Beyond The Headlines: Tetra Pak renews its smart pack experience, Aldi updates toilet wipes packaging

20 Oct 2023 --- This week in industry news, Tetra Pak changed its smart packaging in partnership with Appetite Creative, and Aldi overhauled its packaging for toilet wipes. Meanwhile, Eastman and ICONS|ICS launched a monomaterial cosmetic compact. 

In brief: Collaborations and acquisitions
Tetra Pak, in partnership with creative technology studio Appetite Creative, updated its smart packaging experience for a leading European fruit juice producer with a brand new winter drinks theme to inspire its customers. The smart packaging focuses on orange, pineapple and apple flavors in the one-liter range. It utilizes a web app-based connected experience accessed via QR codes to give customers access to an interactive personality test. The connected experience generates alcoholic and non-alcoholic recipes tailored to the results of the personality quiz, including product preferences and the time of day a customer usually consumes the drink.

Aldi added warning signs and symptoms of bowel cancer to its toilet wipes.The Coca-Cola Company and Pernod Ricard partnered to debut Absolut Vodka & Sprite as a ready-to-drink pre-mixed cocktail in 2024. Absolut & Sprite ready-to-drink packaging will feature two of the world’s most recognizable global trademarks. Absolut Vodka & Sprite will be made with Absolut, the international premium vodka, and Sprite, the lemon-lime sparkling soft drink. The pre-mixed cocktail will be available in versions with Sprite and Sprite Zero Sugar, with the initial launch planned for select European countries in early 2024, including the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.

American Holt, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, announced the acquisition of DMA Solution, a provider of aftermarket replacement parts to production machinery used in the beverage packaging industry. The acquisition establishes a platform with two complementary business units, American Holt and DMA, that specialize in providing aftermarket parts for high-throughput production machinery in the F&B industry. 

In brief: Product developments
Aldi added the warning signs and symptoms of bowel cancer to its own-brand toilet wipes. The updated packaging follows the addition of the potentially life-saving information to all its packs of toilet roll as part of Bowel Cancer UK’s #GetOnARoll campaign. The packaging on both products includes a summary of symptoms and a QR code for shoppers to find out more about the signs and help available via the Bowel Cancer UK website. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, affecting thousands of people each year, with early detection being critical for treating and curing the disease.NatureWorks’ facility will have an annual capacity of 75,000 metric tons of Ingeo biopolymer.

NatureWorks, a manufacturer of polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymers made from renewable resources, made significant progress in constructing its new fully integrated Ingeo PLA biopolymer manufacturing facility in Nakhon Sawan Province, Thailand. The plant will include three manufacturing facilities as a fully integrated PLA complex: Lactic acid fermentation, lactide monomer production and polymerization. The facility will have an annual capacity of 75,000 metric tons of Ingeo biopolymer and produce the full portfolio of Ingeo grades. The effort was said to reflect the company’s commitment to expanding customer access to bio-based, low-carbon biomaterials with “unique” performance attributes valued by global downstream packaging and fiber markets.

International Paper (IP) announced it will permanently close its containerboard mill in Orange, US, and permanently cease production on two pulp machines. Approximately 900 positions will be impacted. The permanent closure of the Orange mill will reduce the company’s containerboard capacity by approximately 800,000 metric tons. The company’s remaining containerboard mill system in North America will include 17 mills with an annual production capability of 13 million metric tons. The actions in Pensacola and Riegelwood will reduce IP’s pulp capacity by approximately 500,000 metric tons (300,000 metric tons fluff pulp and 200,000 metric tons southern bleached softwood). The company’s remaining pulp mill system will include eight mills with an annual production capability of 2.7 million metric tons.

In brief: Launches and market entriesThe monomaterial cosmetic compact is made from Eastman Cristal One Renew, a RIC1 resin with 100% certified recycled content.
Eastman and ICONS|ICS, a supplier of cosmetic packaging solutions, launched a monomaterial cosmetic compact. Recently displayed by Eastman at Luxe Pack Monaco, the compact was nominated for Luxe Pack in green awards in the eco-conceived packaging category. The monomaterial compact is made from Eastman Cristal One Renew, a RIC1 resin with 100% certified recycled content. The elimination of traditional metal hinges and pins greatly improves the recyclability of the compact, while its refillable design allows consumers to easily replenish their cosmetic products. 

VOID Technologies launched its VO+ PE 1300 Series Voiding Agents to serve the rapidly growing demand for recyclable opaque films. The resulting voided PE film structures are compatible with existing PE recycling streams and meet the requirements for various recycle-ready packaging applications such as laminates, bags, labels and flow wraps. VO+ PE 1300 Series is being used to develop voided machine direction-oriented high-density PE films that offer a combination of low density and high opacity that is not feasible with mineral pigments like TiO2. The launch presents a new PE-based recycle-ready alternative to pearlized biaxially oriented PP, which is not widely recyclable and offers a significant growth opportunity for PE film converters.

Ansys Redhawk-SC and Ansys Redhawk-SC Electrothermal were certified by United Microelectronics Corporation to simulate its latest 3D integrated circuit (3D-IC) packaging technology. The technology is said to improve the power, efficiency and performance of edge AI, graphic processing and wireless communication systems. The certification empowers more chip designers to employ Ansys’ semiconductor simulation solutions that perform multi-die co-analysis for streamlining and ensuring successful design.

Factbird entered the Swedish market by hiring Sweden-based sales engineer Jonas El-Refai. This permanent entry into Sweden was said to strengthen Factbird’s European footprint and bring state-of-the-art manufacturing intelligence solutions to Swedish manufacturers. Factbird already serves Swedish enterprises such as Lindvalls and Kronfägel and sees a vast landscape of untapped opportunities in the Nordic manufacturing powerhouse. Factbird’s successful track record of improving productivity for F&B brands, pharmaceutical companies and packaging manufacturers will benefit Swedish manufacturers looking to reduce costs, increase output and meet sustainability targets.

By Natalie Schwertheim