The warehouse club's packaging makeover features paperboard-blister hybrids.
Economically functional packaging is the foundation of club store packaging. Costco is adding environmentally friendly into the mix.
The club store chain is replacing plastic clamshell packs with paperboard-blister hybrid packages at its nearly 350 U.S. warehouse stores. This new packaging comprises printed paperboard and RPET (recycled polyester) thermoforms.
The eco-friendly packaging makeover is already evident on a co-branded line of 22 Kirkland Signature by Borghese cosmetic products.
“The idea was to convert our vinyl clamshell packaging into something that would minimize the amount of plastic used,” explains Scott Carnie, General Manager of Costco Wholesale Industries’ eastern packaging facility in Monroe, NJ. The products are thermoformed and packaged at plants in Monroe and in National City, CA.
The packaging comprises front and back 24-pt SBS cards printed by Card Pak and blisters that Costco thermoforms from 15-ga RPET (recycled polyester) sheet. Card Pak offset-prints the cards in six colors plus a heat-resistant coating.
Costco had been transitioning out of PVC and into PET, a step that Carnie felt was in the right direction, but not a solution.
“We had no way to reclaim those packages, so we weren’t getting anywhere, environmentally speaking,” he says. “And with consumer complaints related to the sharp edges after cutting open plastic clamshells, we looked at ways to display our products in a packaging format similar in size to what we had been using, but changing from all plastic packaging to as little plastic as possible.”
The product is secured within two blister halves. The blister halves are sealed between two SBS cards, which are sealed to each other along the perimeter. A die-cut E-flute sheet placed between the SBS cards provides rigidity. The packaging was designed internally with input from Borghese, Carnie says.
The materials selection centers on factors besides environmental friendliness. “We want to use the best possible materials available for an upscale look,” Carnie says. That upscale aura extends to the in-store presentation—the Borghese products are merchandised in a special kiosk that’s relatively new for Costco, he adds. Costco Operations Manager Mark Willis points out that the card packs fit into modular trays for kiosk display.
While other efforts have moved into combination corrugated-blister packs (see packworld.com/go/c161), Carnie says, “We wanted the clean look of SBS.”
Sizing up the benefits
Scott Carnie, a Costco General Manager, lists the new club store packaging’s benefits:
• The size of the format will help Costco control inventory; according to its 2005 annual report, Costco boasts a shrink rate of less than 0.2%, which the retailer believes is the lowest in the industry.
• It’s more environmentally friendly, reducing the polymers used. Yet, it achieves the same shelf impact of previous plastic clamshell packaging. “This has reduced the amount of plastic by 50% to 80%,” Carnie claims.
• Due to the package’s strength, Costco can increase the number of layers and product count on pallets versus clamshell packs.
• The double-blister packaged products are “isometric” to provide a well-balanced look and weight that also keep the packs upright in a tray.
• The format is customizable and permits Costco to readily change or upgrade packaging components.
• Edges are sealed completely around the perimeter to prevent moisture absorption in humid climates that could pose a problem for corrugated packages with exposed edges.
Costco has developed two sizes of SBS cards for the planned introduction of the 22 Borghese products, 7 ½” x 9 ½” and 9 x 11”, with tooling for four other size formats.
Carnie points out that the artwork was completed for the entire line of 22 products, equipment was engineered and installed, materials were specified and procured, and product appeared in initial test rollout at 35 locations, all in 16 weeks.
- By Rick Lingle, Packaging World
