Pet food producer Happy Dog uses 3D to break away from
the pack.
The
presentation of the Happy Dog “My Little Africa” range of dried dog food from
Germany is indicative of the care many pet owners lavish on their animals and
of the quality they have come to expect from the packaging of their beloved
Rover’s food products.
The pouch
format has become commonplace for premium pet products in recent years, but
precise 3D embossing raises the Happy Dog pack to another level and it is easy
to see why the pack won a Silver Award for Innovation in the DuPont Packaging
Awards 2012.
“Dog food
that has charisma? Yes, I think we have it here with the clever dog
character but importantly for us in packaging terms is the application of embossing on flexible substrates,”
says Andrew Streeter, innovations director of Pack-Track.
“The value
this embossing captures is so powerful. You have stand-out at point of
sale, the desire to touch the pack and feel the embossed brand name Happy Dog - getting the
consumer to do that is a bit of a wow in itself. This is a basic format, a
four side seal stand-up pouch, with an extra to it; part of that trick is
executing the conversion of the pack with precision. The accuracy of
embossing is reflected in the precision of vertical wall manufacture and states
excellence. I am disappointed by the lack of easy-open or reclose though – they
missed a trick there,” continues Streeter.
“I first saw
this embossing technique over 3 years ago in Japan, where it was used on refill
packs for the ‘Tsubaki‘ hair care range. There it was equally overt but on
a less busy background. In both cases some house rules apply, one in particular
is the application of metallized finishes to highlight the embossed feature.”
“The other
side of this coin is that embossing raises a string of technical issues (cost
too) with microscopic breaks in the barrier caused by mechanical pressure and
heat distortion. There is something of a skill here, I guess, in embossing
this material undamaged. Still, we have two different powerful examples of
embossed flexibles from two very different parts of the world and I think
this could be the early start of a trend that Pack Track has spotted early,”
adds Streeter.