H.B. Fuller Company, in partnership with Quaker Oats Company and International Paper Company received an Institute of Packaging Professional’s (IoPP) 2014 AmeriStar Award for retail ready packaging designed for Quaker Real Medleys single serve oatmeal.
Each year, IoPP presents AmeriStar Awards to leaders in the industry, recognizing excellence and innovation in packaging design. The team received the award in the promotional/display category.
The team’s redesigned Real Medleys packaging provides protection that takes the product from shipping to shelf while providing cost saving and sustainability benefits.
The new packaging replaces a two-piece tray and cover that had to be packed manually with a standard, one-piece regular slotted container or RSC case that uses H.B. Fuller’s Open Sesame tapes, a fully-integrated tear tape system.
The easy-open capabilities of Open Sesame create a clean edge without using perforations, which can weaken packaging.
Package efficiencies, savings
It enabled the design team to reduce material used by 35% while maintaining the compression strength provided by the previous two-piece design.
The company says this lighter case performs well under extreme conditions and meets retailers’ needs for an attractive, shelf-ready display.
In addition to using less material, the new packaging solution allows Quaker Oats to use an automated packing line and could increase throughput by more than 50%.
By increasing the number of boxes per truckload by 50%, it reduces freight costs and fuel consumption.
Additionally, because packaging stock keeping units were reduced from two to one, the new design takes up less warehouse space.
