Hoping to Duplicate Success, Austin Launches Cookies in LINEARPACK
About a year ago, Austin Quality Foods (Cary, NC) found a way to break through the clutter on the snack aisle by launching its Dolphins & Friends Bite Sizes Crackers in Sonoco's LINEARPACK canister. The rectangular-shaped, high-performance package, featuring a dramatic curved face for excellent label graphic billboarding and consumer-friendly attributes, differentiated Dolphins & Friends from the sea of other snack offerings on store shelves.
Hoping to duplicate that success, Austin is now adding SeAnimals SEAlicious Crunchy Cookies to its lineup of products packed in the LINEARPACK canister.
Says Mike Ritchey, vice president of marketing for Austin Quality Foods: "Since introducing Dolphins & Friends in the LINEARPACK canister in April 1999, we have received a tremendous response from customers who like the fact that it's easy to open and reclose and highly portable. The enhanced snackability of the package combined with the positive response from customers drove our decision to pack two of our cookie products in the same canister."
Total package
The new SeAnimals package is identical in size, shape and construction to the original Dolphins & Friends package, which is essentially rectangular in shape, with bowed sides allowing for a broad presentation of the label graphics. The 8-oz package features flexographic-printed convolute labels, which are supplied by American Packaging Corp. (Philadelphia). Like the Dolphins & Friends container, the SeAnimals package incorporates a peelable SAFETOP tabbed membrane opening system with a linear low-density plastic overcap for resealing. The red overcap complements the label graphics.
The canister consists of two layers of 100% recycled paperboard, a paper bottom and a foil liner. This construction provides excellent moisture and oxygen barrier to protect the flavor and crisp texture of the cookies.
Although Austin originally selected Sonoco's LINEARPACK canister because of the differentiation the shaped package provided, the company has been pleasantly surprised by its allure, according to consumer response. "Our customers want packages that are easy to open and reclose, that keep the product fresh after opening, and that are easy to grip, stack and store," adds Ritchey. "The LINEARPACK does a great job of delivering what consumers are looking for."
Research favors canister packs
Consumer research conducted in 1999 by Convergys Marketing Research on behalf of Sonoco substantiates Austin's findings. The research, which compared Sonoco's packages to bag-in-box, pillow bag, standup pouches and gabletop cartons, showed consumers preferred LINEARPACK shaped canisters and traditional round canisters for snack products by a three-to-one margin.
"LINEARPACK gives customers the unique opportunity to use shape to reinforce their product's identity," says Sonoco market manager Patrick Keese. "Not only is LINEARPACK a good vehicle for new product introductions, it's also a way to breathe new life into mature products and add additional SKUs using a shaped package like Austin has done."
The SeAnimals LINEARPACK canisters are produced at Sonoco's Suffolk, VA, plant and shipped to Austin for filling. The product, along with Dolphins & Friends snack canisters, is sold at supermarkets and other retail venues throughout the United States.
Recently acquired by Keebler Foods Co. (Elmhurst, IL), Austin Quality Foods produces a variety of sandwich crackers, cookies and snack crackers.
For more information: Sonoco Products, Tel: 843-383-7000, Fax: 843-383-7008
American Packaging Corp., Tel: 215-698-4800, Fax: 215-698-4828
Edited by Bill Noone, managing editor, Packaging Network