CASE STUDY: PACKAGE DEVELOPMENT

Widowed Cartons Equal Product Transparency

Inspired packaging. A world of difference.

OverviewBelissio effectively responds to consumers’ growing interest in seeing the quality of ingredients used in meals, by vacuum packing their Eating Well frozen meals to a plastic plate, in a carton with a very large window to see the actual food.

Challenge There is an abundance of frozen meals in the market today that feature a photo of the finished meal on the package. Consumers are often disappointed not only with how the actual meal looks, but how it tastes as well. In a landscape of frozen meals in standard cartons that feature photos of the prepared meal on the face panel, Bellisio wanted to break through the clutter and create a package that allows consumers to see the actual meal itself, as well as the high-quality ingredients that were used to make the meal. This would allow the EatingWell brand to show caring customers that they are meeting their needs for a convenient frozen meal that not only looks good but tastes great and is good for you.

Bellisio’s new EatingWell line offers healthy meals made with high-quality ingredients, which don’t use any preserva-tives or artificial colors. Their Fresh-Seal® vacuum packag-ing seals the frozen meal to a plastic plate to protect the flavors and help maintain freshness. Plus, the window into the box lets consumers peek inside and see for themselves how great the meals really are. This package, with its large window and strong graphics, stands out in the frozen meal section and captures the attention of the growing segment of consumers who want frozen meals that deliver on their promise of healthy foods made from high-quality ingredi-ents. Belissio’s stated goal was “Bringing Freshness Back to the Frozen Aisle”.

SolutionGraphic Packaging International is a market leader in con-sumer packaging, and utilizing experience within the frozen meals market, this packaging structure was developed.

The carton features a large window opening on the face panel which allows the consumer to see exactly what the food looks like in comparison to the picture on the box. Un-like most frozen meals, the EatingWell meal looks so good, it almost appears to be a continuation of the high-quality food photograph on the carton. This is extremely striking on shelf and gives a very positive impression of the quality

Graphic Packaging InternationalGraphic Packaging International is a pre-mier consumer packaging company with a leading position in paperboard packag-ing for the food, beverage and consumer products markets sold in retail and food-service channels. Our innovative product lines include sustainable packaging for microwave cooking, foodservice, folding cartons, and beverage cartons.

You have probably purchased food, beverages or other consumer products at your local grocery, club store or restaurant that are sold in our packag-ing. Our customers include some of the best-known brands in the world. We are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Our Vision and Our ValuesOur goal is to create inspired consumer packaging that makes a world of difference. We grow with our custom-ers by creating innovative and complete consumer packaging solutions through consumer insights, market knowledge, global scale, local execution, and an integrated business system.

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of the meal and the ingredients used to create it. This is a new technique for frozen meals, and directly meets the demands of a new and discriminating consumer segment. Further, the use of a white plate on a white wood background creates a clean, high-contrast backdrop for the meal, presenting it even more boldly.

In order to control the position of the meal elements behind the window in the printed meal image, the meal is vacuum packed to a square plate. The elements in the meal are deposited onto the plate in a particular pattern, matching the photo, and the square plate in the square carton cannot rotate, thus maintaining a visual flow from photo to the actual meal.

BenefitsShelf DifferentiationToday’s health-minded consumers are looking for frozen meals that offer both convenience and high quality and taste. Eating Well, with its very large window and its extremely appetizing food appearance, differentiates significantly in a category domi-nated by fully enclosed cartons and trays in sleeves that offer only a professional photo of the prepared meal. Consumers want to believe what they see, but with a photo, they know that often they will be disappointed. With Eating Well, seeing is truly believ-ing.

SustainabilityMost frozen meals are packed in a plastic tray inside a sleeve or carton. EatingWell is vacuum-packed to an actual dinner plate that the consumer can use to eat the meal on. This plate can be washed and reused or recycled. The carton is produced on 16pt Solid Bleached Sulfate (SBS) from Graphic Packaging Interna-tional. Selected for its bright white color and smooth print sur-face, the SBS substrate achieves a premium appearance and bold crisp print fidelity of the photographic images of the meals. Also, white on the inside, the interior carton provides a clean presenta-tion stage for the black plate and the colorful frozen meal. This board is made from renewable resources, using fiber harvested from SFI-certified, responsibly managed forests. The SBS used in the carton is 100 percent recyclable and is easily recycled in most communities in the US and Canada. The choice of recyclable paperboard reflects the brand’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

TolearnhowGraphicPackagingcansolveyourmostchallengingpackaging concerns, contact microwavesolutions@graphicpkg.comorvisit:graphicpkg.com.