Clear Packaging Trend Expanding

Clear bottles and jars are not a new item in the packaging industry.  Bottled water and other beverages, cleaning products and a few other items have been using clear packaging for years.  However, for a number of reasons, clear packaging is expanding to other items, especially in the food industry.

 

In the food and beverage industry, freshness and quality are always a strong selling point.  In the past, clear packaging may have been overlooked in the industry as it let in light and possibly moisture.  Today, however, clear plastics offer the same protection as thicker, non-transparent packaging, allowing more packagers to use the clear option without shortening shelf life or causing damage to the product.

 

Combine this with the fact that consumers now want to see what they are purchasing.  In the food and beverage industry, clear packaging lets the consumer decide if the freshness and quality of a product are up to par.    Even for products outside of the food and beverage industry, see-through packaging allows the buyer to see what they are getting before they take the product home and open the bottle or other container.  This type of transparency helps to foster trust among consumers by showing a company or packager has nothing to hide.

 

On the producers side, the packaging process itself may need to be modified to ensure that the appeal of the clear packaging survives to the presentation of the product on the shelf.  For free flowing liquids like bottled water and other beverages, the filling machine used on a packaging system can help to create an aesthetically appealing shelf presence.  Overflow filling machines are ideal for creating level fills on such products.  The machine itself is designed to create level fills by allowing product to "overflow" once it reaches a certain level in the bottle or container.  The fill will reach the same level even if interior bottle volume varies slightly.  

 

For thicker products like jams and jellies that may include fruit chunks or other particulates, filling machines can use agitators or mixers to ensure that each container receives a similar amount of the particulate.  Adding this option to an automatic filling machines removes the danger of chunks and particulates settling at the bottom of the supply tank or otherwise not being evenly distributed into containers.  

 

As for other packaging machinery, unless the clear container creates the need to change the material, closures or other aspects of the packaging, little to no change should be necessary.  Rinsing machines can handle transparent packaging, though drastic size, shape or material changes may require modification.  Capping machines will only need to be modified or changed out if the closure itself changes.  If you are considering a change to a clear bottle, jar or other container to better show off your product, contact a Packaging Specialist at Liquid Packaging Solutions to learn more about machinery for transparent packages.