To say we have been as busy as a beaver on the new product front for quality food packaging, would be the understatement of the year.  By my count we launched 50 brand new sku’s just since January.  That includes two comletely new substrates (material used to make our products), three new  product lines and one new category which is single-use cutlery.  Yes, I’d say that qualifies as busy.

Here’s a recap of the lines and products we have launched so far…

Supermarket Containers - clear APET containers produced from 50% post consumer recycled content which are perfect for salsa and other dips, cut fresh and dried fruit, cut vegetables, gourmet candies, wet salads, olives along with other produce, just to name a few. 

Harvest Fiber - which is a full line of  BPI certified, 100% compostable, foodservice products.  What sets our line apart from the field is our quality, which has always been a trademark of Genpak.  Our hinged food containers are easy to close and stay closed unlike the flimsy containers floating around from our competition, which when trying to close is something akin to threading a needle.  It’s all in the design which is our patented, classic Genpak Snap-It closure system.  All our Harvest Fiber food service packaging is grease and moisture resistant, 100% natural and as stated previously, BPI certified.  That point is important to talk about.  Many companies make wild claims of compostability, but unless those claims are backed by an independent 3rd party, they are just empty words.  Do your homework.  Ask for proof!

Harvest Starch - is our line of foodservice plates, bowls, hinged containers and cutlery produced from an environmentally enhanced, hybrid resin that reduces the amount of non-renewable sourced material by 60%!  These products fit the bill for those foodservice operators who want a “greener” option, but still want the look and feel of high-end, traditional plastic products. 

95516 – This is an over-cap lid for our single service size oven ready food trays.  Initially, the two food trays this lid accommodates were designed for film seal applications.  However, our customers wanted more flexibility with these trays.  Yes, we do listen to our customers (a trait most of our competitors lack) and react to those needs.  The result was completely new markets for these products to service.  Namely, catered school lunch programs, high end restaurant “doggie bags” and supermarket buffet line containers for foods going into the microwave.  So for that, thank you.

Smart Set Pro expansion – we introduced a new two compartment rectangular microwave safe food container and a matching lid.  The really cool feature of our microwave safe food containers is the unique “textured” finish of the base.  The special way we manufacture these products allow us to reduce the part weight but up to 20% versus the heavy, clunky microwave products of our competition.  In many circles that is considered a source reduction initiative worth talking about.  Of course, with a lower part weight comes a lower price point which is nice too.

Corn Tray – Just in time for the summer sweet corn season, we have  introduced our TR04 PC “corn tray”.  This item is not only good for corn but be perfect for pre-made for shish kabob.

That certainly is a pretty busy first 6 months.  Our goal is, and always has been to be the premier packaging supplier for foodservice industry.  Quality product and quality service.

I can’t tell you how many times I get calls from food service operators, confectioners and food processors looking for custom food packaging to fit their new creation or menu option. Now that by itself sounds great, and it is. The problem arises when the packaging to transport these culinary works of art are at the bottom of their to do list when it should really be the second item on the list.

The reason for this is the cost to make custom shapes and sizes can be a significant dollar amount. Without getting too technical into reasons, I can tell you it can get into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A capital outlay of this magnitude is often something people just weren’t thinking about. Especially when they were probably thinking the packaging would be around 2%, maybe 3% of their overall cost. Now a whole new set of costs need to be justified for the operators. Often times on a brand new menu or food item, the “for sure” sales volume is not there to support such an expense. Sure we do get those calls from the larger, national food processors or foodservice operators who can handle this sort of thing with the power of their particular brand, but for the small and mid-sized companies, an extra $100,000 would kill the whole deal. They’d now be faced with going out and finding a smaller, custom forming company who might be able to make what they need without the large tooling costs, but their final part price will be 30% or more than what they were hoping which is no bargain either.

There is hope! Just move the packaging part of your new food product equation up to the number two spot.  A early on call to your friendly food packaging specialist (me) could save thousands later down the road. We can work with you to design a packaging solution utilizing our massive inventory of existing footprints. 90% of the time we already have a design that will work perfectly. But for that other 10%, sometimes just a minor tweak to the food item or perhaps a simple count change (6 muffins instead of 9) is all it takes to design that perfect package. Perfect both economically and functionally. However if that packaging call is the last on the list and all other aspects are set in stone, it can sometimes be an up hill climb to find an economical solution. 

