Glass Packaging Institute

Section 4.1: Consumer Preferences

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:15:56 -0500

Consumers prefer glass. Glass packaging delivers what customers and marketers want:

Purity and Healthiness of Product
Premium Image
Sustainability
Recyclability
Preservation of Taste and Flavor
Shelf-life Value

These attributes attract "socially aware" consumers and those concerned about "green" or "earth friendly" products.

Glass attracts individuals concerned about their health and the purity of the product in the glass package.

Glass packaging adds value to our customers' products, our lives and to our planet.

Healthy for Individuals. Healthy for the Planet.

While much is yet to be understood about the effects of other packaging materials on human health glass has proven safe and healthy for consumers and the environment for more than 3,000 years. No other packaging material has the proven track record of glass.

Glass is the only packaging material "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Because glass is chemically inert, it is the consumer's perfect protection for food and beverages.
Glass is one of the most sustainable packaging materials on earth, taking into consideration all carbon footprint factors.
Glass is true "cradle-to-cradle" packaging - meaning it can be recycled infinitely to be re-made into bottles, jars or containers that are equally pure as the original. The recycled product is so pure that it can again touch food or beverages.

Key Values of Glass

For consumers, glass takes the lead in packaging that:

Presents the true flavor of the product.
Preserves the purity of the product inside.
Preserves the quality of the product inside.
Increases the shelf life of a product.

Source: GPI May 2006

Consumer Research Shows a Preference for Glass:

ONLY glass containers can claim all five of these consumer-desired attributes:

Glass is microwavable
Glass keeps the product inside colder longer
Glass does not deteriorate, corrode, stain or fade (i.e., the package always looks great)
Glass is transparent and, thus, can showcase a product and entice the buyer
Glass is one of the most sustainable packaging materials on earth; it is safe and healthy for the consumer and the environment.

Consumers have an overwhelming preference for glass in four major categories:

Five categories with an under-represented preference for glass:

Source: Burnham Study 2004

Consumer Surveys Demonstrate Consumers see Value in Glass

"...glass is pure..." (82% agree)
"Glass is the most pure packaging..." (77% agree)
"plastic packaging may not be pure." (55% agree)
(2005 Survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers)

Packaging Professionals Recognize Consumer Values

Glass is the most pure packaging. (86% agree)
Consumers are concerned about impurities in non-glass packaging. (60% agree)
(2005 Survey of 5,000 U.S. packaging professionals)

Hear why these companies chose glass for their products:

Anchor Steam Beer

Del Monte

Mondavi

continue to Section 4.2: Brand Building

Section 4.2: Brand Building

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:14:21 -0500

Consumers know glass packaging helps ensure wholesomeness, purity, quality and taste of food and beverages. Consumers choose glass for its endless sustainability. It's packaging they feel good about. That's why glass packaging makes it easy to capitalize on the top trends influencing consumers today and in the future.

Trends in the food and beverage market:

Young adults with more discretionary funds
More products targeted at women
Emerging psychographic categories such as "foodies", "style-centric", "organics", and "socially-aware soccer moms"
Increased awareness of "what we put in our bodies"

The result: the glass container industry has been reaching out to a more discerning audience by designing packaging that reflects an upscale attitude. These trends are reflected in the values of glass and thus the building of any brand.

Choosing Glass for Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness Concerns Gain Momentum:

Consumers are looking to food and drinks to help them improve and maintain their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing
Products perceived as being "better-for-me", "good-for-me", or that can help consumers reach fitness goals, through either added or natural nutrition, will be increasingly sought out
With an increase in scientific studies of body-accumulated toxins, there are rising concerns about certain plastics leaching chemicals into consumables

Health Conscious Consumers Turn to Glass Packaging:

Composed of all-natural raw materials, glass is a safe and healthy choice for food and beverage brands because it is chemically inert, meaning it doesn't interact with the products it houses, so it does not require a protective coating
Glass is one of the safest, healthiest packaging materials available, a fact recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which has categorized glass as the only packaging material "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS)
Glass packaging has the ability to meet even the most stringent requirements from pharmaceuticals to food
Glass' impervious nature also makes it difficult to tamper with the package contents, thereby protecting the product and preserving its shelf life
These protective properties can be enhanced by choosing amber or green glass to prevent UV rays from passing through the package and affecting its contents.

