Mayonnaise to PET Cans

Unilever believes that a new 32 ounce polyethylene terephthalate can made by Amcor PET Packaging using the blow-moulding process is a perfect fit for their Hellmann`s® mayonnaise range. Now. The brand has used 48-ounce and 64-ounce PET cans, but until now, this change has been made for 32-ounce containers, which is still not ideal in terms of cost. The packaging technology manager of Unilever Foods Vinod Bansal said so. “The use of PET for packaging with a larger package is more economically beneficial because the resin's weight per unit volume decreases as the size of the container increases. Nowadays, Amcor's blow-molding - Trimming technology makes this transition possible, explains Bansal.

Although blow-moulding technology has been around for several years, Unilever believes Amcor's large-volume, two-step process is what they need. Using this method to process their 32-oz cans can achieve cost goals. “Because plastic packaging is not broken and light, but also easier to handle than glass, consumers are clearly inclined to plastic packaging. We have been making this change for more than a year,” Bansal added.

In the blowing-refining production process, not only resin, energy, and cycle time are shortened, but also the production of wide-necked, rough-processed semifinished products can reduce the need for high-cost molding processing. When molding, the wide-mouthed can is placed in the mold of the bottle rather than the rough-processed semi-finished product, so when the container is removed from the mold there are two parts - the threaded can and the trimmed dome in the online processing step . This packaging shift is used in four different product categories: Hellmann's plain mayonnaise, light mayonnaise, low-fat mayonnaise, and canola oil.

Source: Packaging Expo