So for all you food processors and foodservice operators out there who like to create new tasty items for us to eat, do me and you both a favor and bump your food packaging decision a few notches up the to do list.  I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.

Well here we go again. More politicians have decided they are experts on food packaging. This time it’s New York state (Genpak’s home state by the way). State Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly member Brian Kavanagh have teamed with others in an attempt to ban the use of foamed polystyrene foodservice products in governmental offices and public schools.  They kicked off this witch hunt by holding a rally on Earth Day at a Manhattan school, standing next to a giant pile of polystyrene products. They have also begun recruiting elected officials to sign their SPARE (Stop Polystyrene And Revitalize the Environment) pledge. I guess this document forces governmental office buildings to find other, (more expensive) forms food service packaging. Ms. Kruger went on to say she was proud to be part of something that will ban products blah blah blah, toxic to the environment blah blah, etc etc. All the same rhetoric that is mostly all false or half true.

Here’s what I think. Election day is right around the corner and if you are an incumbent, you’re fighting for your political life. Especially in New York where once again we have no budget in place because of all the political bickering. Hey, let’s find an easy target we can pick on that will make us look like good guys in the voters eyes. Styrofoam!  Yes there we go, lets ban Styrofoam! 

Let’s face it, foamed polystyrene (Styrofoam is a trade name by another company) is an easy target due to huge consumer misconception…partially fueled by the misinformation piled on by folks like this. These politicians make up neat acronyms like SPARE and stand next to a giant piles of garbage talking about the ills of the material. Most of what they are saying are totally incorrect.

I’m not going to go into all the misinformation Krueger and Kavanagh are saying on this post, but if you are interested, I’ve posted before regarding all the misconceptions of foamed polystyrene. They don’t take long to read and it’s real information offered by someone not looking to be elected.

One thing that should be said here is if they are successful, taxpayers in NY should know that most of the alternative materials available are significantly more expensive than foam. Yes there are alternatives. I know because we sell a ton of it with our Harvest label products.  It’s compostable and made from annually renewable resources. But, unfortunately, it is more expensive. Given the economic crisis the politicians have put New York State in, I would think they should be looking for any savings they can get. Spending 15% to 20% more for alternative food service packaging is probably not the wisest choice at the moment.

Listen, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. We are not against alternative materials for food packaging.  Far from it. Genpak is leading the charge for alternative materials. We have products made from annually renewable resources, products that have been significantly source reduced, products that are #1 recyclable, products that are produced with up to 50% post consumer recycled content and products produced from hybrid materials that replace a significant portion of the petrochemical resin with natural, annually renewable materials. What I’m against is politicians finding a business sector to regulate and control without knowing the facts, to make them appear grand in voters eyes.

I propose instead of SPARE they initiate DUMB (Don’t Usurp My NYS Budget) or perhaps STUPID (Stop Tying Up taxPayers Invaluable Dollars) and get to work on passing a budget for this great state. Let the foodservice markets and industries make their own natural progression toward the materials and substrates that make the most sense environmentally and economically.

Every time I tell someone who is not in the foodservice business, that we are displaying at the NRA show, I have to tell them, no we don’t make rifles, we make plates.  NRA stands for National Restaurant Association, and their show is the biggest of its kind. The show, as usual, is in Chicago and it starts this weekend. We’ll be there at booth 415. 

When you do stop by, tell the Genpakers at the booth you heard about it on the Genpak blog and ask to sign up to win the iPod Touch we are giving away. 

What you’ll see at our booth is:

• Harvest Fiber compostable foodservice packaging
• Harvest Starch hybrid plates, bowls and hinged containers
• Products made with up to 50% post consumer recycled content
• Microwave safe products that are up to 30% lighter than the bumpy bulky product are competition is peddling
• Product endorsed by the Green Restaurant Association
• Our brand new line of Supermarket Containers (ask about our white options)
• Cutting edge prototype food packaging designs such as tamper evident packaging
• And of course the best hinged take out packaging available today

It’s all state-of-the-art, cutting edge food packaging on display.  What better way to spend your weekend?  Stroll around the show, stop by the Genpak booth and if you are luck and have connections, go watch the Blackhawks attempt to get into the Stanley Cup finals. 

