Refillable pouches from japan, spouted pouches from europe, and electron beams for sterilization are among a host of technologies that could fulfill the quest in north america for innovation in pouches. In several presentations at the 2009 global pouch forum that ran the gamut of global developments, speakers offered a vision of pouches and flexible developments that could arrive in the near future. Among those offering novel technologies was akira gotoh, president of daiwa gravure, who discussed the pouch refill packaging revolution in japan and its current emergence in north america. Gotoh said in japan, close to 1.3bn refill pouches were produced in 2007, a lofty number considering the low volume of refills in the united states. Among the innovations fueling japanese market growth is the cartridge pack produced by daiwa. The packages consist of an inner pouch chamber that is removed from a rigid plastic container and substituted for a new pouch. The outer container includes a pin that pierces the pouch before the first use. In the united states, method home, dialhenkel, estee lauder, and other manufacturers are beginning to see the sustainability and cost advantages of a refill pouch. Laurens last, president of ipn europe, discussed the emergence of spouted pouches, offering new dispensing technologies that have taken europe by storm for beverage applications. Those include new spouted pouches, just introduced by ipn, that create a vacuum when a valve is pushed that allow only a certain amount of liquid to be released and avoids spills. The company also is working on barrier properties that help defuse issues of cost that sometimes challenge pouch producers. Josh epstein, marketing director of advanced electron beams aeb, offered new solutions in the area of pouch sterilization and shelf stable packaging. Aeb has commercialized inline electron beam sterilization techniques that use virtually no heat and as little electricity as that found in a few hair dryers, epstein said. The process is starting use with a broad set of shelfstable packaging, including stick packs and thermoformed cups. Epstein chronicled use of the electronbeam technology with farmright group, a british dairy producer that has released dairystix, semiskimmed milk products in a stick pack. The shelfstable packages, a replacement for creamer cups, have gained a 20 percent market share in the british singleserve dairy market, using novel stick pack and sterilization technology.
