Packdesign ID and Atria’s co-developed new ”Atria Easy Open Vacuum Pack” entered the Finnish market in February 2017.
The new vacuum pack is revolutionizing the ground beef market. “Easy to open” is seen in a completely new and unique way – no scissors needed, pull the tab to open the package. The ground beef is easy to remove from the opened package and put in a pan or bowl for preparation.
Now this revolutionary packaging innovation has received the prestigious Scandinavian package award, the SCANSTAR 2017, arranged by the Scandinavian Packaging Association. The new packaging solution convinced the international jury to also issue the package with a ”First choice” honorary mention as the Best of the Best in the competition. The awards will be presented at the Packaging Summit event in Lahti on November 29th 2017.
In addition to the exceptional ease of use, there is over 50 % less packaging material in the vacuum pack, compared to all other ground beef packages on the Finnish market. The packaging adapts perfectly to the shape of the product, saving space during transport, in the store, in customers’ shopping bags, in the refrigerator, and in the trash bin. Additionally, the ground beef is packaged without the use of packaging gases and allows for a longer shelf life in the store. Atria produces the packaging in its own facilities. The new package design is registered.
The development of the new packaging solution started in 2013 and throughout the project, different packaging alternatives and designs were studied extensively and thoroughly evaluated. “It was enormously inspiring to join such a groundbreaking project, where a truly unique packaging solution was sought for a line of products, where the packaging style has stayed the same for all manufacturers for a very long time”, says the head designer for the package concept design and CEO of Packdesign ID Maija Olkkonen-Seppo. “The new package gives the Atria brand and its products distinctiveness and a competitive advantage. It offers a new kind of usability; it decreases the amount of packaging material as well as minimizes “useless space” during transport, in the store, in the customer’s shopping bag, at home and in the trash bin.In Finland, ground beef is traditionally packed in a plastic box and using packaging gases. Ground beef is vacuum packed around the world, but does not have the user-friendly packaging with the easy-to-open feature. Atria is the first to bring a truly innovative, easy to open vacuum pack to the marketplace. “Ground beef is a daily life saver for the consumer”, says Anna Kultalahti, product group manager of Atria Suomi Oy. “Versatile food products that are easy to use, are now also packaged as user-friendly as the contents”.
Consumers also embraced the innovative package design that simplifies their daily life. A pilot test conducted in the fall of 2015 demonstrated that 97% of consumers liked the new design and 95% of those who tried it once wanted to buy ground beef in the new package in the future.
Atria’s new ”Atria Easy Open Vacuum Pack” is a result of Packdesign ID and Atria packaging co-development, which already brought a completely new and easy-to-use packaging solution to the market. “Atria Easy Open Pack”, introduced in 2014, was awarded the world’s best cold cut package.
“It is a pleasure and a privilege to cooperate long-term with a company that takes advantage of packaging development and package design in such a groundbreaking and pioneering way”, comments Emma Kosonen, Design Director of Packdesign ID. “Atria, a pioneer in packaging development, brings innovative package solutions and benefits not only to the consumers, but also to the stores and the environment”.
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