Choosing Glass for Convenience

Winning in the marketplace means being able to deliver products where, when and how consumers want them.

Consumers today increasingly have to manage competing demands on their time. In packaging that means a need for convenient food and beverage products that can help consumers facilitate already crammed lifestyles while fulfilling their desires to maximize leisure hours.

Packaging plays a key role in addressing these product needs:

Ready to eat/heat foods
Portable and mini-meals
Easy packaging
Feel-good packaging

Marketers Rely on Glass Packaging to Deliver Consumer Convenience

Microwavable convenience (for many glass jars)
Many glass jars offer in-package microwave convenience with no need to transfer product to another container - and without the leaching concerns of plastics.

Ease in resealing
Glass is easy to reseal. Unlike cans, there is no need to move the product to another container after opening. Just twist the lid or replace the stopper and put away. Unlike zip top plastic bags that only work a few times, glass can be opened and resealed over and over.
Ability to maintain product freshness and aroma
Flexible design
Glass packaging is flexible, offering designs for at-home and on-the-go use. From highly functional jars to new ergonomic bottles, no other packaging material offers the versatility or shelf appeal of glass.
Extreme portability
Through a process called "lightweighting", glass containers now can be made less heavy and, unlike light-weighted plastics and aluminum, without sacrificing strength or performance. And, glass keeps refrigerated products colder, longer. Combined, these make glass ideal for on-the-go applications that also require durability.
Reusable
Glass lends itself to creative embellishment through the use of stock or custom molds and can be labeled, colored, silk screened, enameled, etched, sand blasted, or coated. Glass is so enduring and useful that well-designed glass packaging often holds consumer value even after the product is used.

Choosing Glass for Premium Appeal

Consumers are naturally attracted to products that offer more pleasure, sensation, and intensity. Consumers will instinctively "trade up" through the consumption of perceived premium products. This trend is fueled in part by:

Rising incomes
Increased international travel
Increased media exposure of celebrity lifestyles

Additionally, over-stressed consumers want to indulge in affordable luxuries and seek ways to reward themselves. These consumers may save in "basic" categories in order to splurge in desired categories, including food and beverages.

This trend is important to manufacturers because:

Premium consumers are price insensitiveImproved image can "bump up" other products in the same brand family
The luxury niche has fewer competitors

Packaging can magnify and/or create a premium image. Packaging is an important factor in adding traits of authenticity, trendiness, and prestige to a brand.

For Example:

Water
Honey
Milk
Fruits and Vegetables
Vinegar and Olive Oil
Spirits

Modern consumers suffer from "choice fatigue." The product manager's challenge is to differentiate premium products not only from premium competition, but also from non-premium competition in the same product family. Two established trends spell out the solution for any brand manager:

75% of US consumers believe glass packaging creates an image of prestige and premium branding for non-alcoholic beverages. [Source: Datamonitor, January 2007]
70% of purchase decisions are made at the point of purchase [Source: Point of Purchase Advertising Institute]

Glass connotes the quality image manufacturers are looking for:
Communicating a high-touch, premium-quality feel that goes hand in hand with their products
Functionally, glass does not interact chemically with products, so purity is assured
Glass protects product taste, aroma and freshness by providing an impermeable barrier to oxygen and moisture and by keeping products that need to be refrigerated colder, longer when removed
Truly, glass delivers both form and function

Glass containers are the ideal choice for packaging that is elegant looking but also to protect delicate flavors and defend against oxidation:
Packaging for a premium item must convey the product's quality, support premium pricing and distinguish the product from competitive offerings
At the same time, the package must protect product integrity and shelf life
It's no wonder premium products are showcased in glass

Glass stimulates consumer interest and delivers these important benefits:
Gourmet, high-quality, elegant product identity
Increased visibility and shelf impact
Ability to act as decoration
Flexibility in size, shape, and closure
Sensory appeal

Choosing Glass for Customization

Glass is one of the most flexible and customizable packaging options and one of the most appealing across all demographics because consumers often use packaging to identify the positioning of a product and to determine whether it is right for them.

