Page 47 - Packaging News Magazine Nov-Dec2020

DECADES IN REVIEW | PKN 60 YEARS SPECIAL
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THE OLD AD-AGE
Advertising in Packaging News in the Seventies was markedly more colourful and eye-catching than in the Sixties, and contained some ‘sage’ advice. An advert for GE Crane Group says: “A good product in a mediocre pack is a marketing travesty that can be paralleled with a racehorse in hobbles.”
RIGHT: Feeling groovy? Containers Ltd pushes its ConPact Can with this lifestyle advert.
is claimed to be a breakthrough in bottle packing, eliminating tedious and costly hand packaging.
◆ Comalco Can Company reports the return of 34.7 million used aluminium cans for recy- cling in the last year, boosted by the opening of buy-back centres in Melbourne and Sydney. ◆ Australia’s first recyclable corrugated fibreboard pallet is launched, offering major savings because of its lightweight construction.
◆ Ingredient labelling is not needed in Australia’s food industry according to an executive from the Council of Australian Food Technology Associations, who says: “It is unnecessary to burden the whole of the industry with ingredient labelling to care for the medical problems of a minority.”
◆ A revolutionary coating known as Surlyn, an ionomer powder developed by Du Pont, forms a transparent protective coat on glass bottles that acts as a plastic sack retaining fragments if the bottle is broken.
1976
◆ Supermarkets are doomed to die a slow and miserable death during the next 15 years according to IBIS Research Services. “Home delivery services will push supermarkets out just as supermarkets have pushed the corner grocer out of business,” it says. “We estimate supermarkets reached their peak in 1975 and will soon be entering a decline. It can’t pos- sibly keep this growth rate up. If it did, within 10 years there would be no food sup- plied from outlets other than supermarkets at all, and that’s impossible.”
1978
◆ The Packaging Council of Australia (PCA) is formed, replacing the NPA, after twelve months of protracted discussions.
◆ Du Pont introduces Cyrel to Australia, a new flexographic plate-making process, making a printing plate directly from the negatives without engravings or matrices. ◆ Date code deadline: manufacturers have until 1 January 1979 to comply with the NSW Consumer Protection Regulation 1978, which requires date marking of all pre-pack- aged goods with a shelf life of up to two years.
◆ In response to rising environmental con- cerns, Comalco Can Company begins market testing the Stay-on Tab closure.
1979
◆ Coca-Cola Bottlers Sydney has won the race to introduce the PET plastic bottle to Australia, launching a two-litre carbonated soft drink container.
◆ The NSW Government announces it will shortly introduce amended regulations requiring complete ingredient lists on food packages.
◆ Confectionery packagers are planning to voluntarily phase out primary wrappers printed with heavy ink-based inks, because of a possible health risk to children.
◆ Wine in cans is a new trend in Australia which is reported to have met with an excel- lent market response.
◆ Cadbury Schweppes Australia has spent a ‘whopping’ $550,000 to comply with the ‘use by’ date stamping regulations in NSW. ◆ The Packaging Council of Australia has drafted a Code of Ethics which is being cir- culated among members for comment and approval.
BELOW: Catch of the day? Gadsden’s advert for its recyclable steel food can would cause a stir today among animal-protection lobbyists.
◆ A revolutionary, vacuum-sealed food packaging process, which has taken over 20 years to develop, is launched in Australia. The “Flavour-Keeper” retortable food pouch has been introduced by Colman Foods.
◆ The Coles Group of companies is going through a ‘depackaging’ stage with some of its products, Coles’ general manager tells an NPA meeting. He says many goods that pre- viously sold well in loose form had not maintained their sales when packed.
1977
◆ Blister packaging increased its market share by 200 per cent in eight months according to Simon Peck, MD of Signum Specialities. He says the pace setter is the retail buyer, insisting on a pack that is pilfer- proof and will hang sell.
◆ Odourless printing ink and compatible lamination adhesives are introduced to the flexibles market in response to environmen- tal concerns.
◆ “Ozone fuss” may be over now? A profes- sor from London Imperial College says: “The issue should be laid to rest as it is creating confusion with the public and is draining scientific and environmental resources away from serious issues; the ozone deple- tion theory is fundamentally wrong.”
◆ The aerosols industry moves away from fluorocarbons to hydrocarbons as propel- lants, imposing new requirements on aero- sol valves. A new pump spray is launched as a viable alternative to aerosols.
◆ The supermarket industry is on the brink of a new era: the advent of the front-end scan- ner attached to an electronic computerised cash register. From a packaging standpoint this means the universal product code will have to be applied to every package.
www.packagingnews.com.au | November–December 2020