The Carton Shot from Tetra Top is here!

With consumers looking for more choice, daily-dose drinks packed in single-dose bottles are becoming an increasingly important segment of the functional foods market in Europe. More than 10 billion packs of this type are sold in Asia every year, and the trend for this kind of product is growing swiftly in Europe.

With consumers looking for more choice, daily-dose drinks packed in single-dose bottles are becoming an increasingly important segment of the functional foods market in Europe. More than 10 billion packs of this type are sold in Asia every year, and the trend for this kind of product is growing swiftly in Europe. Which is why Tetra Pak has developed a new Carton Shot Collection. The first member of the Carton Shot Collection is the Tetra Top Micro 100 ml. The handy format, with screw cap and product safety membrane seal, inside the cap, that provides extra convenience for the consumer. Familiar with the Tetra Top filling machine TT/3 170V? Say hello to its improved version, the TT/3 180V XH. The 180V produces all four of Tetra Top’s package formats, namely the Base, Midi, Mini and Micro, in different heights. This creates a volume range from 100 ml to 1000 ml. So when it comes to filler flexibility and package differentiation very few packaging systems can compete with Tetra Top. “The TT/3 180V uses less power, weighs less, and has a lower maintenance cost compared to its predecessor”, says Jens Mogard , Product Portfolio Manager, Tetra Top. With its new Lid Forming Unit Generation 2, the TT/3 180V spoils one for choice with many possible combinations of package, volumes and openings. The Tetra Top TT/3 filling machine is a flexible packaging solution for chilled dairy and juice products. It is equipped with two parallel production lines and has a total capacity of up to 9,000 packages per hour. These two lines can produce a combination of different volumes, bottom formats, and openings simultaneously. The machine is designed to provide XH (extended hygiene) capability as standard. This provides outstanding food safety, opens up the possibility to enhance product shelf life, and enables producers to widen their distribution channels. A key component in any Tetra Top filling machine is the lid-forming unit (LFU) which injection moulds the polyethylene lids directly onto carton sleeves. Validated in Finland “Market research shows that one of the big growth trends in functional foods in Europe is single-dose packaging,” says Leena Metsäniitty, marketing research director of Valio Ltd. “Consumers perceive these small packages as handy and efficient. We introduced Gefilus in a single-dose format in 1999, but that was a plastic bottle and we really wanted a more environmentally compatible package.” “Therefore we decided to start working with Tetra Pak on the new shot pack. This is the first carton shot of its type in the world. There were some ‘teething troubles,’ and the original timetable slipped somewhat, but Tetra Pak worked hard to get everything right.” “There are three main benefits with the Tetra Top Micro compared to plastic bottles. The first one is concerning the environmental aspect, and the fact that more than 50% of the package is made of renewable material. The second aspect is the marketing on the package. With a carton package you tend get a larger printing surface for our customers to position its brand. The third aspect is the fact that with this solution you have a flexible and extremely hygiene machine where you can switch between different openings and different package sizes”, says Sverre Falck, Tetra Pak Finland, Key Account Manager for Valio.