See you there.

Over the last couple of days I attended a conference put on by Nature Works, who is a domestic supplier of PLA. PLA (polylactic acid) is an alternative resin source made entirely from corn and is meant to be used in replacement of PET, OPS and other clear petrochemical based resins. This conference came off the heals of another meeting I attended called the Biopolymers Symposium, which had a very similar theme to the aforementioned NW conference.

Both events were fairly well attended, and not just by chemists and engineers (thankfully). One message I took away from both events was the goal of many companies to practice and become more sustainable. Sustainability by definition is not rocket science, but to me more of a common sense practice. However the extent to which some companies have embraced sustainable practices does teeter on the verge of mind blowing. Not just the big companies either. I saw most impressive presentations from all sized companies including smaller regional companies, national niche market companies right on up to multi-billion dollar multinational brand name companies.  

Clearly the largest companies have the most aggressive and far reaching game plans due to greater resources.  Once such plan that was talked about was a goal to make a manufacturing facility of one such large company, 100% self reliant.  To be taken totally off the grid for power, water and other utilities.  This wasn’t just some lofty goal on paper to say “look what we are thinking about”, but according to the presentation, well under way to becoming reality.  I can’t go into all the details of everything they were doing, but it was very impressive.  Especially the water reclamation part.  This is because the facility was located in an arid location and the company used a great deal of water in their particular process.  They not only figured out how to clean and purify the water, but to repipe it back into their process to be used again and again.

There was one common detail that each and every company who talked about sustainability initiatives stressed though.  That was a return on their investment.  Let’s face it, companies are in business to turn a profit.  No profit and the doors close.  These forward thinking companies each had a clear objective to turn their sustainability programs into a healthier bottom line.  They not only wanted to be better stewards of the environment but wanted a stronger company as a result of it.  Again, there were lots of examples provided showing where and how a payback and return was realized, but I think the most important aspect that each organization practiced was a top down approach to sustainability.  In each and every case that was presented, the company’s top management was completely committed to their program and, they got all their empoylees on board.  You can have an excellent plan on paper, but if the mother hen is not fully committed, the chicks will surely scatter.  These companies were not afraid to step back and take a critical look at themselves to ask “how can we do this better and what can we do differently that will not only  enrich the environment, but enrich our profits as well”.

I urge you to do the same.  Whether you have or work for a company as well as in your personal life.  Ask yourself the questions.  Do you really need to drive to the market for that gallon of milk, or could you walk or ride a bike?  Turn off the lights when you leave a room and power your computer down when you’ll be away from it.  These may seem like little things but just remember, one or two tiny snowflakes falling won’t add up to much, but millions falling can enact a blizzard of change.

March.  Now here’s a green month if I ever saw one.  Of course there is  March Madness where I typically loose around 50 green backs in the office pool.  St. Patrick’s Day is good for several pints of my favorite green lager.  And let’s not forget that Dr. Seuss was born in the month of March.  What’s green about that?  Hello, Green Eggs and Ham!  One other thing is that Uranus was discovered in March.  No there’s nothing green about that.  I just wanted to type Uranus (insert your own crude joke here).

Now that you are thinking green (those of you still on Uranus can come back to us now) let’s talk about our Deli containers.  Crystal clear yes, but green non the less.  I read somewhere that people like bullet points, so instead of a paragraph of info, here’s the bullet point version:

• Made from APET which is #1 curbside recyclable
• Made using up to 50% post consumer recycled content
• And now is endorsed by the Green Restaurant Association

That’s right, our deli line is now endorsed by the GRA!  If you know the GRA you’ll know they only endorse products that meet there very strict standards and guidelines.   Restaurants and food service operator can earn up to two points from the GRA by utilizing our Hinged Deli Containers.  This will get them two points closer to becoming a Certified Green Restaurant.  Also, I’m happy to report that our Clear Hinged Deli food containers are the only clear hinged products that currently carry their endorsement.

The other great features of this line are:

• Patented 360° seal
• Patented hinged closure
• Freezer safe
• Works with automated fill & seal equipment

Heard enough?  If not, just shoot us a note and ask for some samples so you may give it your own test.  I’m confident you’ll like what you see.

