Hellmann’s has teamed up with Ogilvy to design a smart mayonnaise jar that tells consumers when their fridge is at the optimal temperature to keep their food fresher for longer and cut down on food waste...
Circulayo, a UK-based sustainable technology company that has recently joined AIPIA, has a mission to reduce single-use waste by making reusable packaging convenient for consumers, commercially beneficial for businesses, and scalable for the planet through a digital, smart technology platform...
Snapple, a well-known US beverage brand that offers flavoured teas and juice drinks, has announced the launch of the Snapple fAIct Generator, an AI-powered tool that makes it easy to create facts about any topic, the brand of Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) says. The generator can be accessed by scanning the QR on the bottle...
Glass packaging producer Gerresheimer has partnered with AIPIA member TruTag Technologies, a brand protection specialist, to offer a secure digitization solution for cosmetic brands. The solution involves the integration of invisible microparticles that can be detected and decoded by a smartphone directly from products...
The label is often the most distinctive part of a wine bottle, and Crate by Australian winery Fourth Wave Wines sets itself apart through the absence of any label at all. What is claimed as a first-of-its-kind label-less wine, takes a unique approach to sustainably for its high-quality, barrel-matured red wines...
Austrian security label producer and longstanding AIPIA member Securikett, a global specialist in the field of product and brand protection, has succeeded in creating a completely transparent security label with a particularly impressive opening effect, it says...
Unilog, an Israel-based technology company with particular expertise in the design and management of global supply chains has introduced Ucontrol™, which it describes as a revolutionary IoT solution that has the potential to change supply chain dynamics...
Longtime AIPIA member Identiv, which is well known for digital security and identification in the Internet of Things (IoT), recently announced an expansion of its partnership with another AIPIA member, STMicroelectronics (ST), to offer new near-field communication (NFC) inlays for luxury goods, wine and spirits, healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical devices, consumer packaged goods, apparel, and smart packaging applications for any industry, it says...
It seems that the forecast season is in full swing for the Smart Packaging sector, with several companies revealing the results of surveys and studies about the impact of connected packaging on retailers, consumers, and the industry at large...
The deadline for entering your latest Smart Packaging technology in this year’s Sustainability Awards is approaching fast! With the increasing use of Smart Packaging to improve the reuse, recycling and environmentally friendly application of packaging gaining more recognition all the time, this is a great opportunity to put your relevant Active & Intelligent packaging in the spotlight...
We do not usually cover straightforward barrier film developments in the AIPIA newsletter as there are many versions, and in our view, there is nothing particularly exceptional about packaging with barrier features. But Melodea, a new member of AIPIA, based in Israel, offers recyclable barrier coatings which are somewhat different, and certainly smart!...
AIPIA has been asked to organize two Smart Packaging seminars during the above exhibitions, which take place in June (14-17) and July (12-14) respectively in Bangkok...
Extending the shelf life of food is a global climate emergency issue to help reduce waste, but it also has the potential to boost business. Developments are going on in every continent and, as the last AIPIA Comment article highlighted, different materials and processes are being developed in almost every region of the world...
Avery Dennison Smartrac has announced a significant investment to expand its RFID tag production capacity in the Americas region with a new manufacturing site in Querétaro, Mexico...
Andrew Manly, communications director at AIPIA, casts his eye over a number of interesting and innovative smart packaging developments that have been revealed over the past few weeks...
The increasing use of Smart Packaging technologies to improve the re-use and recycling of packaging is gaining more recognition in this year’s Sustainability Awards, which will be co-located with the 2023 AIPIA World Congress in Amsterdam, this November (14th & 15th), as part of the Sustainable Packaging Summit...
Aptar Pharma, a leading AIPIA member in the active technology area, recently received two InnoPack 2022 China Awards in recognition of its HeroTracker® Sense and Activ-Blister™ solutions...
Innovative antimicrobial and antibacterial materials are announced on a near-weekly basis, but why do so few reach scale? What can the industry do to commercialise more solutions like this in a cost-effective, viable way? Andrew Manly, communications director at AIPIA, tells us more...
International Paper has announced the availability of OHMEGA® Conductive Ink + Touchcode™, its latest technology that it says provides a ‘new dimension’ in brand protection to the packaging industry...
Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Ltd, a multinational food producer headquartered in Thailand, and with global export markets, has successfully leveraged blockchain technology into its digital food traceability system for fresh pork and chicken products...
Antares Vision Group, an AIPIA member that is headquartered in Italy and is a leading provider of track and trace and quality control systems, has successfully piloted a supply chain transparency solution for a prominent berry company...
Toppan, a longstanding AIPIA member with interests globally in communication, security, packaging, décor materials, and electronics solutions, has developed a near-field communication (NFC) tag label that uses paper material as the substrate for the antenna instead of conventional PET film...
During the recent CES show in Las Vegas, Authena AG, a leading provider of NFT ownership certificates and ‘phygital’ authentication at the single SKU level introduced M3TA™, which provides authenticity and ownership certificates via NFTs associated with their physical twin...
A new traceability system that enables customers to use their smartphones to see where their whole cuts come from has been launched by online meat retailer Farmison & Co. The company, which is based in Yorkshire, UK, says its new system enables customers to see precisely where their meat originates and is part of its Farming the Future (FTF) programme...
Needle-Trap, a unique label with integrated needle protection from pharma label specialists Schreiner MediPharm, has been complemented by a completely new security feature, says the company. A special seal indicates that the prefilled syringe has been opened before and helps protect its integrity up to final use. The novel combination of needle and product protection will be showcased for the first time at Pharmapack in Paris, in early February...
Longstanding AIPIA member SML Group, an end-to-end RFID specialist, recently announced a new partnership with Elo, a leading global supplier of interactive touchscreen solutions. By combining RFID technology with interactive touchscreen solutions, this partnership brings two technology solutions together, enabling retailers to enhance customer engagement and the overall user experience, they say...
AIPIA, the Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association, in conjunction with its partners Packaging Europe, has confirmed that the next World Congress will take place on 14th and 15th November at the Beurs van Berlage in central Amsterdam. This will continue the series of successful events held at this iconic venue after the return of the ‘live’ Congress, post-COVID 19, held in November 2022...
Extended producer responsibility, track and trace, and deposit return schemes will all undoubtedly be key drivers of innovation throughout the next year and beyond. But what role could smart packaging play to facilitate these new technologies? Andrew Manly, communications director at AIPIA, tells us more...
More than 28 billion RAIN RFID chips were deployed in 2021 and it’s expected that the market for these tags will have reached 35 billion by the end of 2022. The majority of these chips are low-cost 3-cent 96-bit RFID “product ID tags” used in supply chain logistics for retailers, performing a similar function as the barcode from the 1970s, but with the benefit that they read through a box at a speed of 1,000 items (tags) per second...
Inuru, an AIPIA member who pioneers the development of practical and transformative light technology, is presenting its new line of paper-thin organic LEDs (OLED) at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this month...
As we have said before, not all Smart Packaging needs a chip, tag, or QR code to ‘connect’ it, or even something in the material or package to make it ‘active’. In 2020, one example was a box containing a Dutch bike which, on the outside, said it was a television – this reduced damage in transit by 40%! In 2021 we saw a fruit pack that contained a daily banana for six days, from ready to eat to a bit green – which prevents the throwing away of a load of over-ripe bananas. To end 2022, we now have the ‘dissolvable shampoo bottle’, which, in fact, is not a bottle at all...
IQ Structures, a research and production organisation focused on nanotechnology engineering, part of the IQS Group, has introduced holograms for packaging-related security applications that can be authenticated automatically, using normal light and a mobile phone app...
No AIPIA Congress is complete without a Brand Challenge, and the 2022 event was no exception. This year the GSK spin-off Haleon, which is responsible for famous brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste, Otrivin respiratory treatment, Advil pain relievers and Centrum supplements, challenged twelve AIPIA companies to show how it can integrate active and intelligent packaging to enhance the consumer experience, provide traceability, enhance safety and/or security, as well as extending shelf-life or reducing waste...
