Lesieur, a French leader in processed food, uses SuperLock barrier packaging fromSuperfos. The packaging matches the new premium product line that Lesieur recently developed with a top chef: Dried tomato spreads, aubergine caviar and black olive tapenade are now in 535-milliliter plastic containers under the “Puget” brand.
“We were looking for a packaging that could withstand autoclaving [sterilization] and keep the oxygen transmission at a minimum rate to offer products with a guaranteed shelf life of at least one year,” says Marina Testu, Lesieur’s foodservice marketing manager. “The qualities of the SuperLock packaging solution made it easy to convert from glass to plastic. It is absolutely convincing: Like glass, it allows for a transparent area, but it doesn’t break. It offers a long shelf life. This matters to us, to our distributors, hotels, restaurants and other professional kitchens.”
The polypropylene container, which is larger than the paper-labeled glass jars that the company uses and is molded in a different design than those, offers an in-mold label (IML) that is both aesthetic and functional: The full-body sleeve is made of a barrier material that provides the barrier for the PP container. A second IML applied to the container bottom, along with an aluminum laminate membrane that seals the contents, offer full barrier protection from top to bottom.
“We wanted to use vivid colors and show the product inside through a transparent area in the packaging,” says Testu. “Our brand display and the colors look beautiful and give a strong visual impact on shelf.”
Testu stresses that the SuperLock design is an important advantage as well: it has a twist-off lid that ensures trouble-free opening and reclosure. The container is straight-sided, which makes it easy to remove the contents, with little residue left.
The savory spreads that launch in April will be sold to restaurants through Cash & Carry stores and foodservice distribution.
-Rick Lingle, executive editor
