Merrick Pet Care received help to introduce their new Fresh Kisses^TM dental treats for dogs from Takigawa Corporation America (takigawa-corp.com), a global leader in the art and science of flexible packaging.

According to Takigawa’s director of worldwide sales Steve Coulson, the challenge was to keep the dental treat’s fragile botanical oils and breath enhancers at optimum freshness. “The packaging structure needed to protect a product that containing all natural ingredients and essential oils with up to 33 treats in the package,” he says. “It’s a very fragrant product that has ambitious shelf life requirements.”

To protect the dental treats, Takigawa engineered a high-barrier metallized PET structure combined with an innovative audible and tactile Easy Tight zipper from ELPLAST (elplasteurope.com) that ensures proper closure every time, owing to its multiple tracks. The specialty zipper features a distinct “crackle” sound upon opening that creates a relationship between dog and owner by signaling an upcoming treat. “People buy with their eyes, so we also added a clear ultra-high barrier film for viewing of the product via the gusset panels,” adds Coulson. 

The resulting package structure gives Merrick’s Fresh KissesTM top-line shelf appeal along with supreme protection. “We maximized the beauty of Merrick’s colorful Fresh KissesTM artwork with Takigawa’s proprietary rotogravure inline print process,” adds Coulson. “The completed package looks fantastic while keeping the product fresh to the last treat.”