Safety first; new lid design renders plastic ice cream containers tamper-evident - Applied Technology

Dairy Foods,  Jan, 1993  

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Tamper-evident (TE) features seem to have permeated every category of food packaging over the last decade. The industry has seen everything from plastic shrink bands and wraps to protective overcaps to pop-top buttons on cans.

Still, TE packaging for ice cream containers has remained somewhat underdeveloped. Aside from plastic film inner seals that cover the mouth of the container under the lid, there have been few innovations--until recently.

Last year Dairy Fresh Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., came out with ice cream in a round plastic half-gallon container with a breakaway ring for tamper-evidence.

Packaging pioneers

It seems fitting that the pioneers in this TE packaging for ice cream are also pioneers in their own right. Dairy Fresh is made up of former long-time Kraft employees who bought a Kraft plant and struck out on their own in 1984. The company began by manufacturing fluid milk items under the Dairy Fresh brand name and various private labels. In 1986 it entered the ice cream business.

Now Dairy Fresh packages 45 percent of its total volume of ice cream in round plastic half-gallons and 5-quart tubs and 55 percent in rectangular paper cartons. Distribution is primarily in the Southeast, plus Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania Texas.

Cardinal Packaging Inc., Streetsboro, Ohio, has supplied Dairy Fresh with its filling machines and plastic ice cream containers since the company first added ice cream to its line. The injection-molded, HDPE (high-density polyethylene) containers come preprinted, nested and ready to fill. Dairy Fresh uses mostly three-color graphics, although Cardinal can print up to six colors.

The switch to tamper-evident containers did require some modification to existing equipment, which Cardinal performed, according to Gray Peele, Dairy Fresh operations manager. Dairy Fresh also plans to convert its 5-quart tubs to the tamper-evident version this year.

Premiere of the plastic handle

In addition to pioneering the tamper-evident plastic ice cream container, Dairy Fresh was one of te first to begin using tubs with plastic handles instead of wire.

John Hunter, president, explains, "You can run your container through a metal detector as a precautionary measure to make sure there's nothing in your ice cream that doesn't belong there." Also, most consumers seem to appreciate the plastic handle because it is easier to carry, he points out.

"We've been in the plastic handle business about six months, after one year of development," Hunter says. It took that long, working with Cardinal, to design, test and perfect a handle rigid enough to hold up under the rough conditions ice cream containers face during their journey through shipping and into the retail store.

Quality construction, precise printing

Besides being sturdy,Cardinal plastic containers are uniform, reusable and dishwasher-safe. They have a tight-fitting resealable lid that locks onto the base cup. These containers enhance shelflife and freshness via reduced oxygen transmission compared with paper cartons, the supplier adds.

A consumer preference for plastic containers vs. paper rounds has been documented through numerous studies where 77 percent of the consumers interviewed strongly favored the Cardinal premium image plastic package over the paper round. The survey revealed that the consumer perception of premium plastic containers is one of higher quality than paper, which enhances the quality image of the frozen dessert.

Cardinal's wide array of container sizes--in HDPE and LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene)--are useful for other food and non-food products, as well as ice cream. Cottage cheese, butter, peanut butter, snacks and salads are just a few examples.

Services available from the supplier include filling equipment, field service, and graphics consulting from concept through design, revisions, final artwork, and the making of custom printing plates.

In fact, Dairy Fresh has used Cardinal's graphics services for the design of special promotional containers. Cardinal's printing presses, with micrometer pressure adjustments and programmed controls, ensure a consistent quality impression on containers and lids.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Business News Publishing Co.
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