During the Congress, a number of new technologies were showcased. One of these came from Stardust Secured™ which offers a portfolio of security tracers and detection devices. These covert tracers contain microparticles that are InfraRed (IR) reactive. This means the particles don’t reflect light, they absorb it, react, and emit specific wavelengths (some in the IR). These are detected by the company’s proprietary, custom devices that authenticate the IR responses as that unique material...
Leading data and analytics provider GlobalData has recently identified that digitalization in the packaging industry could become more influential than sustainability, as companies seek to mitigate the effects of inflation. Digitalizing supply chains will be imperative in ensuring companies can optimize efficiency and implement automation, a recent survey has revealed...
One of the new products on show at the AIPIA World Congress was Cleantech’s Digital Temperature Indicator (DTI), an irreversible temperature label with visual and digital indication, integrated with a passive RFID or NFC transponder...
Coca-Cola has rolled out NaviLens codes across 24x330ml and 30x330ml packs of its Christmas can multipacks, which can be scanned with a mobile phone camera from distances of up to four metres to help blind and partially sighted consumers, and are readable even when unfocused...
In just over two weeks AIPIA will open the doors for its first live Congress since 2019 (14/15 November). The event will host around 30 speakers and, on each of the two days, a Brand Challenge will open a window on what two internationally recognised Brands are planning for their next Smart Packaging implementation...
AIPIA member Identiv and TrueGreen, a cannabis technology company specializing in digitizing packaging, have announced the deployment of the world’s first smart tamper seal using RFID technology, designed to deliver, along with the TrueGreen software as a service (SaaS) platform, digital transformation in the cannabis industry, giving products a unique digital identity, they claim...
Having just completed our first AIPIA event in North America since 2019, we think it makes sense to run a story on a smart packaging application on that continent. Harvest Snaps, a plant-based snack brand which is part of Calbee America, has launched a music-driven, TikTok-branded, effect designed to attract and engage college students across the USA during the Autumn...
While holograms are more commonly used as security and anti-counterfeit measures on packaging, holographic effects can also offer enhanced visual impact for the product, particularly if the 3D imagery can be extended to include the entire surface of the pack in question and offers a ‘motion’ effect to make it really come ‘alive’...
Longstanding AIPIA member AIMPLAS is working on developing bioplastics for active packaging for cosmetics and absorbent litter for the pet industry within the European BeonNAT Project. These are just two of the innovative products that will be developed within the framework of the project, says the Technological Institute of Plastics, which is located in Valencia...
American sports beverage brand Gatorade, part of PepsiCo, has launched a new bottle that tracks personalised hydration needs and indicates to athletes when to drink, via a cap that lights up as an alert mechanism...
Every two years Chicago, Illinois becomes Packaging Town as Pack Expo International comes to the Windy City and fills McCormick Place with the latest technologies, machines and ideas for Brand Owners and their suppliers and partners...
To mark World Sight Day on 13th October, Haleon and Microsoft are launching a joint project to make health products more accessible for blind and visually impaired consumers, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that narrates the labels of products...
Could new, novel technologies be key to the role of packaging in the reduction of food waste? Yes, says Andrew Manly, communications director at AIPIA – and smart packaging should lead the way. There are many reasons why people are questioning the desirability and usefulness of some kinds of packaging. This skepticism is often based on mythology around what the packaging actually does or does not do...
A new promotional campaign from Jägermeister called The Secret is Ice Cold is centred around active and intelligent packaging. It encourages consumers to place Jägermeister bottles in the freezer to reveal a hidden code for a chance to win special prizes...
How can our industry empower consumers to play a larger role in recycling and packaging sustainability in general? The answer, according to AIPIA’s communications director Andrew Manly, lies in smart packaging...
With the biggest line up of smart packaging expert speakers since pre-pandemic, the AIPIA Smart Packaging Summit in Chicago, (hosted by Pack Expo International, McCormick Place, 25 October 2022) will offer an important overview of the latest developments in connected and digital packaging...
Last November AIPIA reported on a new Augmented Reality (AR) experience aimed initially at the beer sector called SWIGR, which is a clever way for consumers to discover the story behind their favourite drinks. The company now reports the experience will soon feature on whisky, gin, and vodka, expanding it beyond the beer industry...
Talon International, which invented the first zipper in 1893 and today offers solutions in tags, labelling and printed marketing, has launched a new anti-counterfeit and consumer engagement technology...
