Packaging is more than what meets the eye

Packaging is perhaps the first impression for many products across the world. Packaging may include the shape, size, design and carries the visual identity of the brand with it. See them anywhere, you will be instantly able to identify the product and in some cases even the brand. Take for example these products:

Have you guesses them correctly? We’re sure you would have. That is the power of a good packaging asset for a company.

Innovation in packaging vastly improves the quality and functionality of certain products. When the milk companies were grappling with the complaints for milk turning sour and unhealthy, tetrapak packaging came to the rescue. No longer did people have to keep milk under supervision like they did earlier.

Tetra pak containers

Paper, plastic, glass and other materials have been used for packaging products since a long time. However, the revolution came with the arrival of aluminum as a medium. No longer did one have to worry being subjected to unfavorable weather conditions, breakage and non-biodegradable hazard. Aluminium is the most recyclable packaging material as it is 100% recyclable with the ability to be weather proof. Even tetra paks are made up of paper and aluminium foil layers.

Let’s dive into some facts worth knowing about aluminum in packaging:

Food grade aluminium foil is 8 times thinner than a currency note and yet it provides unspoiled protection against light, liquid and bacteria.
Heated aluminium is hot rolled into sheets between 2 and 100 mm thick. These are then cold-rolled into foil of the required thickness.
Dry milk is hermetically sealed in packages made from laminated foil. The milk has a shelf life of 2 years!
Aluminium foil is non-toxic and non-reactive for food.
The foil can be used for grilling food or even for cooking on an open fire.
In 1976, Nestle first introduced coffee in aluminium capsules to preserve aroma and quality.
Making cans from recycled aluminium requires 95% less energy than making them from primary aluminium.
Aluminum Smart cans contain a synthetic layer with special chemicals in between. When the can is squeezed, it causes an endothermic or exothermic reaction within the layers that results in the contents heating up or cooling down.

With abundant resources for aluminium manufacturing and unlimited recycling capabilities, aluminum is an unchallenged contender in the packaging applications. It is mouldable and thus provides immense scope for innovation in designing and employability.

Pepsi Aluminum packaging

The answers to the above pics are: Frooti and Paper boat (Yoodley has copied the same design in a different way)

For more packaging innovations, check out the following links:

And finally, the epitome of branding through packaging: Innocent Smoothies

15 Things Hardly Anyone Knows About Innocent Smoothies: http://www.businessinsider.in/15-Things-Hardly-Anyone-Knows-About-Innocent-Smoothies/articleshow/45364201.cms

(*Follow its Twitter and Facebook accounts for more fun)

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