PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2015

PACKING / PALLETISING 38 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 10/15 www.petpla.net Closing in on a secret by Kay Barton June 24, 2015 - We met: Mr Ralph Maser, Co-Owner, CEO, Mr Tim Ehinger, Co-Owner, Vice President Sales & Marketing and Mrs Carol Maser, Co-Owner, Customer Service Amerigo Labs, headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, was established in 2013 as a start-up venture by owner Ralph Maser and Vice President for Sales & Marketing Tim Ehinger. As product developers-cum-bottlers the two men had already known each other for around five years and in 2013 they decided to set up a small production workshop. Bottle assembling Set out on the boardroom table were a few of their products for us to try out. Even if we had not had any previous information to go on it would have been clear by now that what we were looking at was a niche product. The cap is a key feature of the small bottles (which are based on the single stage process and highly reminiscent of pharmacological products). This incorporates a small plunger which only releases its powder content into the liquid once the bottle has been opened by rotating down on the cap. Amerigo Labs are now looking to find partners for the principle and hope to take the market by storm – one reason for us to inquire about it. Ralph Maser, who is a qualified biomedical engineer, has been manu- facturing pharmaceutical products for 23 years. He is in his late fifties, although he doesn’t actually look it. “I make a habit of regularly consuming my own products”, he says drily and smiles. Before Amerigo Labs, Ralph, along with his wife Carol (who also works here in the customer service department) ran a foodstuffs company that enjoyed a great deal of success in Kansas. However, the desire for change and a new strategic direction eventually led to the firm’s closure. In its place Ralph set out to develop food supplements. “My first product was a brain health drink in a 60ml bottle. In this case, the powder was also in the lid, but was conveyed into the bottle by means of a pushbutton which, in my view, was difficult to oper- ate, particularly for elderly people. I hunted around for something different, something special that would make us stand out from the crowd”. Ralph vis- ited his local trade show, Supplyside West, in Las Vegas and struck lucky with the Italian bottle manufacturers Bormioli Rocco who showcased his patented New Shaker bottle. “This system had potential and was something of a game changer as far as the USA was concerned. Such a thing had never existed before and nobody else had this technology”, said Ralph Maser. The collaboration with the Ital- ian company Bormioli Rocco, based in Fidenza, prospered. “Tim and I flew to Italy and toured the premises of all the machine manufacturers until we finally found the right equipment. Then we went back to the trade show to obtain some feedback on the idea and, finding that more than 70 companies had declared an interest in the bottle featuring this closure system we set up the company and went ahead with purchasing the equipment“. But what is the principal reason for a bottle/lid combination of this particular type? “The advantage lies in the ability to keep essential powders unprocessed so they are as pure, stable and effective as the day they were made. This does add a longer shelf-life to powders that would begin degrading in liquid after being made. And because the powders are mixed in a fortified liquid, the drink is easily absorbed. For the consumer, the advantage is that they become the “chemist” by mixing the supplement just before consumption. Bottom line is that it is an attractive alternative to tablets.” Ralph has, for example, developed a probiotic drink which has a shelf life of around 18 months. By using the right combination of bottle size and plunger volume it would be possible to achieve a very wide range of formulas and dosages e.g. also for products in the medical field. Ralph has already developed five formulas: Brain Health, Bone & Joint Health, Energy Drink, Probiotics and Stress Relief. “In principle, as far as interested parties are concerned, we are able to offer anything to com- panies that express an interest and tailor the formulas to their require- ments or develop their formulas jointly with them”, says Tim Ehinger. “We are currently in contact with around 300 companies and even have a coopera- tive arrangement already up and run- ning with two other bottling companies who are impressed by the concept and are pushing it. We are also cur- rently in talks with Bormioli Rocco about a 250ml bottle with a relatively large in-cap volume of around 4g, but this will not come to fruition for another year at least”. As regards PET bottle sizes, Amerigo Labs is currently offer- ing the following options: 7ml, 10ml, 15ml, 25ml, 30ml and 60ml, all with a 17.8mm neck. In addition, the company is offering the appropriate closures featuring powder plungers in