncEnT m. mIcOnI Production LIsA L. PAuLus Finance mIcHAEL T. POwELL Creative HOLLy BAnks Marketing nIkkI smITH Directories mARLEnE J. wITTHOFT Human Resources EmILy PATTEn Conferences & Events BETH A. suROwIEc Clear Seas Research BnP mEDIA HELPs PEOPLE succEED In BusInEss wITH suPERIOR InFORmATIOn For Volume Reprints contact JILL L. DEVRIEs Corporate Reprint Manager Phone: 248-224-1726 Fax: 248-244-3934 E-mail: devriesj@bnpmedia.com ’sNote Spicy packaging keepS leaderS from playing ketchup protection? Convenience? Point-of-sale appeal? My belief is that not only are all of these important, Y but they can be summed up as a single concept: Get consumers to use the stuff. Sometimes it takes packaging for some really basic products to stress that concept. And what could be more basic than ketchup and spices? They’re in just about every pantry and refrigerator. They’re used on all kinds of food. Spices have been around since the dawn of civiliza- tion, and ketchup, seemingly, since the dawn of American civilization. But sometimes it takes the simplest, most basic products to show you just what packaging can do. The leading American purveyors of ketchup and spices—H.J. Heinz Co. and McCormick & Co., respectively—have introduced packaging concepts that open up whole new dimensions. You’ll find them fully described in our New Packages section, begin- ning on page 10. Briefly, McCormick has rolled out Recipe Inspirations, a great concept that seems like simplicity itself. It’s a blister card with just the right amount of spices needed to make the recipe printed on a card on the back. And Heinz has developed a revolutionary improvement on fast-food single-serve ketchup packets, a package that traditionally has spread annoyance faster than it spreads ketchup. Its new Dip & Squeeze packet offers french-fry fans what amounts to a neat little tub. This is not, of course, the first time Heinz has discovered new red zones for ketchup. Its packaging leadership has ranged from introduction of the plastic ketchup bottle in 1983, to putting the bottle upside down (with broad closure and auto-shutoff valve) in 2003, to the Fridge Fit in 2006. If there’s a more pure demonstration of the power of packaging than these two companies’ offerings, I don’t know what it is. The more basic the food, the harder it is to emerge from the ubiquity of “commodity.” With all due respect to the great formulations people at Heinz and McCormick, ketchup and spices just don’t offer as much potential for distinguishing yourself from your competitors as, say, fro- zen dinners. That highlights the importance of packaging. McCormick’s Recipe Inspirations will make sure the spices inside don’t sit in the pantry collecting dust. Heinz’s Dip & Squeeze won’t sit forgotten at the bottom of the fast-food bag. It’s all about use. A simple concept—as basic as ketchup and spices. F&BP ou can always start a debate among packaging pro- fessionals by asking what they consider the single most important function of packaging. Product EDITORIAL PAn DEmETRAkAkEs Editor pand@bnpmedia.com RIck LIngLE Executive Editor lingler@bnpmedia.com mIcHAEL EscOBEDO Senior Art Director BILL AnTkOwIAk Art Director ADVERTIsIng mIkE BARR Group Publisher (630) 499-7392 barrm@bnpmedia.com RAnDy gREEn Publisher (248) 244-6498 greenr@bnpmedia.com sTEVE LIPuT Senior Sales Manager (847) 405-4112 liputs@bnpmedia.com ERHARDT EIsEnAcHER International Sales +49-228-2499860 info@eisenacher-medien.de cATHERInE wynn Senior Classified Sales Manager (847) 405-4010 wynnc@bnpmedia.com VIncE mIcOnI Advertising/Production Manager miconiv@bnpmedia.com AuDIEncE DEVELOPmEnT cHRIsTInE A. BALOgA Corporate Audience Development Director kOuRTnEy BELL Audience Development Manager ERInn DEEgAn Multimedia Coordinator cAROLyn m. ALExAnDER Audience Audit Coordinator For subscription information or service, please contact customer service at: Phone: (847) 763-9534 or Fax: (847) 763-9538 E-mail: FBP@halldata.com web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com LIsT REnTAL Postal contact: ROB LIskA at 800-223-2194 x.726 or robert.liska@edithroman.com Email contact: sHAwn kIngsTOn at 800-409-4443 x.828 or shawn.kingston@epostdirect.com cORPORATE DIREcTORs TImOTHy A. FAuscH Publishing JOHn R. scHREI Publishing cHRIsTInE A. BALOgA Audience Development sTEVE m. BEyER Custom Media RITA m. FOumIA Corporate Strategy scOTT kEsLER Information Technology VIncEnT m. mIcOnI Production LIsA L. PAuLus Finance mIcHAEL T. POwELL Creative HOLLy BAnks Marketing nIkkI smITH Directories mARLEnE J. wITTHOFT Human Resources EmILy PATTEn Conferences & Events BETH A. suROwIEc Clear Seas Research BnP mEDIA HELPs PEOPLE succEED In BusInEss wITH suPERIOR InFORmATIOn For Volume Reprints contact JILL L. DEVRIEs Corporate Reprint Manager Phone: 248-224-1726 Fax: 248-244-3934 E-mail: devriesj@bnpmedia.com Editor Editor pand@bnpmedia.com 6 FooD&BE vERAGE PACkAGInG m a r c h 2010 w w w . f o o d a n d b e v e r a g e pa c k a g i n g . c o m How to contact Food&Beveragepackaging mail: 155 Pfingsten Rd., Suite 205 Deerfield IL 60015 Phone: (847) 405-4000 Fax: (847) 405-4100 web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com

