Contract food packager Consolidated Mills has partnered with TricorBraun on plastic alternative to standard glass jar for its own brand of salsa.

Consolidated Mills was seeking for a more durable and lighter alternative to provide a better ecommerce solution to the standard glass jar.

Consolidated Mills owner Keith Vrana said: "Our ultimate goal was to control our brand including how we supply the product to our consumers and how we continue to support our community.

"After seeing a sample of the new Apex jar, I knew this would be a game changer for the ecommerce industry.”

As a result, Consolidated Mills has selected packaging consultant David Parker and the TricorBraun team to facilitate the process for commercialization.

TricorBraun said it has partnered with Consolidated Mills and the manufacturer of the Apex jar, to test a hot fill polyethylene terephthalate (PET) jar.

Trails were carried out to ensure that Consolidated Mills will be able to fill the PET jars with its current equipment line used to fill glass jars and properly cap, using a steam injected capper, and label the new Apex PET jar.

Vrana added: "Because we do not have a cooling tunnel, we allow the jars to naturally cool in the shipper box after being filled and labeled… so our main concern was how the labels would react to the PET material.

“We did see some problems initially, but our label supplier recommended a new material that corrected the issue.”

Vrana noted that the new PET jars greatly reduce the decibel levels during production.

“Our cases weigh three pounds less now, reducing our freight cost, and because we are now shipping plastic containers, we are able to eliminate the extra packaging costs needed for ecommerce.”

Consolidated Mills plans to use the ecommerce-friendly packaging solution for all of its salsas as well as other Alamo Red products, Blood Mary mixes and barbeque sauces.

Parker said: "We're thrilled to be helping Consolidated Mills with this ecommerce-friendly project launch…now consumers accustomed to the quality look and feel of a glass jar with a metal lug closure will enjoy the same quality experience with a lightweight, shatter-proof PET jar. It's a win-win."

Image: TricorBraun partners with Consolidated Mills on an ecommerce-friendly packaging solution for Alamo Red Salsa. Photo: courtesy of PRNewswire.