Page 26 - Packaging News Magazine July-Aug 2020

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SNACK & CONVENIENCE | www.packagingnews.com.au | July-August 2020
THESE days when you visit your supermarket for groceries, you will notice distinct changes in how shopping is done. Hand sanitiser stations are positioned for use as you enter the store. Staff replenish- ing stock are now wearing surgical
gloves. Other staff may be wearing face masks. At the checkout, screens protect the operator from contact with shoppers. But it is not clear if the new measures are completely effective in separating people and food, nor in preventing cross-contamination and infection. As we have learned, one transmitted infection can lead to many suffering from disease.
As an industry we have always been aware of the need for hygiene, but with our heightened awareness of the risk severity of cross-contami- nated food comes a demand for improved food packaging to further protect consumers. We are demand- ing assurance that people and food are separated, and that we are not inadvertently coming in contact through common touch points like fresh fruit and vegetables, or the packaging of staples.
The need doesn’t stop here. Individual soft drink, sauce,
condiment and many soft packaging containers all could suffer the same cross-infection challenges as they are handled multiple times a day during their life.
Can we have safe secure packaging that is also easy to use? Can product packaging reassure us with improved tamper evidence while also giving us the convenience of no-mess dispens- ing and metering of doses? Can we design and build in anti-counterfeit- ing measures in packaging to thwart attempts to copy our quality prod- ucts? As the number of SKUs increases, can we support the huge range of applications, and address the existing packaging shortcomings? It’s a complex set of challenges before us that must be taken up.
Looking at it from our area of spe- cialty, we believe closure products should perform these essential func- tions without compromise. To this end, at Caps & Closures we are con- tinually studying the latest interna- tional developments while innovat- ing to manufacture our own best-in-class technology for dispens- ing and finding new designs for packaging solutions to these emerg- ing requirements. ■
Dispensing and closure innovation for emerging needs.
Convenience in a crisis
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that packaging has a key role to play in ensuring health and safety. In this context, Caps & Closures MD Brendon Holmes talks about the new meaning of convenient packaging.
HOME-GROWN, WORLD- LEADING TECHNOLOGY
With a manufacturing base in Australia, Caps & Closures offers a broad range of off-the-shelf closure and dispensing solutions. These include the company’s award-winning Precise Pour for water jerry cans; regulated spray applicators; closures for concentrated cleaning products; lotion pumps; flip cap and disc cap closures; membrane valve caps for honey, maple syrup, sauces, mayonnaise and oil; and oil spray dispensers. The range is complemented by the latest child- resistant closures, tamper-evidence solutions and anti-counterfeiting technology.
The company says its sales and service team is trained to listen to brand owner’s needs, with dedicated engineering and manufacturing staff to support them. Caps & Closures offers full-service technology development, with manufacture in Australia and expertise locally available for each part of the product development cycle.