The City Council of Chicago has proposed a new ordinance that would effectively require foodservice operators in the city of Chicago, to pay substantially more for their single use foodservice items, by imposing a ban on those items produced from expanded polystyrene (EPS), which carries the #6 chasing arrows identifier number. 

The ordinance, written by Edward Burke, states that food dispensing establishments must use a biodegradable (sometimes referred to as compostable) alternative.  The following highlights are some excerpts from this ordinance.

*  “…polystyrene food service products and disposable food service ware have a significant adverse impact on the environment…” .  My question is, has a city council conducted an environmental impact study to back up this claim, or are they just empty words?  On January 27th, the second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles blocked a ban on plastic bags in  the community of Manhattan Beach because they never conducted an environmental impact report supporting their claims.  It’s easy to say something has a adverse impact on the environment.  It’s quite another thing to back up those claims with proven facts.  It is however a well documented EPA fact (2007 data) that single use foodservice ware items make up only 1.2% of all materials headed to municipal solid waste streams.  Also, once in a landfill, they do not produce methane which is an ozone depleting substance.

* “..in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people…”.  There is no question that single use foodservice products made from EPS are a sanitary option for food packaging.  Two separate studies have proven that compared to other alternatives, single use EPS packaging provided a more sanitary choice as evident by significantly lower bacterial counts. (Source: FPI.org)

* “…toxic chemicals leach out of such products into food…”.  No they don’t.  Don’t mistake the current BPA issue going on with products made from polycarbonate plastic.  EPS and polycarbonate are two completely separate materials.  Polycarbonate is a clear, fairly shatter resistant plastic used to make things like reusable water bottles and baby bottles.  Polystyrene is a FDA approved material for food contact.

The ordinance goes on to state that fines will be imposed of up to $500 for each “offense”.  As if being forced into paying more for their single use foodservice needs wasn’t enough.

Look, I’ve said this before, we are not against alternative materials that are compostable, recyclable and the like.  Just the opposite in fact.  Genpak was the first manufacturer of foodservice products to offer a complete line of products from hinged containers to cups that were BPI certified compostable (those are our products in that picture on BPI’s main page), back almost four years ago.  We were the first to offer post consumer recycled content into our Hinged Deli containers, which by the way are now endorsed by the Green Restaurant Association.  We led the movement to reduce part weights (source reduction) without reducing quality, for microwave safe packaging.  And we recently just expanded our certified compostable line to include our brand new Harvest Fiber products. 

It is safe to say that not only do we not oppose alternative materials, but that we are leading the charge.  What we are opposed to is having a local municipality shove an ordinance that will be an economic burden, down the throats of the very institutions that make that community great.  Those of you that have visited the city of Chicago know the choices for an excellent dinning experience is endless.  We are opposed to bureaucrats picking an easy target to attack, such as EPS, without doing the homework to review its overall effect on the community.  If successful, will this ban simply replace one type of litter for another more expensive kind?  Are there sufficient composting facilities in the area that accept food grade waste?  Will a diversion plan be put into play to send materials to a proper facility?  Has a more attention been given to public trash receptacles?  The list of questions goes on and on.  Maybe all these concerns have been addressed.  If so, I applaud the council.  If not, then this ban should be stopped.

The Federal Trade Commission defines recycled content materials as those that have been recovered or diverted from the solid waste stream. Recycled content can be broken into two categories. Post consumer and pre-consumer, which may also be referred to as post industrial. Post consumer content, as its name implies, are materials that have been used by consumers. Examples are clear plastic water and soda bottles made from P.E.T. that carry the #1 recycle symbol. Post industrial is scrap that is generated during the normal manufacturing process that is recycled back into its raw material state and used again.

At Genpak, we began producing our clear Hinged Deli products using post consumer recycled (PCR) content back in early 2007. Since then we have expanded that program to include all of our clear APET products.

The EPA states “There’s more to recycling than setting out your recyclables at the curb. In order to make recycling economically feasible, we must buy recycled products and packaging. When we buy recycled products, we create an economic incentive for recyclable materials to be collected, manufactured and marketed as new products. Buying recycled products has both economic and environmental benefits. Purchasing products made from or packaged in recycled materials saves resources for future generations.”

