How Berlin Packaging partnered with PakTech on a sustainable custom packaging solution to help a leading jam company sell to club stores in Europe
In early 2023, Berlin Packaging received a unique packaging request from a major customer. This customer, a large jam producer, wanted to get into club stores in Europe, where sustainability is a top priority. Berlin Packaging worked with PakTech on a custom solution that the customer loves.
Berlin Packaging Background
Berlin Packaging is a leading global packaging company. The company has over 100 years of packaging experience, more than 2,000 employees, and over 50,000 available SKUs, and generates more than $3 billion per year in revenue. Berlin Packaging also works with more than 1,700 suppliers. Berlin Packaging provides packaging for a wide variety of markets, including automotive, food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal health, and much more. In particular, Berlin Packaging has expertise in rigid packaging, such as cans, jars, and bottles.
A Jam Customer Was in a Jam
In early 2023, an existing customer contacted a packaging consultant at Berlin Packing with a unique request. This company, a large jam manufacturer, wanted to get into club stores in Europe. But the company didn’t want to produce a 30-ounce bulk size; they preferred to package together their existing 12- and 16-ounce jars into two-packs and three-packs. Importantly, this customer needed its packaging solution to be sustainable. As the company explained to the packaging consultant, “The big thing is sustainability, because these were being sold in Europe, where sustainability is at the forefront of consumers’ minds.” Berlin Packaging didn’t have a standard, off-the-shelf solution for this customer; meeting the customer’s needs required developing a custom solution.
Evaluating Solutions — and Choosing PakTech
Initially, the jam customer wanted to go with a cardboard solution, because they thought that was the only sustainable option available. But the packaging consultant wanted to present the customer with multiple options to choose from.
The packaging consultant knew of PakTech, because Berlin Packaging offered PakTech’s standard recycled HDPE plastic can carriers. Several of PakTech’s multipack handles offered by Berlin Packaging are shown below.
An internal resource at Berlin Packaging thought PakTech might be able to help with the jam customer’s custom request for sustainable packaging. When the packaging consultant contacted PakTech, the company was extremely responsive, providing information about its products, capabilities, processes, and the sustainability advantages of its 100% recycled and recyclable packaging handles.
PakTech was able to develop a custom handle for the jam company (shown below) that could be used by an existing piece of packaging equipment at the company’s manufacturing facility in France.
PakTech conducted extensive structural testing to ensure that this solution could hold the glass jars when empty and when filled with the jam product in it. The packaging consultant described this as an iterative process that showed the jam company that PakTech’s custom handles were a viable solution.
PakTech’s Club Store History
In 1993, just two years after PakTech was founded, an Oregon dairy was seeking entry into Costco, then a new concept called a club store. This dairy reached out to PakTech for a solution to package two milk bottles together. In response, PakTech developed the first TwinPak carrier for the dairy industry, which has since been used by many other food and beverage manufacturers for entry into club stores.
In addition to PakTech’s products and processes, Berlin Packaging and the jam company found PakTech’s cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis of the environmental factors to be compelling. Compared to both paperboard carrier and paperboard carton, PakTech has a significantly lower environmental impact on multiple dimensions—climate change, acidification, eutrophication, health impacts, smog air, and energy demand. Overall, PakTech’s global warming impact is about 2.5 times lower than the paperboard alternatives.
While initially the jam company had some apprehension about PakTech, after going through the data, it was clear to the jam company that the 100% recycled HDPE was much more sustainable than the cardboard.
Ultimately, the jam company chose PakTech's custom packaging solution through Berlin Packaging. The company placed an initial order of 15 pallets, with more orders planned in the near future.
“It was a quick, easy process. The biggest takeaway is they’re good at what they do.”
Benefits of Choosing PakTech
For the jam company, PakTech’s process of developing and testing custom handles worked well. The products that have been developed completely meet the customer’s needs, deliver the sustainability benefits that were sought, and are priced competitively.
From Berlin Packaging’s perspective, working with PakTech has been a great experience. Everyone at PakTech has been fast and responsive and is extremely knowledgeable about packaging, custom solutions, and sustainability, with great data around sustainability.
In addition to partnering to satisfy this important customer, among Berlin Packaging’s 1,700 suppliers, PakTech was recently recognized with the company’s inaugural Sustainability Supplier of the Year Award.
Additional Information
To learn more, visit:
- Berlin Packaging at berlinpackaging.com
- PakTech at PakTech-opi.com
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