The Ireland-based firm aims to capitalise on retailer predictions that sales of wine in cans and pouches will increase in coming years.
Smurfit Kappa’s Pouch-up has already proved popular in Scandinavia and France – a trend the firm expects to continue in the UK market.
The range was initially developed for wine and cocktails, but Smurfit Kappa Bag in Box’s Veronika Necasova told FoodProductionDaily.com that the innovation could be further evolved for juices and milk in future.
The Pouch-up’s “evolution” from the traditional Bag-in-Box wine packaging application also offers consumers added convenience, Necasova added.
Natural evolution
“It’s practical, it’s easier to hold, it’s more convenient and he price paid by consumers should be lower than the price paid for a glass bottle. That’s what consumers are attracted to,” said Necasova.
“It’s a natural evolution. It offers more convenience to consumers than the old Bag-in-Box application. For a start it’s not rigid. With a box, it isn’t possible to fit in all types of bag. The Pouch-up is easier to transport and easier to carry. It’s a great innovation.”
She added that the pouch offers manufacturers many benefits compared with the traditional Bag-in-Box, including an overall more efficient supply chain.
A traditional glass wine bottle accounts for 29.6% of the weight of a litre of wine, while the Pouch-up application weighs in at just 2.3% of its filled weight.
According to the firm, the removal of the traditional secondary box increases the volume of liquid a delivery vehicle can carry – offering significant transport and storage efficiencies.
Scandinavian success
The Pouch-Up application has so-far proved popular with wine and cocktails manufacturers after seperate launches in Scandinavia and France.
“It is popular in Scandinavia, with wine and cocktails and between 2010 and 2011, the pouch has grown by 60% in France. And this trend should continue,” said Necasova.
“Wine makers in the UK are very interested. But only the future months and years will tell.”
Necasova added that the Pouch-up range could be extended further, with milk and juice applications the next obvious step for the range.
“Smurfit Kappa is not producing the Pouch-up for milk or juices at the moment, but it could be a future evolution,” she concluded.