Today's consumers use consumption as a means of self-expression. They seek out more personal and customized brand experiences and are often willing to pay a little more for products that fulfill this need. Offering products that recognize individual preferences is key. With glass marketers will be able to prevent their products from drifting into commodity status and avoid unwanted discounting.

Thanks to modern glass packaging manufacturing techniques, glass packaging is a prefect combination of form and function:
Today, glass packaging is up to 40% lighter than it was just 20 years ago, and considerably stronger, that makes it more versatile than ever before
It can be shaped, etched, enameled, colored and decorated in an almost infinite number of ways to appeal to key segments with appealing and user-friendly designs

Packaging is Identity:

Putting some thought into packaging will set a product apart from the SKU clutter on store shelves and create a solid brand identity.

Choosing Glass for Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Without environmentally responsible packaging, environmentally responsible products are only half complete.

Environmentalism and the move toward sustainability are becoming meaningful drivers of consumer purchasing behavior. Consumers embracing these causes are attractive to business for a variety of reasons, including brand loyalty, their influence over others, and a willingness to pay more for products, which they perceive to be earth friendly.

Packaging must be consistent with key brand messages that leave glass as the natural choice for both its recyclability and reusability:

Glass is Sustainable
Glass is made of abundant raw materials and is as natural as the products it contains
If left alone glass will return to its natural elements having zero impact on the planet
Glass is also endlessly recyclable and, even after continual recycling, never loses its quality, purity or clarity

When it comes to sustainable packaging, glass is the best choice for socially-responsible manufacturers and their customers.

Glass Delivers Impact

Glass delivers significant shelf "impact" which can be enhanced by creative shapes and decorative treatments. Impact may entice a consumer into a purchase when:
Consumers can see inside the package to view the high quality of the product
The shape appeals to the eye and the feel of the glass appeals to the consumer's tactical senses

In a highly competitive market place only glass provides such a wide spectrum of options to help manufacturers differentiate their products from the crowd.

Glass Protects

Because glass is inert and impermeable, the flavor of the product is preserved by, rather than affected by the packaging.

Glass can achieve a hermetic seal to prolong product shelf life.

These attributes are imperative when consumers pay a premium for ethically grown and organic products. The naturally expect the contents to be fresh, flavorful and wholesome and for the packaging to reflect the greenness and wholesomeness of the product itself.

continue to Section 4.3: Design Innovations

Section 4.3: Design Innovations

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:47:45 -0500

In an age of material abundance, design has become crucial for most modern businesses as a means of differentiating and as a way to create new markets.

Glass can be molded into an infinite number of shapes and sizes for consumer appeal and form and functionality. And, creative labeling, embossing and other decorative treatments can also enhance customer appeal.

Two properties of design:

Significance - having importance or meaning

Utility - quality of being useful

What is the industry saying about package design?

“DESIGN, that is utility enhanced by significance, has become an essential aptitude for personal fulfillment and professional success.”

- Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind

“Consumers are trading up to quality-based aspirational brands in all of the significant categories within the beverage industry”

- Todd Woloson, Co-founder and CEO, IZZE Beverage Company

“A lot of growth in alcohol is taking place in the higher end. People are trading up to higher quality and more expensive products”

Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation, March 2006

“We’re offering domestic light beer drinkers the option to ‘trade-up’ to an easy-to-drink product that carries the image and cachet of Heineken’s premium status.”

