Packaging Strategies held its 10th annual Global Pouch Forum this past week in Chicago.  The event drew two hundred or so equipment providers, material suppliers, converters, co-packers, and brand owners: we were the only electron beam company on hand.  The discussion focused on trends, innovation, and sustainability issues surrounding the pouch packaging format.

For those of you who are not familiar, pouches are one of the fastest growing methods for the packaging of foods, beverages, and consumer goods. Wild Flavors broke the mold when they introduced the Capri Sun pouch back in 1981. Since this time, the use of pouches as a packaging technology has grown exponentially and is now encroaching on many of the packaging applications traditionally dominated by cans, bottles, and boxes.

Some of the advances in pouch technology discussed were:

• Resealability (Sargento Foods was given an award for it resealable shredded cheese bag)
• Easy pour features
• Freshness seals
• Aseptic filling
• Barrier technologies and active packaging concepts (we discussed this technology in Electron Beam Curing for Advanced Funtional Coatings)

As would be expected, sustainability was a common theme.  While comparisons of carbon footprint are difficult and infinitely debatable, the pouch has some intuitive advantages over traditional packaging formats:

For Beverages: Less resin used than PET bottles

For Perishables: Resealability reduces food waste over cans

For Dry Goods: Lighter weight and cheaper to produce than bag in box

Ebeams for Pouches? 

Electron Beam technology can impact the pouch business in a few key ways: 

1. In-line electron beam sterilization of pouches and web material is low heat, chemical free alternative for aseptic filling applications
2. EB Curing of inks, coatings, and adhesives can be an energy efficient, VOC -free alternative to traditional solvent based curing
3. EB crosslinking of films can improve strength and heat resistance of common polymer materials - leading to less overall resin used in the packaging.