PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2018

PACKAGING / PALLETISING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 04/18 www.petpla.net 42 Ecommerce-friendly packaging project launch Alamo Red Salsa in PET jars Houston, Texas-based contract food packager Consolidated Mills wanted a better way to bring their Alamo Red branded products to consumers. After being frustrated with the normal retail model which relies on distributors to manage the distri- bution channel to the retailer and ultimately to the consumer, owners and brothers Keith and Scott Vrana, decided that they needed to have more control over this process. Consolidated Mills, Inc. is a Houston, TX based food contract packaging company that specialises in dry blending, processed foods, and flavour con- centrates. Since 1962, Consolidated Mills has offered custom blending and packaging solutions for spices, salsas and sauces, flavour concentrates, and non-alcoholic cocktail mixers. Alamo Red is a Consolidated Mills brand that features Texas Crafted recipes for Fire Roasted Salsas, Bloody Mary Mixes, Spice Blends, BBQ Sauces, and Margarita Mixes. Alamo Red can be found in Spec’s Liquor locations around Texas. “Our ultimate goal was to control our brand including how we supply the product to our consumers and how we continue to support our com- munity,” said Keith Vrana. In addition to launching their Alamo Red Foods website, in which consumers can order their family of products, Consoli- dated Mills has partnered with its local school district, and has launched an additional website to promote “buying local”. Parents can go to this website, select the school or school’s organisa- tion that they associate with, and then order a custom case of salsa. Con- solidated Mills will donate $5.00 per case to the school or organisation that the customer has chosen. There are three salsa SKUs: Medium Heat Fire Roasted Salsa, Hot Heat Fire Roasted Salsa and Black Bean, and Corn Fire Roasted Salsa. Ecommerce-friendly solution To provide a better ecommerce solution to the standard glass jar, Consolidated Mills needed a more durable and lighter alternative.“After seeing a sample of the new Apex jar, I knew this would be a game changer for the ecommerce industry,” said Keith Vrana, Owner, Consolidated Mills. At this point, David Parker, packaging consultant and the Tricor- Braun team, were asked to step in to facilitate the process for commer- cialisation. TricorBraun partnered with Consolidated Mills and the manufac- turer of the Apex jar, to trial a hot fill PET jar. According to Vrana, “Tricor- Braun was instrumental in helping us realise our objective.” Consolidated Mills wanted to be able to fill the PET jars with their current equipment line used to fill glass jars. “We wouldn’t have done this if a large financial investment was needed to change the set up and the equipment,” explains Vrana. The main goal of the trial was to set up the production line in the same way that it would have been for the glass container to properly cap, using a steam injected capper, and label the new PET jar. Technicians were on hand from the enclosure and capper manufacturer to help fine tune the cap application. “Because we do not have a cooling tunnel, we allow the jars to naturally cool in the shipper box after being filled and labelled...so our main concern was how the labels would react to the PET material. We did see some problems initially, but our label supplier recommended a new mate- rial that corrected the issue,” explains Vrana. PET versus glass The advantages of PET versus glass are numerous. “Using the PET jars greatly reduces the decibel levels during production, and we don’t have to worry about broken glass shut- ting down the line. Our cases weigh three pounds less now, reducing our freight cost, and because we are now shipping plastic containers, we are able to eliminate the extra packag- ing costs needed for ecommerce,” according to Vrana. “Our goal is to get all of our salsas plus our other Alamo Red products, Blood Mary mixes and barbeque sauces, into hot fill PET jars,” explains Vrana. He goes on, “We will also encourage our private label customers to switch to PET as well.” Vrana describes working with TricorBraun this way, “Every time we discuss a project or idea with Tricor- Braun, both Scott and I feel that they are truly engaged in what we are trying to accomplish. David and the rest of the TricorBraun team under- stand where we wanted to go, and offered ideas to help us achieve our mutual goals. We’re poised for growth and TricorBraun is helping us get there.” According to Parker, “We’re thrilled to be helping Consolidated Mills with this ecommerce-friendly pro- ject launch...now consumers accus- tomed to the quality look and feel of a glass jar with a metal lug closure will enjoy the same quality experience with a lightweight, shatter-proof PET jar. It’s a win-win.” www.tricorbraun.com www.alamoredfoods.com