Many of the pain points consumers experience with upright bottles are addressed by inverted bottles, but inverted bottles don’t prevent the battle that occurs when the bottle is close to empty.

Flexible bags remain one of the most popular packaging formats in the snack industry due to their excellent barrier properties, cost-effective production and consumer convenience. High-speed vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) technology offers significant advantages in this category because it enables manufacturers to maintain ambitious throughput targets and optimum productivity.

Building on its theme covering the evolution of pouches, the 2019 Global Pouch Forum features presentations focused on innovation, sustainability and developing markets.

Flexible packaging — especially the pouch — is still the fastest growing segment globally. Over the last decade, its share of total packaging in the U.S. increased from 16 percent to its current 19 percent.

Triangle Package Machinery Company and JDD Packaging Ltd. have introduced the Triangle/JDD Rotary Pouch Machine, designed to fill three-sided seal, flat pouches and stand-up pouches at speeds up to 50 pouches per minute.

Automated Packaging Systems has promoted Jay Patras to vice president of sales, North America. Patras will manage the day-to-day operations of the company’s North American sales channel and its full line of Autobag, SidePouch and AirPouch machines and materials.

Any trip to the supermarket reveals the latest trend in flexible packaging: stand-up pouches. Aisles are swelling with SUPs as big brands like M&M/Mars, Hershey, Kellogg’s and General Mills switch from lay-flat bags or bag-in-box to stand-up pouches.

NJM, a ProMach product brand, has introduced the Dara NFL/2-RDL aseptic filling and closing machine for ready-to-use vials using the RayDyLyo cap.

While vacuum skin packaging has been available for the past several years, the technology seems to be gaining momentum as a preferred package of choice for more premium food options. This shift toward greater acceptance is due in large part to newer films that can accommodate products of different shapes, high protrusions and sharp edges.

Dr. Pharm Inc. offers complete packaging lines with bottle unscrambling, tablet/capsule counting, cotton/dessicant insertion, capping, sealing and labeling machinery.