All-natural product sits up and begs for compatible label

When it came time to select packaging for its new Sniffers® Shake-Ins™ dog-food enhancer, Chomp, Inc., asked label converter Gilbreth Packaging (www.gilbrethusa.com) to develop a distinctive label with colorful on-package graphics. Not only does the label tout the all-natural brand in three color schemes for each variety, it employs an all-natural EarthFirst® PLA shrink film.

The technical support team at Gilbreth Packaging chose the EarthFirst sustainable substrate from Plastic Suppliers (www.earth firstpla.com) for its eco-friendliness and compostability. EarthFirst film is made from Natureworks PLA resin (www.natureworksllc.com). In addition, technology developed by Gilbreth provided for placing the shrink-sleeve label onto the large oval bottle with a “no-frown” fit that matches bottle contours.

Chomp's Shake-Ins take full advantage of the colorful, full-body shrink label to create a shelf presence that has attracted industry and consumer attention, says Sarah Speare, president and co-founder of Chomp.

The Alliora division of France's Ileos (www.ileos.com), a paperboard-packaging converter for the fragrance, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, met the challenge recently to present “a bottle as art” for Martell's new Creation® Grand Extra premium blended cognac. The solution: a setup box that, until opened, masquerades as a large-binding, coffee-table art book

Closed, the setup box is garnished by offset printing, two hot stampings (gold and copper) as well as embossing. The Creation signature and Martell logo are appended to the box front via double hot stamping (blue and gold that subtly overlap).

Opened, the left side of the box is decorated with the Martell coat of arms; the middle binding is labeled by the logo, text and a blue hot-stamped signature; and the right side's beige thermoformed base holds the bottle meant to be reminiscent of a Roman arch.

Sometimes, multiple rows of labeled product on a store shelf just aren't enough to grab the consumer's attention. A little something more is needed. That's the idea behind the new shelf-ART® system from FLEXCON (www.FLEXcon.com).

The shelf-ART product is designed specifically to decorate a variety of retail shelving tops and sides to enhance brand recognition at the point of purchase. It also can protect the brand from competitors' encroachment on the shelf space.

A variety of overlaminates for the system are said to be resistant to product contents and extremely durable. The rigid 10- to 12.5-mils-thick combination of base and overlaminating films let shelf-ART be easily installed with few wrinkles. Removable adhesives make the product ideal for seasonal promotions, FLEXcon says.