For our part, just in 2009 we used nearly 14 million pounds of post consumer resin for our APET products. To put that into perspective, it is the equivalent of diverting nearly 280 million water bottles from landfills! Breaking it down even further to a customer level, you can say that for every 200 cases of our very popular AD16 purchased, you have helped us divert 17,600 bottles that were destined for a landfill. Not only are our Deli containers made with up to 50% post consumer recycled content, but they are also still #1 recyclable! It’s a win-win.

For more information or to request samples just drop us a line and we’ll get you everything you need to know.

It’s a brand new year and we’ve got a brand new product line to talk about. Before we get into that, let me lay a little ground work if I may. We had a national sales meeting up here in sunny Glens Falls a couple weeks back. After a few of our fair weather sales people stopped complaining about the snow, we got down to business and had a couple productive days. I think the main theme I took away was summed up by a phrase that will reign true throughout this year and years to come. That phrase was, “this is not your mother’s Genpak“. We were challenged to think outside our comfort zone and not to fall back on that comfy security blanket we call the foam hinged container. The gauntlet was laid to sell a greater mix of our ever growing product offering and push the envelope into the markets that will benefit the most from our superior designs and substrates. By the end of the meetings our entire group was pumped up and ready to dive into 2010 with both feet and with a bag full of new products…which leads me to our January spotlight. Harvest Fiber!

Harvest Fiber is our next generation of eco-conscious food packaging products.  Before you ho hum yawn this one away as another Johnny-Come-Lately line of earth friendly products, remember who you are dealing with here! Genpak was first to market over three years ago with a full line of eco products. And, as a leader in the single use food packaging industry and one of the pioneers of “green” food packaging, we wanted to make sure these products could meet our motto of Quality To Go.

Now, what really sets our Fiber products apart from the field is our design. I’m not going to try to mislead you or gloss over facts here. Like everybody else who supplies products made from Bagasse, they are made in China. This mainly due to the lack of supply for that type of raw material here in the US. Please rest assured that we did not partner with the lowest bidder however. We visited, talked with and audited suppliers until we were 100% comfortable with our choice. One of the main reasons we went with who we did was we needed a company that would make products to our own design specifications. In other words we did not buy off the rack as everyone else has done. We took our time and had custom molds made to our spec so the products we did launch, looked and worked just like the Genpak products our customers are used to. If you’ve ever fumbled and cursed at that typical slot and tab type closure that is rampant in the fiber hinged market, you will absolutely love our hinged containers. Why? Because it is our Snap-It style design. Easy to close and stays closed.

Another feature on our Harvest Fiber hinged products that you’ll notice is the stacking rim. Yet another feature left off by our competition, but not over looked by us. Our thought here was, why skimp? This is what the foodservice market is used to so that’s what we are going to do. Other features include:

• GMO free material.
• Non-absorbent finish
• Microwave safe
• BPI certified compostable
• Annually renewable, non food source substrate

For you visual types, to see more pictures of our new Harvest Fiber foodservice products, just follow this link. If it is samples or more information you are after, just drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you.

Let us know what you think. Reply back (make it clean) and we’ll post your comments.

Supermarket Containers! We just launched a brand new line of clear PET food packaging and we are calling them Supermarket Containers. What is great about these products is their versatility. The number of possible applications is as long as that last red light before home on a Friday night.

We have designed in a very user friendly, wide mouth opening which allows easy dippin’ access should something like salsa or some other dip be used.  No longer do consumers need to dispense the contents into another bowl for enjoyment when dipping tortilla or other large chips.

Our new foodservice packaging items carry the  #1 recyclable  symbol which means they can be recycled in most curb side municipal pick up programs. The green lover, eco-conscious minded folks will also appreciate the fact that our new Supermarket Containers are also produced with up to 45% post consumer recycled content!

Some other great features with our new packaging are:

• One common lid fits across all sizes
• Freezer safe
• Works well with automated fill & seal lines
• Can accept a film seal in conjunction with lid use
• Can be reused in the household for leftovers

What’s not to love about them I ask you? Multiple applications, tons of features and eco-conscious to boot. Come on.  You know you want to so just drop us a line today and order up some samples.  You’ll love them. I guarantee it.