Avery Dennison has announced its first partnerships with startups for an accelerator program called ADStretch. The programme aims to solve the ecological harms of the packaging industry by developing materials that generate a positive ecological impact. The first cohort of companies already includes many Smart Packaging solution providers...
UNITED CAPS and Mimica have collaborated on a cap which is reportedly an accessible freshness indicator for all types of perishable products. The project aims to reduce food waste and increase consumer food safety...
The annual meeting and expo of the International Association for Food Protection held earlier this month in Pennsylvania, USA, saw the introduction of the latest innovation in wireless temperature monitoring and data logging from BluLine Solutions...
True Pedigree, a technology company helping brands protect themselves from losing revenue due to counterfeit and grey market products, has launched GenuScan, which it claims is a ‘powerful’ new platform that lets users determine the provenance, destination, and legitimacy of products by scanning them via a smartphone...
AIPIA’s return to live events in October has already attracted a stellar line up of industry speakers for the USA Smart Packaging Summit, which takes place during Pack Expo international in Chicago’s McCormick place on 25th October...
Berlin-based start-up 1Less has created an innovative reuse system that uses RFID-tagged dishware and a smart waste bin, linked to a digital IoT platform, to create a new way to deal with single-use plastic cups, lids, containers and cutlery...
Komposite, a creative products development company, founded by Noam Krasniansky has launched a new blockchain technology that, it claims, will solve the counterfeit problem that challenges brands worldwide...
How connected are sustainability and smart packaging, and what does the future hold for partnerships between these two fields? Andrew Manly, AIPIA’s communications director, looks into this in our latest comment piece...
Turner Labels, a US label converter based in Kentucky, recently announced an innovative label collaboration with Mirror Twin Brewing (MTB). With the help of an HP Indigo 6900 digital press, the companies have developed a craft beer can label utilizing blacklight UV ink...
A number of major beverage and spirit brands continue to adopt QR to connect with customers, while one whisky company is even helping them to disconnect through packaging...
As every government, agency and environmental group keeps telling us, food waste is a monumental problem. Globally, 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted every year, or 30% of total production by most estimates. But maybe you did not realise that that is an amount equal to the weight of 217 million elephants, as a recent report from India revealed...
M&S has announced that ‘best before’ dates will be removed from the labelling of over 300 fruit and vegetable products, and replaced with a new code that staff can scan to check freshness and quality...
Cherry grower Reid Fruits, based in Tasmania, Australia, has seen a dramatic decline in product counterfeiting over the past three export seasons to Asia, as a result of a Smart Fingerprint solution developed by brand authentication technologist Laava, in collaboration with Peacock Bros, a leading digital label and supply chain solutions provider...
Britvic is launching a packaging-focussed augmented reality (AR) campaign that is designed to get families outdoors and hunting for hidden virtual fruit. To participate, consumers purchase a participating bottle of Robinsons over the summer months, scan the QR code on the label, and enter their details including a unique code printed on the label itself to start their hunt...
In the pharmaceuticals sector, there has recently been a shift away from the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ concept of drug administration to a more patient-centred one. A possible approach to obtain personalized medicine is with Data-Enriched Edible Pharmaceuticals (DEEPs), which are printed on each individual pill in the pattern of QR codes...
Systech, an AIPIA member providing connected brand protection and part of Markem-Imaje, has partnered with Spherity, a German software provider of secure and decentralized identity management solutions, to offer an innovative solution to facilitate compliance with the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), part of which requires the verification of trading partners...
A number of major beverage and spirit brands continue to adopt QR to connect with customers, while one whisky company is even helping them to disconnect through packaging...
Data is the heartbeat of every thriving modern company. Cars, machines, phones and entertainment devices, for example, generate more data than ever, feeding into the ceaseless stream of bits and bytes that connects consumers and companies.
Molson Coors has launched limited-edition packs featuring labels that change colour according to the temperature of the drink...
Digimarc Corporation, a leading AIPIA member which created Digimarc watermarks, next-generation digital identification and detection-based solutions, recently announced the launch of its Digimarc® Brand Integrity digital solution, which gives brands and their customers more sophisticated and flexible ways to verify the authenticity of products, it says...
