The average American child will eat 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches by the time he or she graduates from high school. Most of those sandwiches will be made by parents. Those same parents will also be cleaning up the mess. SKIPPY has a solution to help with both.
Hormel, the maker of SKIPPY peanut butter, recently announced the launch of a trio of new products, including a 6-oz SKIPPY squeeze peanut butter packaged in a squeeze pouch for portability and convenience. “We know consumers are looking for new ways to enjoy the peanut butter they love while still delivering on taste and product benefits,” says Jennesa Kinscher, SKIPPY brand manager. “We are thrilled to bring the first mainstream squeeze peanut butter and squeeze natural peanut butter spread to the category. It has already become a staple in our home for easy snacking, without the mess.”
SKIPPY Squeeze Means No More Peanut Butter Knuckles
SKIPPY is launching the squeeze pouch with two 6-oz varieties: SKIPPY Squeeze Creamy Peanut Butter and SKIPPY Squeeze Natural Creamy Peanut Butter Spread. Kinscher says the company is excited about its new product offerings, and just as excited about the packaging. “With SKIPPY Squeeze and SKIPPY Added Protein, we’re providing consumers a cleaner and easier way to spread the SKIPPY peanut butter and peanut butter spreads they love. The convenient, mess-free top of SKIPPY squeeze helps us address the dreaded ‘peanut butter knuckles.’ ”
The Perfect Pouch
SKIPPY peanut butter has used flexible packaging for sachets, however SKIPPY squeeze peanut butter and peanut butter spreads in a multi-serve spouted pouch is a first for the brand. Kinscher tells Flexible Packaging that the SKIPPY pouch package includes a spouted stand-up pouch made from an adhesive lamination with a custom fitment for easy, mess-free dispensing. As one of the first to market a spouted pouch for mainstream peanut butter, Hormel Foods’ brands continue to show leadership in product and packaging innovation with the SKIPPY squeeze peanut butter and peanut butter spreads.
Hormel Foods’ Three Priorities for ProAmpac
According to Hesam Tabatabaei, vice president, Product Development and Innovation, ProAmpac, Hormel Foods had three primary goals to bring even more versatility to its iconic SKIPPY peanut butter brand:
- An easy-to-use package for the entire family — including children and adults.
- A package designed for on-the-go occasions.
- Packaging providing a less messy dispensing experience.
How ProAmpac Addressed All Three Priorities
ProAmpac’s Design and Sample Lab (DASL) played an integral role in the design process by providing prototypes to determine the package shape and sizing along with the right headspace to both minimize packaging while providing acceptable filing efficiencies.
The ergonomically designed stand-up pouch holds five servings, or six ounces, of product, making it an ideal solution for on-the-go snacking. “The spout virtually replaces utensils to reduce mess experienced from scooping and spreading product and no clean-up of utensils, which is not only convenient but provides an often-missed sustainable benefit. Moreover, the product’s hourglass contour gives a broad spectrum of consumers the freedom to squeeze product from package,” confirms Kinscher. By focusing on portability and ease of use, SKIPPY squeeze peanut butter and peanut butter spreads reduce the number of steps for consumption by allowing consumers to simply dispense product directly to the desired surface, such as crackers, celery or apple slices, with no additional utensils required and also reducing product mess and waste with each squeeze. “The curved design of the pouch is not only unique and stands out from the cylindrical packages in the peanut butter aisle but is more ergonomic for the consumer and the dimensions were designed to fit the current shelf restrictions of the peanut butter aisle,” says Tabatabaei. “It was critical to keep the iconic SKIPPY brand front and center. SKIPPY squeeze peanut butter and peanut butter spreads use an alternative ink system and HD flexographic ten color printing to preserve brand identity.”
The Sustainability Factor
The new SKIPPY pouches provide an improvement in the product to package ratio when compared to a standard 16-oz plastic jar. The pouch reduces the amount of packaging by almost 70% over a current 16-oz rigid jar. Normalized for six ounces, the pouch still results in about a 20% reduction in packaging. This decreases the amount of virgin fossil-fuel-based resin (non-renewable) and associated energy and GHG’s to produce and distribute the packaging. The plastic jar has 13 times more product weight than packaging weight, but the new squeeze pouch improves that by shipping 16 times more product than packaging. The pouch also fits in less space, and its flexibility allows it to be a much more efficient package — not only for retail distribution and consumers but as an e-commerce package as well.
Another key sustainable improvement often overlooked is eliminating utensils to get product out of the package that need to be washed. “The ergonomically designed flexible pouch allows consumers to squeeze more product from the package, and a tear notch, an innovative solution for a spouted pouch, is provided to remove the fitment so the pouch can be completely emptied — reducing food waste. Also, by removing the fitment, consumers have the ability to wash the pouch for future recycling opportunities through programs like MRFF,” says Tabatabaei.
Materials Matter
Peanut butter produces natural oils that, over time, can impact the integrity of the packaging and reduce shelf life. To ensure the pouch met the shelf-life requirements of the product, the pouch material needed to be resilient enough to survive distribution and repeated dispensing while providing an easy squeeze experience for the consumer. ProAmpac engineered an adhesive lamination that provided high barrier properties to meet the shelf life requirements of the peanut butter’s natural oils while providing excellent clarity to view the product in the package without impeding the squeezability of the package. Should the oils separate inside of the pouch, consumers can easily knead the pouch to reconstitute the product.
Finding (the right) Closure
This pouched peanut butter features a unique Trust-T-Lok cap and spout fitment designed by Hoffer Plastics with a brand-colored twist cap, providing a safe, tamper-evident closure sized right for the viscous spread. In addition to ensure leak reduction and ease of use for consumers, Hoffer Plastics was also tasked with designing a spout SKIPPY peanut butter could obtain the right amount of “squeeze” during dispensing.
A Product’s Perfect Pouch
The pouch was engineered to meet shelf life, distribution and repeated “squeezing” by consumers along with clear and distinct brand graphics. “The new SKIPPY squeeze peanut butter and peanut butter spreads spouted pouches are an exciting new flexible format in a primarily rigid container aisle. The new shaped pouch provides some needed disruption in the aisle and provides a new standard for convenience and portability. The collaboration went beyond Hormel Foods and ProAmpac’s DASL product development and manufacturing to co-suppliers, ensuring the right fitment was chosen,” says Kinscher. The portability benefits consumers while reducing the amount of virgin plastic compared to rigid, allowing the shipping of more product with less packaging. The format is also a better solution than rigid for e-commerce. It’s clear that this partnership was an all-around win that will likely “spread” to other squeezable products.
