The company has launched the Tetra Brik Square Mini 250 mland 200 ml for chilled portion packages, which are becoming increasingly common on retail dairy shelves in Europe.
The Tetra Brik Square Mini is Tetra Pak's first mini square-shaped package to hit the market. Available in 200 ml and 250 ml sizes, the newpackages feature a distinctivecubic design that the firm believes will attract consumersand provide practical advantagesover traditional gable toppackages and plastic bottles andcups.
The company claims that the Tetra Brik Square Mini is ideally suited for liquid dairy products. While liquid dairy product (LDP) producers might benefit from the Tetra Brik Square Mini's novel shape and size, makers of children's drinks will benefit from the carton's fun look, child-friendly dimensions and more spill-proofdesign.
"The problem with plastic cup containers and even somerectangular portion packs is that children can accidentally spill or squeeze theliquid out of the top whereas the Tetra Brik Square Mini is more difficult to spill or squeeze," said product manager Bo Pettersson.
Interest in the new package has been particularly strong in Asia among LDPproducers seeking more convenient or attractive packaging. Testing is alreadyunderway at Haruna Dairy in Japan, using the package for school milk and anew niche product called 'beauty milk' marketed to Japanese women.
"During this field test, Haruna and Tetra Pak have built up a good relationship as partners," said a Haruna spokesperson. "This is the first installation in the world of a Tetra Pak C3/Flex machine producing Tetra Brik Square Mini packages. We are considering to develop new products for these new packages."
Another selling point of the Tetra Brik Square Mini is that it is easy toproduce. The Tetra Pak C3/Flex can handle the productionof these two portion packs as well as the TetraBrik Square 1000 ml and 500 ml and Tetra BrikBase 1000 ml and 500 ml.
With the Tetra Pak C3/Flex, LDP producers canswitch between different sizes with the samebottom format in as little as 15 minutes, whichreduces the risk for producers, because they arenot tied to just one package size.
"With the Tetra Pak C3/Flex, you can run, for example, the Tetra Brik Square Mini 200 ml in the morning and switch to 250 ml cartons in the afternoon," said Pettersson. "The XH (extended hygiene) option on the Tetra Pak C3/Flex platform offers extended purity, safety and prolonged shelf life.
"What liquid dairy producers need, now more than ever, is a highly cost-efficient packaging format that will help them compete for consumer attention, and that's exactly what the Tetra Brik Square Mini delivers."
The new Tetra Brik Square Mini is part of the Tetra Brik Square family. OtherTetra Brik package families are: Tetra Brik Base, Tetra Brik Mid, and Tetra Brik.