The plastic packaging specialist GIZEH has developed a new dog food container for Nestlé-Purina. The main features are an aroma barrier and a long storage life.
The thermoformed 300 g polypropylene packaging has a highly effective EVOH oxygen barrier. "Dogs have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and taste, and they react to changes in aroma much more strongly than humans," explains Stefan Hundt, Head of Technical Sales at GIZEH. That is why Nestlé-Purina specified that the container should be designed to ensure optimum freshness and aroma protection. "We carried out extensive acceptance testing with the filled containers beforehand on a large number of canine taste testers," continues Hundt.
After the containers are filled in the customer's facility, they are sealed with an aluminium-plastic composite foil and sterilised by cooking. A shrink-sleeve is then applied and the containers are sealed with an injection-moulded hooded lid, also supplied by GIZEH. Even after the sealing foil is pulled off, the lid ensures that the contents remain fresh.
The precision manufacture of the lid presented specific challenges for the GIZEH development team. "Since the container is sterilised after filling and as it is slightly modified by this process, we had to measure the shrinkage tolerances in advance and take account of this when designing the lid," says Hundt. "The end result is a lid that perfectly seals the container even after sterilisation of the contents."
The new Bakers dog food range in GIZEH packaging was successfully launched in the UK recently.