In our latest comment piece, Andrew Manly, AIPIA’s communications director, looks into one of the biggest issues for companies that are considering using smart packaging: cost vs value...
Counterfeit or substandard medicines adversely affect the health of millions of people and cost an estimated $200 billion annually. Their burden is greatest in developing countries, where the World Health Organization estimates that one in ten medical products are fake...
The ‘use-by’ and ‘best-by’ dates printed on milk containers may soon become a thing of the past, giving way to more accurate and informative QR codes, says a report published recently by Cornell University in the USA...
In the future, when ordering a shot of whiskey, the customer might ask the bartender to remove an edible fluorescent silk tag that could be found floating inside, even though it is safe to consume. This little silk tag, with a QR code, is a security measure that could reveal if the whiskey is fake or not...
Avery Dennison Corporation has added to its portfolio of dual frequency RFID inlays with the new AD Slim DF EM4425 tag designed for logistical, medical, and industrial applications...
Pernod Ricard is set to roll out a digital label system across its wine and spirits brands with QR codes that consumers can scan with their smartphones to access information on ingredients, nutritional values, and responsible alcohol consumption...
InnovationLab has announced it has acquired Evonik’s TAeTTOOz printable battery technology. The companies have been close partners in this field for many years and have jointly driven the technological development of TAeTTOOz to the present threshold of industrial-scale production...
VerifyMe, which joined AIPIA last year and provides brand owners with time-sensitive logistics, authentication, supply chain monitoring, and data-rich consumer engagement features using smartphone readable codes, has announced that it has successfully developed VerifyInk, a covert ink technology to run on continuous inkjet printers (CIJ)...
SAVRpak, a California-based food technology innovation company, recently announced the launch of SAVRpak Drop-In, the first-ever moisture control technology that extends the shelf-life and freshness of produce up to three times, it claims...
Zappar, an AIPIA member which specialises in Augmented Reality (AR) creation, has launched Zapvision technology, which aims to provide access to relevant product information to everyone as a basic right, regardless of their visual ability...
Mondelèz International is piloting a new, on pack QR code for its UK summer promotion with Merlin Entertainments across a range of Cadbury, Oreo and Barny packs...
Smart Packaging has many proven benefits, such as Brand Protection, Track & Trace and Anti-counterfeiting. But from the very earliest stages of its development Brand Owners focused heavily on the Consumer Engagement attributes of these technologies. In the digital age, being connected to your customer is vital, helping to build a close and mutually beneficial relationship as well as delivering important marketing metrics about consumer behaviour...
NXP Semiconductors, one of the earliest members of AIPIA, has released a new family of Near Field Communication (NFC) integrated circuits (ICs) featuring tamper-detection and condition-monitoring functionality on a single chip, it says...
Australian company Caps & Closures, which designs and manufactures plastic packaging, has launched the ID-Shield holographic labelling and decoration system...
Gerresheimer, a global supplier of drug packaging solutions, offers a traceability concept that it claims will ensure complete transparency throughout the value chain and greater safety for the patient....
Avery Dennison (AD), the major provider of RFID and digital ID solutions, and Wiliot, the Internet of Things (IoT) specialist, have announced a strategic partnership dedicated to scaling the IoT to the next level, creating a new era of IoT. Both are AIPIA members...
Packaging Europe frequently reports on active packaging solutions that prevent food waste. However, it’s fair to say that a large number of these never reach commercial scale. Andrew Manly, AIPIA’s communications director, looks into the roadblocks and gives his thoughts on what more could be done to help these innovations see the light of day....
Cosmetics manufacturer Clinique is using near field communication (NFC) technology to connect its products to the Internet of Things in a campaign running across 35 countries...
Longstanding AIPIA member Sealed Air has launched its digital packaging brand, prismiq, which has a portfolio of solutions for design services, digital printing and smart packaging...
The Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano (CFPR) has formed a partnership with Dutch/French consortium Kaasmerk Matec and USA-based p-Chip Corporation to launch a line of food-safe and secure traceability digital labels for its Parmigiano Reggiano cheese wheels...
