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I opened the freezer door in the grocery store looking for one of my favorite flavors of ice cream. There were four facings of half-gallon paperboard tubs, stocked four deep. I pushed aside the front containers looking for my flavor. When I did not find it, I thought for a moment about my choices, then closed the freezer door and left the store - frustrated. I had enjoyed this brand and flavor before. I am what ice cream processors crave: a repeat customer. What forces had come together to thwart my desire to buy a particular brand and a particular flavor? One of those forces was packaging.

The brand I desired has twenty flavors in their premium line. The tub dimensions allow the freezer shelf to be stocked with only sixteen containers. That means four flavors will never be on the freezer shelf at a particular time. That day, one of those flavors was my favorite.

If the ice cream had been packaged in one of the new rectangular paperboard containers - either tapered like Mayfield's or straight wall like Breyers' - then there would have been five facings and a shelf filled with twenty-five containers. My flavor would have been there - and this repeat customer would have been satisfied.

Breyers started a revolution of change when they replaced folding cartons with more expensive canisters. They endorsed the self manufacture of canisters on PMC-1501NR machines because it was the vehicle needed to minimize the cost difference between cartons and nonround paperboard canisters. No corrugated costs, no freight costs, reduced warehousing costs, just-in-time production, and no payment of profit to a converter.

Clearly, it is cheaper to self manufacture, particularly when a company like Breyers focuses on forming containers with higher efficiency than even the best converter. What must be remembered is that capital cost - the monies needed for container forming - ranks fourth behind materials, labor and utilities in the cost of forming containers. And through all of these considerations, the people at Breyers recognized the value of the cube and space management. They replicated the dimensions of the standard folding carton so consumers like me would find their favorite flavors.

While Breyers focused on commitment, others, like Mayfield, gave higher consideration to flexibility. Mayfield also wanted a larger-appearing package than Breyers, and they achieved this with a taper. Sealright purchased a PMC-1500NR machine to form nest able,

half-gallon containers for Mayfield, an ice cream processor who also replaced their folding cartons. But Mayfield, too, was careful to define their container size by using the same packaging length as the folding carton, to insure retaining the expected number of package facings. Mayfield's goal was to give greater satisfaction to the consumer, with a sturdier container that featured better opening and closing, and a wider mouth for scooping.

The revolution goes on. Other processors will self-manufacture nonround paperboard containers for the year 2000 season. And other converters have joined Sealright to form nest able nonround containers for next season. These include Burd & Fletcher, Gulf States, Sweetheart with their own tapered nonround package design, and Double "H" Plastics, the

manufacturer of the composite lid which is being accepted as the standard for all two-piece packages.

Change is no longer a dream evolving through consumer research showing dissatisfaction with round canisters and folding cartons. Quality, two-piece packaging is here and it is customized to meet a variety of goals: variations in package shapes, choices of paperboard suppliers, in-plant or converter forming, flat or recessed bottoms.

Technology has changed at Paper Machinery Corporation, so all of these choices are available. Other frozen dessert processors will soon follow the leadership of Breyers, Mayfield and United Dairy Farmers. But change is not an end in itself; it is a process that must continue as long as there are market needs. Three products that demonstrate this were introduced in the PMC booth at the 1999 WorldWide Food Expo.

1. A new container-forming machine, the PMC-1001, formed paperboard pint ice cream containers with elongated rims at 240 containers per minute - at least 50% faster than present pint container forming speeds. In addition to the operational cost savings it offers, the PMC-1001 is an ideal means of addressing the market "surges" which are an integral part of the frozen dessert market.
2. Two-piece nonround paperboard lids, the first of their kind, were exhibited at the Expo. These lids were formed at a rate of 90 per minute on an LFM-9000 model machine from PMC. Sealright purchased the first machine and will be forming nonround paper lids for the year 2000 season. Beyond its cost advantages, what is truly exciting about this two-piece paperboard lid is that it represents the first time graphic designs can be printed in register on the lid sidewall skirt to match the container graphics, for round or nonround applications.
3. Changes in laws allowing dairy products to be marketed in sizes other than pint, quart and half-gallon are responsible for the third change. Dreyer's has been particularly aggressive and savvy about managing size and volume in their development of the Godiva 12-ounce nonround container. The unique shape and quality graphic treatment, plus the rich, flavorful product, overshadow other considerations.

Collectively, all of these new products for the frozen dessert industry are proving to be cost effective, while providing more options that reflect both consumer desires and retailer needs. My flavor is more likely to be on store shelves now for me to purchase.

For more information on new developments in specialty ice cream packaging, contact Paper Machinery Corporation, 8900 West Bradley Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53224, U.S.A., phone (414) 362-8247, fax (414) 354-8614.

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To learn more about PMC's fast, productive, flexible line of container forming machines, contact Donna Lehto, Marketing Administrator at .

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