Frozen fruit sachets ‘made easy’ with packaging expert
When Love Smoothies secured a trial for a multi pack of its popular Made-Easy frozen fruit sachets, they discovered that some of the larger packaging companies weren’t interested in tendering for the smaller production runs that would be required initially.
However, Mercury Packaging, Nottingham-based specialist in packaging for the food industry, stepped in to win the competitive tender.
Tom Elvin, Sales Manager at Love Smoothies, comments: “We are obviously used to dealing with food service environments and packaging manufacturers, however, the multi pack trial for a wholesale retailer required packaging suitable for deep freezing 20 smoothie sachets together, which was a new area for us.”
He continues: “Having trawled the internet for appropriate packaging suppliers, Mercury was quick to provide very useful information and advice and even recommended us to another company in order to get a sample product made up. The Mercury team’s expertise and helpfulness in the first instance definitely played a part in securing them the business.”
Love Smoothies produces frozen fruit sachets which, when blended with fruit juice, result in a healthy drink that is quick and easy to make. With no additives, no preservatives and less waste than traditional smoothies, they are proving popular in numerous food service outlets such as hotels, schools, cafes and leisure parks.
Mercury developed a bespoke bag to hold 20 individual Love Smoothies sachets, which is made from polyester films specially designed to meet the demands of freezer storage. Using its award-winning flexographic printing skills, the sachets are branded with a superb eight-colour design. Three different designs have been produced for different flavours of smoothie.
Mike Barlow, Technical Director at Mercury Packaging says: “The main requirements of the brief were functionality, strength, durability and resistance to deep freeze temperatures as the product would be packed, moved and stored in deep freeze conditions. The ability to reproduce eye-catching designs was also a key factor.”
Tom from Love Smoothies concludes: “We found the overall service from Mercury to be excellent. The team was very thorough and highly experienced. They also provided lots of advice about the type of film and packaging required in what was a completely new area for
Love Smoothies. Plus, they invited us to their production facility when the first batch of bags was being printed, so we were able to make some changes on site to ensure top quality, accurate reproduction of our designs.”