- Andy Thomas, CEO Heineken, USA

Technology for Design and Differentiation

Glass manufacturers continue to take full advantage of improvements in technology to respond quickly to demands for new types of packaging. Glass containers can be designed and manufactured quickly (from conception to full production within 16 weeks) to meet virtually any packaging need. Stock containers possess the same premium properties as custom glass and can be made available with new labels.

A carefully crafted design is the first step in good manufacturing. Before any glass container can be manufactured, it must first be designed and undergo a critical review process to ensure that it can hold up on the production and filling lines.

Glass container manufacturing quality is a direct correlation to the process controls in place and to standards in which these controls are held:

Batching

Melting

Conditioning

Forming

Packaging

Warehouse

Shipping

Each step in the glass container quality process is subjected to numerous automatic, semi-automatic and manual monitoring and measuring steps both through electronic or human intervention, so as to meet or exceed our customer’s requirements.

Because of new technology, glass manufacturing companies are more responsive to clients and to changing tastes and demands in the marketplace:

This includes:

Designing the container,
Producing a unit mold,
Acquiring the raw materials,
Ordering commercial molds, and
Going into production.

Here is a video on Glass Design

Glass Enhancements

Labeling
Creative labeling and decorating techniques promote brand identity, marketability, and shelf appeal of products through blending such design techniques with the shape of the container.

Today, glass containers are designed to take advantage of what works best for different marketing channels, whether on the shelves of supermarkets, pharmacies, or convenience stores.

Applied Ceramic Labeling (ACL) or Silk Screening:

A process where ceramic inks are printed directly onto bottles and then heated to adhere the ink directly to the bottle, creating permanent decoration.
ACL graphics can be up to three colors with potential for 360 graphics on the body and/or neck areas.

Heat Transfer Labeling:

Enables the transfer of a high-resolution graphic image directly onto a bottle.
The bottle and label carrier are pre-heated so that the graphic is released from the carrier and transferred to the bottle by a special thermally activated application process.
The bottle is then reheated so that the label bonds with the glass surface.

Shrink Sleeve:

A full body PVC or PETG pre-printed sleeve, which is applied over the bottle and shrunk with heat or steam to fit the body contour of the bottle.

Pressure Sensitive Labeling:

Entails the transfer of a graphic image onto a pre-cut adhesive-backed clear polypropylene film, which is then applied onto a bottle.
This "no-label look" is similar to the silkscreen ACL label except with more color options and tighter print registration.

Cut and Stack Labeling:

The most commonly used label process for food, beverages, wine, liquor and other types of packages.
This technique uses a wide variety of printing methods and it is a fast application process.
Packages are labeled after filling and/or after retort or pasteurizing.

Glass Decorating Techniques

Acid Etching:

Creates an eye-catching frosted appealing look by immersing glass containers in a chemical solution (hydrofluoric acid), which reacts on the surface of the bottle.
This process is commonly used with cosmetic, liquor and wine bottles.
Acid etching can be performed on any color bottle and is compatible with all labeling processes.

Embossing:

A distinctive image or lettering (either raised, or "in relief" on the bottle) created during the glass bottle molding process.
Cost effective decorating alternative to create a quality brand image.
The visual impression and feel of an embossment help to generate consumer interaction with the package.

Debossing:

The design is heat-pressed into the surface of the bottle, creating a depressed (or indented) image.
The debossed cyclone swirl on the back of Bacardi’s Ciclón bottle invigorates this premium brand and makes a powerful packaging statement.

Specialty Colors:

Specialty Colors can be applied on glass bottles to give brands a distinctive look.
Common glass colors are Flint (Clear), Amber, Emerald Green, Georgia Green, Antique Green, Dead Leaf Green, Champagne Green, and Cobalt Blue.

Glass containers now are lighter in weight, more durable, and less prone to production error because of changes in technology that have improved the design and production process.

Computer-aided design systems and computer modeling help determine the cost and feasibility of a design without ever having to create the bottle. Through bypassing the task of both creating and executing prototype designs, manufacturers are capable of saving time, effort, and money on the production end.