From a film made of bamboo, to coatings that double the shelf-life of cheese products – here’s an update on the latest and most innovative antibacterial packaging solutions...
As more and more brands and retailers opt to not include ‘use by’ dates on their packaging, the packaging industry is being presented with an exciting opportunity. Andrew Manly, AIPIA’s communications director, tells us more....
In light of pandemic-related trends toward e-commerce shopping, how can retailers re-engage consumers in the bricks-and-mortar experience? The answer, according to AIPIA’s communications director Andrew Manly, lies in the successful and comprehensive usage of smart packaging...
By some estimates, one-third of all food produced for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted every year. How can our industry help to solve this issue? One of the answers, according to Joshua Young, Circular Economy Manager at PragmatIC Semiconductor, is smart packaging...
Essentra Packaging has announced its collaboration with Advanced Material Development (AMD) in developing a new generation of Time Temperature Indicators (TTIs), a smart packaging technology for the pharmaceutical sector....
Avery Dennison Smartrac, a longstanding AIPIA member, has announced new features to its atma.io connected product cloud, first launched in 2021. The new features will help transform how brands meet net-zero targets and reduce waste across the supply chain, it says...
A team of scientists from the University of Alicante in Spain claims to have developed a food packaging material from pineapple waste that can increase shelf life. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop an edible film, and researchers are also investigating the material’s aroma-enhancing properties....
Nextech AR Solutions Corp., a Metaverse Company and provider of augmented reality (AR) experiences, has teamed up with Bothwell Cheese to place a QR code triggered and floor anchored hologram on its cheese labels...
Wiliot, the Internet of Things (IoT) innovator which combines self-powered, stamp-sized computers and cloud-based sensing to enable ‘things’ to communicate with brands, has announced an enhanced Works with Wiliot (WwW) partner program and a series of new partners, including Tactical Edge, Sensize, 2Plus, Digipal, Xsights, VisionID, MLINK, Codegate, Blyott, and SATO....
Schreiner MediPharm has launched its upgraded Smart Blister Wallet – a digitally-enabled tool that allows pharmaceutical manufacturers to track compliance in their clinical trial participants automatically and with greater flexibility....
Wouldn’t it be great if consumers could make product touchpoints, such as the packaging they come in, their ‘go-to’ resource for product information? New AIPIA member Tapps, believes they will if the pack is presented as a channel for routine engagement, rather than one-off promotions.
Polysecure GmbH and plastics processor Röchling Industrial are launching SmartMarker, an innovative marker technology for plastic products that offers new opportunities for counterfeit protection, the development of digital material passports, and recycling....
A team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA, has developed a ‘smart’ food packaging material that is biodegradable, sustainable and kills microbes that are harmful to humans, they claim. It could also extend the shelf-life of fresh fruit by two to three days.
High tech RPCs lead investigators to the illegal recycling location: In 2021, a major plastic container theft sting was executed in Cook County, Illinois. It resulted in the discovery of an illegal plastic regrind operation which was grinding reusable containers (RPCs) and trays stolen by a network of more than 30 vehicles and dozens of individuals. The regrind and intact containers discovered at the operation are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Despite the fact that it is vilified today in many quarters plastic packaging is generally understood to protect fruits and vegetables from spoilage in grocery stores. However it also creates significant amounts of waste. Together with the retailer Lidl Switzerland, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology have now developed a protective cover for fruit and vegetables based on renewable raw materials. For this project, Lidl chose Empa for its research experience with cellulose products.
Idvac Ltd, a specialist in advanced vacuum and thin film technology, has been investigating the properties of some Liquid Crystals (LCs) for packaging and security applications. LCs are molecules which have properties between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. They can be aligned by an applied electric field or other methods which changes their optical properties.
In a new feature of the AIPIA newsletter for 2022, members are asked to tell their product story, using real examples of their technology in action. To kick off, Peter James of EVRYTHNG, now a Digimarc company, explains how connected packaging can be theatre: it can create a story.
AIPIA (the Active and Intelligent Packaging Industry Association) and Packaging Europe have entered into a strategic partnership aiming to accelerate uptake of smart packaging innovation across FMCG at every stage of supply chains and retail.