Editor’s Note

Spicy packaging keeps leaders from playing ketchup You can always start a debate among packaging professionals by asking what they consider the single most important function of packaging. Product protection? Convenience? Point-of-sale appeal? My belief is that not only are all of these important, but they can be summed up as a single concept: Get consumers to use the stuff. Sometimes it takes packaging for some really basic products to stress that concept. And what could be more basic than ketchup and spices? They’re in just about every pantry and refrigerator. They’re used on all kinds of food. Spices have been around since the dawn of civilization, and ketchup, seemingly, since the dawn of American civilization. But sometimes it takes the simplest, most basic products to show you just what packaging can do. The leading American purveyors of ketchup and spices—H.J. Heinz Co. And McCormick & Co., respectively—have introduced packaging concepts that open up whole new dimensions. You’ll find them fully described in our New Packages section, beginning on page 10. Briefly, McCormick has rolled out Recipe Inspirations, a great concept that seems like simplicity itself. It’s a blister card with just the right amount of spices needed to make the recipe printed on a card on the back. And Heinz has developed a revolutionary improvement on fast-food single-serve ketchup packets, a package that traditionally has spread annoyance faster than it spreads ketchup. Its new Dip & Squeeze packet offers french-fry fans what amounts to a neat little tub. This is not, of course, the first time Heinz has discovered new red zones for ketchup. Its packaging leadership has ranged from introduction of the plastic ketchup bottle in 1983, to putting the bottle upside down (with broad closure and auto-shutoff valve) in 2003, to the Fridge Fit in 2006. If there’s a more pure demonstration of the power of packaging than these two companies’ offerings, I don’t know what it is. The more basic the food, the harder it is to emerge from the ubiquity of “commodity.” With all due respect to the great formulations people at Heinz and McCormick, ketchup and spices just don’t offer as much potential for distinguishing yourself from your competitors as, say, frozen dinners. That highlights the importance of packaging. McCormick’s Recipe Inspirations will make sure the spices inside don’t sit in the pantry collecting dust. Heinz’s Dip & Squeeze won’t sit forgotten at the bottom of the fast-food bag. It’s all about use. A simple concept—as basic as ketchup and spices.

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