Material Reduction or “Lightweighting”

Lightweighting - Def: Creating containers that are increasingly lighter in weight without sacrificing strength or performance characteristics.

Improved technology has led to lighter weight glass containers that are remarkably strong and safe. The glass packaging industry continues to look for ways to strengthen glass, through new surface treatments and better designs, without sacrificing the improvements in material reduction. Improvements in coating technologies have helped to make glass more durable and versatile for consumer use.

Lightweighting is has become one of the single most important innovations in the industry.

By reducing the weight, companies are able to save on raw materials and melting costs.
Production lines can run at a much faster pace because there is less glass per container and less energy needed for cooling. As a result of lightweighting, glass containers are more economical and competitively priced.
The introduction of the Narrow Neck Press and Blow (NNPB) forming process is widely credited with helping to reduce the overall manufacturing weight and thickness of glass containers and thereby increasing productivity (on production and filling lines).
Since 1985, the glass packaging industry has reduced the weight of glass containers and improved productivity by as much as 15 to 25%.
In the NNPB process, the bottle is pressed into its initial shape while still in the blank mold.
Manufacturers are able to exert greater control over the desired thickness of a glass container.
Excess glass from the neck and other parts of the bottle-where thickness is not critical-are shifted into areas where it is needed most.
The result is a reduction in the amount of glass required in a given container and more uniform glass distribution throughout the container

.
Weight Reductions Since 1985

7 oz. Beer - 30%
12 oz. Long Neck Beer - 24%
12 oz. Beer - 17%
16 oz. Beer - 17%
32 oz. Beer - 21%
40 oz. Beer - 14%

10 oz. Soda - 24%
12 oz. Soda - 18%
16 oz. Soda - 16%

750 ml Liquor - 21%
1 Liter Liquor - 23%

10 oz. Juice (Sauce) - 30%
16 oz. Juice - 22%
32 oz. Juice - 21%

32 oz Vinegar - 32%
19 oz BBQ - 33%
28 oz BBQ - 21%
14 oz Catsup - 32%
32 oz Catsup - 26%

200 ml Flask - 19%
375 ml Flask (Non Round) - 27%

Surface Treatments

Surface coating helps to maintain the outer strength of the glass container, improves durability and scratch resistance, enhances label adhesion and supports ongoing efforts to create lighter weight containers.
At the hot end of the glass making process, a very thin coating of tin oxide is applied to the containers as they emerge from the I.S. Machine. At this juncture the bottles are about 1,000 degrees F.
In the Annealing Lehr the containers are reheated to slightly above the annealing point and gradually reduced to below 1,000 degrees F.
The purpose of the annealing process is to relieve internal stresses in the glass caused by uneven cooling during the forming process where the outer surface of the container cools faster than the inner surface.
After the annealing process, polyethylene dispersed in water is applied to the containers at the cold end at about 250 degrees F.
This coating reduces friction between bottles as they move through production and filling lines.
Lubrication eases surface contact, improves mobility and preserves bottle strength, which is dependent on a surface free of damage.

Recognition

Clear Choice Awards

Since 1989, the Clear Choice Awards has honored consumer product goods (CPG) manufacturers who expand the frontiers of glass packaging design by using glass containers in innovative ways.
Sponsored by the Glass Packaging Institute, this is the only awards program that recognizes the contribution glass packaging makes to the image and success of everyday products.
From sparkling water to salsa, baby food to bottled fruit juices, beer to flavored rums, pasta sauce to pickles, the Clear Choice Awards are presented to products that triumph in glass.

Press

The Glass Packaging Institute’s communications team works with editors from the packaging, food, beverage and cosmetics trade publications to submit and place feature news articles on trends in glass packaging.
In addition to informing the marketplace about the new trends and advances in the glass container industry, these media placements provide industry-wide recognition and brand-building media coverage for the products featured in these articles.

GPI In the News