IML packaging has been used to help a ready-to-eat soups company tackle key quality issues.
Ready-to-eat, single-serve soups are popular, but there can be problems once the food is opened and comes into contact with oxygen.
Spanish food producer Dulcesol has found IML packaging, using an IML label with an oxygen barrier, has radically reduced that risk for its Naturcream soups brand.
The challenge lay in getting the industrially produced soup to consumers in optimal condition, so Dulcesol commissioned injection moulder ITC Packaging and Verstraete IML to provide a solution.
Storage wasn’t the only requirement; the packaging for the soups had to be distinctive when on shelf.
Dulcesol group marketing director Paco Olaso said the packs needed to communicate the product's organic credentials while being visually attractive and guaranteeing the quality of the soup.
He worked with ITC Packaging to develop appealing packaging with an IML oxygen-barrier label from Verstraete, which extends the product's shelf life without requiring refrigeration, which results in significant energy savings.
"The pentagonal base and round, open top makes the packaging an innovative format within the ready-to-eat creamy soups segment,” Olaso said.
IML was the answer for the company, which was also able to offer a 360° decorative, non-removable IML label.
The critical element however, was the oxygen barrier in the IML label.
This barrier ensures that Naturcrem soups have a shelf life of up to one year without refrigeration.
