Oxygen barrier IML seals in natural flavors of Scarpetta sauces

Scarpetta sauces are know for their freshness and flavors, as they're healthy, natural and full of nutrients. But there was  one problem when they hit the shelves: any oxygen entering a package would turn the sauce bad. Refrigerating the sauce and adding preservatives both help to stave off the inevitable, but they adversely affect the taste and quality. 

 

Paolo Volpati-Kedra, CEO of BC Gourmet USA Inc., the company behind the brand Scarpetta, was determined to find a way to capture the authentic tastes and aromas of home cooking. As he said, Scarpetta was using citric acid to maintain freshness. It took something away from the taste of the sauce though and so the company had to find a way to bring it back. The solution was a combination of innovative technologies: the Berry Global 410 Plus+ container and the Oxygen Barrier IML labels developed by Verstraete IML.

 

Berry Global is a specialist in injection molding and at the time, it was developing new products based on consumer research. The feedback from BC Groumet highlighted the way the expectations of millenials could be met. They included the use of clear materials in the containers to allow the fresh contents to be seen. At the same time, the containers needed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Berry Global came p with the 410 Plus+. As explained by Dave Burke, Business Development Manager at Berry Global. “It’s one container that does it all—hot fill, HPP, flash freeze , reheat, high end graphic, just about anything. It’s a simple but innovative container on steroids!”

 

 

One of the most important innovations of the container is how airtight it is. “This was made possible by several factors including the Oxygen Barrier IML,” explains Thomas Coene, Regional Sales Manager for Verstraete IML in North America. “This is a unique IML label that incorporates a special ethylene vinyl alcohol layer (or EVOH layer) in the film to reduce its permeability to oxygen. As a genuine wraparound label, stretching from the brim, across the sides and around base to cover the entire exterior of the container, it dramatically reduces the Oxygen Transmission Rate. In fact, the OTR is about 100 times better than with a regular label.”

 

This was especially important for Scarpetta sauces as wrapping the  410 Plus+ with this Oxygen Barrier label creates a packging that where virtually no oxygen enters so there is almost no need to add citric acid to act as a preservative.  

 

This was not the only benefit of the 410 Plus+ and the Oxygen Barrier IML from Verstraete. As a full wraparound label, the Oxygen Barrier IML allows printing anywhere on the container, including the base. Verstraete IML's Oxygen Barrier IML enables maximized space with the unique ‘sqround’ shape of the container – a cross between square and round. Hence, when containers are placed on shelves, the branding naturally faces the right way to create better branding and consumer awareness.

 

The entire surface of the container becomes a billboard for brand and product, a vital requirement since consumers buy with their eyes. The Oxygen Barrier IML has made it possible to include transparent windows in the packaging, allowing consumers to see the Scarpetta sauce inside.

 

BC Gourmet USA and Berry Global were adamant that the solution needed to be environmentally friendly. The Oxygen Barrier IML, like all IML packaging, is made from a mono layer polypropylene. It is 100% recyclable. The thin EVOH layer stays way below the 5% guideline allowing the package to be recycled as mono-material PP.