How to extend the shelf-life of your product?

How to seal a paperboard carton hermetically, both before and after it’s opened?

For many manufacturers in both food and non-food sectors, finding suitable solutions to effectively protect and preserve their products is a priority.

In fact, our customers have always demanded not only aesthetically pleasing, practical and environmentally-friendly packaging solutions, they also demand solutions that protect the quality of their products, both on the shelf and after they’ve been opened!

The main things that can compromise product quality are:

• Air and oxygen – that deteriorate the active ingredients;
• Humidity – forming lumps with a loss of fragrance and aroma;
• Insects – unpleasant infestations.

To try to prevent these problems, particularly in the food sector, various manufacturers adopt bag-in-box systems. The bag enclosed in the paperboard packaging provides adequate protection for the contents, until it’s opened. Once opened however, it doesn’t preserve the product properly and it can often be inconvenient for consumers to use, almost impossible to reseal, and it’s also more expensive for manufacturers.

But you can extend the shelf life, and protect the product for longer, even after it’s been opened!

Solutions for extending product shelf-life:

1. Sift Proof Glue System
The first and most popular solution for making a paperboard carton airtight is the Sift Proof Glue System, developed by Nordson.
This "high-integrity" system that seals the inner flaps of the paperboard box prevents product leaking out of cracks and corners, and stops any external contaminants such as insects or moisture getting in, coming into contact with the product and affecting the quality.

One of our clients who successfully chose this solution is Régilait.
In 1997, by adopting the Sift Proof Glue System the company was able to eliminate the bag-in-box in its milk powder cartons.

2. Airbox System
Airbox is another very effective solution: the box is sealed hermetically by gluing two paper bands on the inside of the paperboard carton to seal the top and bottom corners.
Our client Nutrition & Santé used Airbox for their Cereals’ product line, with our Pac Spout to make their packaging not only airtight, but practical and perfectly resealable too.

3. Heat-sealing.
Heat sealing involves the application of two plastic films inside the box, which are heated and then glued together, using a specific ultrasonic machine for example. This sealing solution does entail high costs though, for the equipment and the film-coated cartoons required. This is why heat sealing isn’t normally used for consumer products like sugar, salt, washing powders, etc.

Protect and preserve your product even after it’s been opened:

Pac Spout Pouring System
The resealable Pac Spout was developed in the 20th century to provide better protection for products and preserve them in a safer way for longer, also after they were opened. Over the years it’s helped "build" strong brand identities and consolidate customer loyalty. Omo washing powder (Unilever), Maizena starch (Unilever), Napisan sanitizer (Reckitt Benckiser) and Ariel (P&G) are excellent examples.

In fact, after years of collaboration with major companies and multinationals, Pac Spout is still the best solution on the market for producing perfectly resealable paperboard cartons. Today the popular aluminium spout is also available in paperboard or plastic versions.

To produce a carton that seals hermetically both before and after it’s been opened, the Air Box system, the Sift Proof Glue System and heat sealing are all compatible and can easily be integrated with Tacom packaging solutions.

As mentioned above, Régilait and Nutrition & Santé both decided to add the Tacom Pac Spout to their packaging, an additional guarantee of the hermetic seal protecting the quality of the product even after it’s been opened.
With Tacom, customer satisfaction guaranteed!