Lunchables package gets a makeover

Lunchables, the iconic ready-made meal kit from Kraft’s Oscar Mayer division, has had its first major packaging redesign in its 21-year history.

Instead of the familiar, distinctive schoolbus yellow paperboard carton, Lunchables now comes in a plastic clamshell that snaps to close. A paperboard sleeve provides a billboard while allowing a better view of the contents.

The recyclable and transparent aspects of the new package fit into Kraft’s general revamp of the brand. Responding to criticism that Lunchables were heavy in fat, sugar and sodium, Kraft is providing healthier components, such as water (in a polyethylene terephthalate bottle), whole-grain bread and applesauce.

Gourmet cheeses come with sprinkler

Fresh specialty cheese in crumbled form is now being marketed in plastic tubs with a shaker top for easier dispensing.

BC-USA, the American division of France’s Bongrain Group, is marketing seven varieties of Alouette Crumbles in flavors including feta, gorgonzola and goat cheese. The 3.5- and 4-ounce polypropylene tubs, from North America IML Containers, have tops with a hinged lower edge that, when flipped up, allows consumers to sprinkle the cheese bits into salads, omelets, pasta and other foods. Suggested retail prices for the crumbled line range from $2.69 to $3.89.

North America IML Containers
450-258-3130; www.iml.ca

Quaker bars held with minimal material

A club-store package developed by the Quaker division of PepsiCo allows granola bars to be held together and dispensed without paperboard.

The Rip n’Go package holds together 10 bars, at 24 grams apiece, with a flexible film overlay. Adhesives and laser scoring on the overlay allows consumers to rip away individual flowrapped bars while the remaining ones stay together. The packaging advertises that the setup saves “the equivalent of 6,000 trees per year.”

Extra-chocolaty drink gets label makeover

Cadbury has redesigned the label for its powdered hot chocolate drink to reflect a new formulation with twice the milk chocolate.

Cadbury Highlights, sold in the UK, now comes in a shrink-sleeve label with a chocolate-brown background and graphics dominated by cup of hot chocolate. The label features feminine graphics, with icons including a high-heeled shoe and a diamond ring, reflecting the target demographic of women ages 25 to 45.

Cadbury continues to use contoured plastic jars from RPC Containers Ltd. The jars, in 150- and 220-gram sizes, are extrusion blow-molded co-polymer polypropylene.

RPC Containers Ltd. 011-44-1332-293939; www.rpc-raunds.co.uk