Confectionery and film packaging go together like a horse and carriage – or rather they used to. Times are changing, and so does the material that bars are wrapped in.
Today, consumer goods companies are looking for more sustainable materials. Mars Wrigley is investigating the flow wrapping potential of paper and working with long-term partner Syntegon Technology to realize a large-scale test at a major German food retailer.
Balisto® is kind of a cult product in Germany: the flat, chocolate-covered cookie snack bar is offered in a range of flavor variants and colorful packaging. The snack is part of the Mars Wrigley product portfolio including internationally renowned brands like M&M‘S®, SNICKERS® and KIND®, which are sold in over 180 countries. As a major Mars business segment next to Petcare and Food, Mars Wrigley is aligned with the Mars Corporate Sustainability Vision to a Healthier Planet. Mars is a core partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s (EMF) New Plastic Economy initiative and one of the first signatories of the EMF’s Global Commitment to eliminate plastic waste and pollution at its source. The Mars Vision is aligned with EMF to support a circular economy where packaging never becomes waste. To make this vision a reality, by 2025 Mars plans to reduce virgin plastic use by 25% and ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable.
Going the paper mile
Where less established materials are at play, Mars Wrigley recognizes that suitable packaging materials need to be developed and tested regarding product performance criteria and market acceptance. “As challenging as this process can be, we wanted to go the extra mile to deliver on our sustainability commitment and our commitment to quality,” says Gerben Santegoeds, Global Technology Principal Engineer Packaging at Mars Wrigley.
The company has already launched several pilot projects across Europe. The valuable insights gained from these pilots can then be harnessed to develop sustainable packaging solutions in all categories of Mars Wrigley’s portfolio. One of the pilots now underway is Balisto® Honey Almond. In line with the company’s vision to use more recyclable material, the bar is currently being packaged in a paper-based flow wrap for validation purposes. For this solution to become a reality, Mars Wrigley had to develop and test a paper-based flow wrap for single bars and multipacks.
“This was a real challenge. We needed to reassess the properties and packaging potential of a material that was previously not used for this kind of product,” Santegoeds points out and ponders the questions: “What barrier properties does paper offer? What about grease retention? And how will it perform on horizontal flow wrappers that usually process conventional film?” Finding the answers meant seeking the support from a trusted packaging technology partner: Syntegon Technology.
A partnership in history and in scale
Both companies share a long-standing history of cooperation that dates back to the 1960s. As the years passed and the businesses have grown, the cooperation matured into one of mutual benefit. This has been aided by standardization programs which have evolved since the early 2000’s – most of which are in the horizontal and vertical form-fill-seal (VFFS and HFFS) technology areas. Hundreds of machines are now in operation in over 100 different Mars factories all over the globe. “It was a logical step to seek support from partner experts who truly understand our requirements,” Santegoeds says. “Syntegon’s fully integrated approach covers horizontal, vertical and secondary packaging. This means we had a one-stop shop to develop our value-based solutions – and achieve quick time-to-market at scale.”
Mars Wrigley followed a two-track approach for its paper-based project. It included testing paper packaging for Balisto® Honey Almond bars on respective Syntegon machinery. If this proved successful, the company would launch 100,000 multipacks with nine bars each in over 500 stores of a major German food retailer. “This called for a paper-based flow-wrap solution that would ensure that our high-quality standards could be upheld and still deliver on our promise to our consumers. This was the benchmark we had to reach,” Santegoeds explains.
Keeping the crunch
Finding the matching solution wasn’t trivial. Primary paper packaging has direct contact with the product and fundamentally different properties than plastic packaging. Shelf-life was not the only challenge: since Balisto® is a chocolate-covered cookie bar, the packaging must also offer oil-mark resistance and minimal permeability attributes. The new package should also be able to keep moisture out and ensure the proper biscuit crunch. “Even the most sustainable packaging would be useless if quality didn’t match consumers’ expectations – and our high standards in food safety, product quality and integrity,” Santegoeds says.
Syntegon had already been working on paper-based flow-wrapping solutions when Mars Wrigley shared their strategy and presented their pilot flow-pack projects. Eager to make their flow wrapping machinery future-proof, they had launched the “paper-ON-form” retrofit kit for a wide range of traditional horizontal flow wrapping machines from Syntegon. It comprises a patented paper flow-wrap forming unit and sealing tools for cold sealing applications. The tool allows to process barrier papers without wrinkles, scores or cracks, while the customized cold sealing tools gently create the sealing seams. “The solution was exactly what we were looking for at the time,” Santegoeds says. “We decided to run first packaging and shelf-life tests on Syntegon machines.”
Clearing the hurdles
As with all innovations, some challenges needed to be overcome. “During the first tests, the paper tore when folded,” Santegoeds explains. “We needed to find a way of wrapping the bar without destroying the required barrier.” Moreover, the paper must be shapeable and allow for both transverse and longitudinal seams. “The initial learnings at Syntegon were important to pave the way. We didn’t see them as setbacks, but rather as valuable insights we could build upon,” Santegoeds says. The trials revealed whether the machinery and packaging materials performed well together – which they did.
Over several months, Mars Wrigley and Syntegon tested different paper variants from different suppliers. They gained more and more insights on how the materials run on the machines. Step by step, the R&D and engineering departments of both companies partnered their way to the right folding parameters. “A key driver of our collaboration was the willingness to challenge each other. We constantly discussed results with people who are absolute experts in their field – until we had the matching solution for our Balisto® bars,“ says Santegoeds. The FSC® and PEFC™ certified packaging developed from special paper consists of more than 90 percent natural fibers.
Holistic approach through the whole process
The success of the initial packaging tests is based on Syntegon’s “paper-ON-form” solution developed in Beringen, Switzerland. It helped to implement paper packaging on the HRM flow wrapper for single bars at Mars’ Balisto® production site in Viersen, Germany. The multipack was a special challenge. Despite its size, the single bars must remain stable.
The bars produced in Viersen are available in over 500 EDEKA shops until late autumn 2021. The region covers five federal German states, an area big enough to deliver conclusive results after several months. “The test will provide us with comprehensive information on how the new packaging performs under production conditions, in retail and in the everyday lives of consumers,” Santegoeds adds. “We can use the pilot to realign our packaging in more Mars business units. When it comes to Syntegon, once more the project revealed the company’s packaging strengths, which we will gladly fall back on in the future. We are convinced that we will be able to further optimize the results with our partner from the packaging industry.” Far from being the only paper-based product ever, for Mars Wrigley the Balisto® bar is a first step in a right direction.
For more information, please visit https://www.syntegon.com/