With the new Chobani 170g single-serve pots, PakPot finds the balance between functional design, environmental impact, and aesthetic appeal.
Balancing functional design with environmental impact is rarely straightforward. Throw the need for aesthetic appeal into the mix and you introduce a raft of new challenges. But these were challenges the team at PakPot jumped at when asked to design the new flagship Chobani 170g single-serve pots.
After enjoying success in 2017 with what it describes as its ‘revolutionary’ Chobani Flip container, PakPot certainly had the pedigree. The company also had in its DNA a passion for innovation, which has seen it make its mark as a leader in the industry in terms of sustainable packaging principles.
This was PakPot’s opportunity to showcase a level of design innovation that would align with the Australian government’s 2025 National Packaging Targets, while also delivering a product with greater aesthetics. And it has.
Not only has this new tub design reduced the volume of polymer packaging going to landfill, it also gives Chobani an exciting new shelf presence, the company says.
However, the similarity between the labelling on the original packaging and PakPot’s new tub belies the vast difference between the two, in terms of production and associated environmental impact.
With the original packaging, a shrink sleeve label was attached to a formed polypropylene tub, requiring the consumer to peel off the outer sleeve and separate the materials before they could properly dispose of or recycle the container.
In creating the new tub, PakPot’s team developed a world-first, sustainable in-mould labelling (IML) process, which uses a mono-pack design with an injection IML label. And because both the tub and in-moulded label are produced from the one base polypropylene polymer, the product is 100 per cent recyclable. Happier consumers. And a win for the environment.
But the advantages of PakPot’s new design extend well beyond the recycling bin. PakPot carried out exhaustive research into the efficiencies of MRF sorting equipment technology to ensure its new tub would be 100 per cent sortable and destined for many lives after its original use.
In summary, PakPot’s new Chobani 170g single-serve pot delivers environmental benefits on a number of levels. The inventive design has done away with an entire manufacturing process. Other processes have also been streamlined. And reduced packaging means transport costs are less. All this adds up to a smaller carbon footprint. So, the pack is as good for the planet as the product is for consumers.
