Lids are ‘often overlooked’ in flexible packaging

Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Bury (formerly Chadwicks Lids) has partnered with The Lake District Dairy Co. to produce polyester lids for its Quark stir-in sauces.

The 50 micron polyester co-extruded lids cover a range of three products in eight colours.

Same barrier protection as foil

Ken Dunlop, sales manager, Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Bury, told FoodProductionDaily it was seeing a growing trend towards polyester lidding, as opposed to foil, which has all the barrier protection of foil and ‘tears’ better and arguably makes print ‘stand out’.

We're also seeing a trend towards higher end graphics to distinguish brands," he added.

“The complexity of producing a job like this is often overlooked as the lid is just one aspect of the packaging. Colour consistency is critical and not easy to achieve, especially on an eight colour job. It was important to have an eye catching design.”

The two companies were already working together on a premium lid for The Lake District Dairy Co. Quark range, which it launched in April last year as a healthy cooking ingredient.

Spoonable soft cheese

Claire Irvine, brand manager, First Milk, producers of The Lake District Dairy Co. said Quark has become the fastest growing category in cheese this year, as shoppers catch on to the taste of this naturally fat free, spoonable soft cheese.

We introduced this range of stir-in sauces to cater for the increased demand for healthy, convenient home cooking and it’s a natural extension to our quark range.  It’s a competitive market, shelf stand out is key so the quality of the packaging is fundamental,” she said.

We are delighted with the outcome as it looks fantastic and fits with our desire to minimise packaging through the low gauge material."

Dunlop said the company recently launched a range of lids for Yeo Valley dairy products that incorporates a unique code when it is peeled back – which it claims is the first of its type to be used in the UK dairy market and it has invested more than £400k in the latest laser perforating equipment for its pre-cut lids.

He said the high speed cutting machine and laser perforator will enhance the quality of perforations on its pre-cut lids, regularly found on multipack products, such as yoghurts.

Prior to the investment, it relied on traditional blade-cutting for creating perforations, but the accuracy of the laser equipment means the breakability is more consistent and easier for the end user.

It also allows for variations on the size and type of perforations that customers want on their products, something it wasn’t able to provide with the mechanical version.