In its recent interactive virtual event, United Caps featured product announcements and updates together with highlighting the company’s recent growth and sustainability efforts, including a first-look at the United Caps Tethered Closure Solutions (UCTC).
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the company, says it continues to harvest from its rich product pipeline, developing and launching new products that will help its customers be more productive and have more sustainable packaging.
United Caps is represented in Australia by Melbourne-based Caps & Closures, whose MD Brendon Holmes says his company is a proud partner with United Caps, making the technology accessible to Australian brand owners.
“While all of us are taking necessary steps to control and ultimately put down this awful pandemic, at the same time, we must continue to move forward as an industry to ensure that products reach consumers in a safe and timely manner, and that jobs are protected as much as possible,” says Benoit Henckes, United Caps CEO.
“In light of that objective, we have continued to invest in our research and development efforts, with the resulting announcements we are making at the event, where we shared this news in seminars to ensure full understanding of their benefits among attendees.”
One area of discussion during the event was the first-look at the progress United Caps has made toward enabling customers to meet the EU regulations regarding tethered closures.
“At United Caps we talk about being better united, which is obviously a reference to our quality, but it also speaks to our understanding that collaboration is a core component of our success,” adds Henckes.
“Our development process for tethered closures included extensive feedback from both our customers and consumers, which greatly enhanced the end result.”
United Caps views the EU directive regarding tethered closures as an industry-wide challenge, which requires a holistic industry-wide solution that would have as little impact as possible on bottling lines and other parts of the supply chain.
To that end, the company spearheaded the formation of the Alliance for Closure Tethering (ACT). The ACT brings together segment leaders in the packaging industry to conduct an impact assessment of various tethering solutions on existing finishes, and determining finishing changes that might be required.
The goal was to come to agreement on the best industry-wide approaches to tethered caps and closures, and to support better integration into the supply chain with a united, rather than standalone, solution.
The result is a broad portfolio of UCTC that were born ready for the market, meet the new EU regulatory requirements, and have already been widely accepted by United Caps customers.
The company has published an informative white paper on its collaborative approach to developed tethered closures in a white paper, which can be found here.
R&D efforts drive updates and developments
New to the United Caps product portfolio is its 29 Flip On edible oils closure, which enables fast, clean pouring of liquids with drip control. It is easy to open and features a non-detachable tamper evident band, which makes the product more sustainable.
An example of United Caps’ dedication to continuous improvement is to continually update already successful products to make them even better is the launch of its updated closure for still beverages, the ProLine 2.
The updated closure weight just three grams, performs like a much heavier closure, and is suitable for use on aseptic lines. It is available in a recycled material, improving its sustainability footprint, but can also be produced in more traditional materials upon request.
The ProLine 2 offers increased efficiency and improved productivity in the filling of sensitive beverages, such as juices and milks. Its venting feature improves end-user safety, venting pressure in the case of spoiled contents, and its advanced design offers exceptional grip.
United Caps also presented its robust line of caps and closures for edible oils and vinegars, including its award-winning DoubleFlow, along with a family of closure solutions for 26mm necks, which provide lightweight options without compromising performance.
“We are pleased to be able to bring these new and improved products to market during this difficult time, to help the industry continue to move forward and to stay in compliance with important government regulations,” Henckes concludes.
For more information about the virtual event and other information from United Caps, click here.
