The dangers of counterfeiting drive the need for package and brand security. The following is an extract from a recent Converting Magazine event in the US, detailed by Natalie Hasselbacher, Converting Magazine, 3rd June 2009, which provides some useful insights into successful anti-counterfeiting and security techniques and technologies.

Three speakers presented during an anti-counterfeiting session on the importance of product security and possible ways for its implementation among capable converting facilities. Discussions highlighted a desperate need for package security to save a company’s brand whilst also ensuring safety to consumers.

Jim Reiman, Sales Director at Sun Chemical Security, said once anti-counterfeiting technology is applied to a package or label, the most important thing for brand owners to consider is a strategy and who will authenticate. “Articulating a high-level strategy and defining the problem is important,” he said. “Clearly articulating requirements with metrics and an internal agreement among company employees for proper implementation is a must. You have to question whether consumers, customs, investigators or retail will authenticate.”

Reiman also discussed Sun Chemical’s newest technologies that reportedly fight counterfeiting. The Verigard is a low level taggant that is said to work in any ink or adhesive while printing using most methods including flexo, gravure and offset.

A second speaker, Jim Colby, a Consultant for ExPev Solutions, referred to interdiction, authentication and a secure supply chain as the three ways to stop counterfeiting.

Thirdly, Juliet Midlik, Sales Manager for Prime UV Systems, mentioned that most of the company’s customers purchasing UV drying systems are applying anti-counterfeiting coatings and inks on food packaging.

The full article can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/yaq3nf4

You can find further information on counterfeiting and evolving technologies, via Design Cognition’s sister site ‘The Pharma Gateway‘. Also, if you are interested in our forthcoming counterfeiting workshops – let us know.

Interesting article and data  on the importance of continued investment into innovative packaging and graphics (Annie)

Year long survey consistently finds that structure might best communicate innovation, especially with supportive graphics. Materials and production also are good barometers. In any economic environment, innovation is key to growth. But, during a recession, many companies are tempted to reduce spending on innovation to save money. Luckily, this is not an absolute rule. Daring brands still pushed the boundaries of packaging innovation in 2009.Earlier this year, Shelf Impact! and international brand consultancy Dragon Rouge formed a partnership to ask branding and packaging professionals to evaluate recent product and packaging innovations. Each quarter, we asked a sample of hundreds of Shelf Impact! readers, from brand managers to designers to materials suppliers, to rate a selection of packages on matters of innovation. View an image and brief description of each of the 10 packages reviewed this quarter.

via Shelf Impact: “Achieving attention-getting innovation” Filed In:.

NOTTINGHAM science companies will lead a delegation of UK firms pitching for business during one of the biggest events in the American pharmaceutical industry’s calendar.

Businesses from the city account for one-third of the firms in the English delegation attending a reception during the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) annual meeting in Los Angeles.

They will meet potential customers and investors next week at an event hosted on their behalf by the British Consul in LA, Dame Barbara Hey.

The Nottingham firms taking part in the 20-strong delegation are Critical Pharmaceuticals, Design Cognition, Food and Drug Analytical Services, Molecular Profiles, Pharmaceutical Development Services and R5 Pharmaceuticals.

The US pharmaceutical market is the biggest and most lucrative in the world, with companies bidding for work in a field where the biggest firms routinely outsource research, development and service work to smaller companies.

Some of the Nottingham firms will be going to link-up with existing contacts, while others, such as specialist packaging and product development firm Design Cognition, are first- timers. Chris Penfold, the company’s chief executive, said: “We are on a fact-finding mission, to learn as much as possible about the US market and assessing where and how we can add value for US pharmaceutical companies looking to export, through our understanding of packaging requirements and regulations of global markets.”

His company is working closely with Pharmaceutical Development Services, which already has an office in the US state of South Carolina, another industry hotspot.

“Making a move into the US requires a great deal of market as well as regulatory intelligence,” said managing director Michael Gamlen.

“Close working relationships and collaboration are key to success and our respective consultancy services dovetail perfectly to add potential value for US companies.”

To read the full article, click here: http://bit.ly/Ox0hr

Watch this space for further information as I will be following up with This is Business- East Midlands (Nottingam Evening Post) after the AAPS event.

