Looking for longer shelf life leads Nabisco Peru to higher production rates and sales

Nabisco Peru began by looking for a new packaging material that would increase the shelf life of its line of Royal Drink mixes. With a new film laminate, it found a way to double the shelf life of the dry mixes. In making the changeover, the company also increased production rates significantly and reduced waste--and used the opportunity and the savings to improve package graphics.

Nabisco Peru sells seven flavors of its Royal Drink mixes, fruit-flavored drinks that compete with carbonated beverages and mixes imported from neighboring Chile. Flavors range from traditional fruits like peach to chicha morada, a juice made from purple corn that is popular with Peruvians.

Previous packaging for the Royal Drink line had been a laminate of polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC)-coated cellophane and low-density polyethylene. The company was dissatisfied with the four-month shelf life that this packaging delivered. Its main goal was to extend shelf life--hopefully to eight months. The concentrated drink mixes contain a combination of acids and flavoring agents that require a stronger barrier to keep the flavor and aroma of the mixes in and the negative influences of the environment out.

The solution offered by Mobil Chemical's Film Div. is a laminate of Mobil Bicor[R] ASB film and Mobil Bicor[R] ASW film. Mobil ASB is a clear OPP film coated on one side with acrylic and on the other with a sealable PVDC. Mobil ASW is a white, opaque OPP film similarly coated on one side with acrylic and on the other with sealable PVDC. It is the double acrylic coating of the final laminate that keeps flavors and aromas inside the Royal Drink pouches.

At the same time, the capability of the acrylic coating to accept and retain more complex graphics has allowed Nabisco to improve the graphics on the individual packets, gaining more effective shelf presence and projecting the image of its premium flavors.

Speed Goes Up; Material Waste Goes Down

The new packaging was introduced in early 1997. Productivity improved as a result of the new film laminate, because the characteristics of the material--a lower coefficient of friction, better stiffness, better sealing in the presence of powder and a consistent sealing temperature range--allowed Nabisco to shift from a single-tube vertical form-fill-seal machine to multiple-lube equipment.

That equipment change has enabled the company to increase its production speeds by 37% and to cut material waste from 4% to less than 1%. The change that Nabisco most looked for when it initiated the project was achieved when shelf life was doubled to eight months.

Since the packaging change, Royal Drink mixes have increased their market share of the dry mix market segment to nearly 90%--a growth that Nabisco attributes to the improved flavor and aroma retention, and the new graphics.

For more information from Mobil Chemical Films Div., call (800) 334-7987 or Circle 583.

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