BW Converting targets pet food with resealable closure technology

BW Converting has expanded the application potential for its Hudson-Sharp Pour & Lok technology. The solution aims to support flexible packaging converters with resealable pet food packaging. 

Pour & Lok is designed for roll-stock production. The solution features an “easy-pour, easy-reclose format” and efficient processing on existing form-fill-seal lines. The format is said to be well-suited for pet food applications, where maintaining freshness and enabling clean, convenient dispensing are important at home and in the supermarket.

Péter Sztehnó, sales director EMEA — Bag Converting and Printing at BW Converting, says: “Pour & Lok gives converters a practical way to bring added functionality to pet food packaging without creating unnecessary complexity for their customers’ filling operations.”

“It opens the door to a high-value application with a format that is convenient for consumers, straightforward for brands to run, and well-suited to today’s flexible packaging market.”

User-friendly solution

Pour & Lok has a gusseted opening that unfolds into a controlled pour feature, providing consumers with an easy approach to dispense and reclose. It can also pair with hook-to-hook closures for added convenience.

BW Converting highlights that it has designed the solution to fit into roll-to-roll production while allowing downstream processing on existing vertical form-fill-seal equipment. “That means brand customers can run a more convenient, resealable package format without major equipment changes, seal bar modifications or unnecessary disruption on the filling line,” says the company.

While pet food is the primary focus, Pour & Lok also offers potential for other pourable products, including cereal, snacks, nuts, seeds, select frozen foods, and certain lawn and garden products, particularly in smaller package sizes.

In related business news, this month, UFlex opened a manufacturing plant for woven PP (WPP) bags in Altamira, Mexico. India’s packaging giant invested US$52 million in the 10-acre facility with an annual production capacity of 80 million WPP bags, targeting the pet food market.

Earlier this year, Mars opened its AU$112.6 million (US$78 million) pet food pouch facility in Wodonga, Australia. The pouch facility is estimated to manufacture 290 million pouches for premium wet cat food each year for brands including Whiskas, Dine, Optimum, and Advance.