Just goes to show what can be done to make savings without actually compromising the quality of the pack.  Yes I know the pack is smaller, but maybe that isn’t such a bad thing in the eye of the consumer.  After all, who likes to open a pack to find that there is a lot of unnecessary ‘empty’ space in it?  There is now a definite group of consumers who will consider this when buying items and it’s good to see that Young’s are advertising the use of less packaging on the front face of the pack.  It does beg the question though, if Young’s can make this kind of saving on a humble product carton what sort of savings could be made on your own products? (Jane)

Seafood brand Youngs has cut the packaging used for its fish pies and on its chilled salmon as part of an ongoing sustainability drive.

via Youngs Seafood cuts packaging for fish pie and salmon ranges | packagingnews.co.uk.

Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP) has launched a new global campaign to persuade its customers that sustainability is about more than just a product’s packaging.

via Sustainability is more than just recycled packaging, says Kimberly-Clark | packagingnews.co.uk.

Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 25 September 2009

FMCG giant Unilever has made a binding offer to buy the personal care division of US firm Sara Lee Corporation for EUR 1.275bn.

The Anglo-Dutch firm said today the acquisition would add a “strong stable of brands”, such as Sanex, Radox and Duschdas, to a category that it considers a key driver for growth, particularly in Western Europe and Asia.

Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/y8ctz8k

Another example of the own brands moving into territory more usually associated with the big name brands.  I wonder who is footing the bill – the manufacturer or the consumer?

Jill Park, packagingnews.co.uk, 21 September 2009

Asda has followed in the footsteps of Cathedral City and moved its own-brand cheese into resealable packaging.

to read more just follow the link http://bit.ly/15a1qy

By Jess Halliday, 25-Aug-2009  www.nutraingredients.com

Unilever has denied that it is actively developing ambient ice cream, following newspaper reports that such a product is part of a programme to reduce the environmental impact of its consumer goods.

The Times of London reported yesterday that the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods firm is conducting research in this area at its own laboratories, and in partnership with scientists from Cambridge University.

As normal ice cream must be frozen throughout transport

via We’re not planning warm ice cream, Unilever says.

Plastic takes on vintage glass; More winemakers adopt cheaper, lighter bottles for lower-cost offerings

By Jerry Hirsch, TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS — Chicago Tribune, August 11, 2009 Tuesday Chicagoland Final Edition – News from LexisNexis via www.packagingdigest.com

Plastic containers already are commonly used for 187-milliliter single-serving wine bottles sold on commercial airlines and available at many supermarkets. But cost pressures are expected to accelerate the trend toward alternative materials in the packaging ofwine & spirits.

So how about a bottle of the ‘02 Chateau Plastique? The ubiquitous 750-milliliter glass wine bottle is starting to get competition from a plastic upstart.

The bottles carry a “use by” date — plastic doesn’t provide quite the same seal as glass — and as such aren’t likely to find their way into the cellars of serious wine enthusiasts.

For those who aren’t as picky, however, the wine is likely to cost less. And oenophiles say that for wine that hasn’t, er, expired, the taste will be the same.

Personally, I think that this will probably catch on quite quickly at the bottom-end of the market, where wine is getting consumed within days/weeks/months of manufacture and is already sold in a ‘bag-in-box format successfully. However,  at the top-end, where wine is traditionally ‘laid-down’ to improve quality & value, I don’t think that it will happen. Aside from the long-term barrier properties, the weight & ‘feel’ of a glass bottle have a much higher quality & value perception, with which plastic has always found it difficult to compete. Chris Penfold

Read the whole article here: Plastic takes on vintage glass; More winemakers adopt cheaper, lighter bottles for lower-cost offerings – August 11, 2009 Tuesday – Packaging Digest.

27th July 2009    www.nanowerk.com   (Northwestern University)

Bacterial infection is a major health threat to patients with severe burns and other kinds of serious wounds such as traumatic bone fractures. Recent studies have identified an important new weapon for fighting infection and healing wounds: insulin.

Now, using tiny nanodiamonds, researchers at Northwestern University have demonstrated an innovative method for delivering and releasing the curative hormone at a specific location over a period of time. The nanodiamond-insulin clusters hold promise for wound-healing applications and could be integrated into gels, ointments, bandages or suture materials.

Read the full article here: Nanodiamonds deliver insulin for wound healing.