An Article by Amie Thomas - Marketing Manager at PakTech

In looking around stores, one can see that there are products sold in a singe format, meaning one at a time. For the most part, these items are sold in ‘convenience’ stores, or maybe within retail stores at a premium price. On the other hand, in today’s consumer marketplaces, products are vastly sold in multiples, often using multipack handles. Selling products in this way allows the consumer to purchase several items during a single trip to the store, and there is generally a volume discount. So who decides what is multi-packed and how? The retailers are the instigators of such a package, because it is their responsibility to decide their specific market and to sell products at a certain price point. However, it is the responsibility of the consumer goods processor to determine how and what their multi-pack will be.

The average consumer takes for granted what is involved in determining a final package, or multi-pack. For the consumer, a quick scan of the multi-pack price is the first and most important consideration. After that, the multi-pack format is not usually part of the consumer’s consideration- unless there is a negative experience involved. For example, a consumer wouldn’t really think about their four-pack of juice bottles, unless one day he/she endured a wrestling match when releasing a bottle and lost the battle with a cut to his/her hand! Little does the every-day consumer realize what a complicated process multi-packaging is, and how much good multipack handles matter to him or her.

In seeking multi-pack options for a product, team members mainly include: sales and marketing (how should it look), packaging engineers (how/will it work), operations engineers (how will be incorporated in our processing operation), and purchasing (how will we pay for it in the least expensive way). Together this team takes their primary package (for example, a 1 liter bottle) and decides what they need (for example, a 3-pack, to be applied manually, for less than 15 cents). At that point, they go forward and look for multi-pack suppliers.

For this, there are several options, from paperboard to shrink-wrap and a few ‘handle’ options. During this phase, clients contact PakTech, who had been supplying the food and beverage industry for over 15 years, and is the only supplier of injection molded multi-pack handles. Many times, their project calls for PakTech’s multi-pack handles, which are proven to perform in the tough retail environment: the recyclable handles are designed to be light-weight and simple, while also being strong enough to hold a heavy multi-pack. The strength required to keep a multi-pack intact while transporting a 15 pound package from processor, to retailer, to the home of consumer is quite extraordinary. In addition to the multi-pack handles, PakTech can provide equipment to apply the handles automatically as/if their volume requires.

During extensive research of each specific project, many of which include focus groups, processors make final decisions about their multi-pack. Many times, they choose PakTech’s solutions to do the job. PakTech’s goal is to provide handle solutions to our customers so that consumers will approach the final package with the thought that it is a good value, and hopefully the thought that, “this is really comfortable and convenient, and we can recycle it too!”