the 20lb netweight standup "box pouch" replaces a 50lb polywoven bag that was hard to open, making it far more appealing for the target demographic of female horse owners aged 4065.dr. thornley&rsquos hay balancer from equine health sciences repackages from a 50lb "no frills" woven feed bag to a 20lb netweight standup &ldquobox pouch&rdquo that aims to corral the horse feed market in the west.as i roamed the aisles of pack expo east in february, i stopped by the booth of flexible packaging supplier flexpack. when i asked the obvious question &ldquowhat&rsquos new,&rdquo mark coleman, the company&rsquos sales manager, pointed me to a 20lb &ldquobox pouch&rdquo of dr. thornley&rsquos hay balancer from equine health sciences ehs, salt lake city. it&rsquos basically a nutritional supplement for horses.once comfortably back in the saddle again in illinois, i roped in todd christensen, ehs president, who answered my questions starting with the basic background of the company and the product.&ldquowe acquired the license rights to a product that, for the last 20 years, has been sold almost solely by word of mouth in a few retail outlets in the intermountain west,&rdquo he relates. &ldquowe started equine health sciences in 2014 specifically to rebrand and repackage the product, and begin selling it nationally via retail outlets and online.&rdquoaccording to christensen, the original packaging was a 50lb polywoven feed bag that was filled and sownclosed at the pelleting plant. he says that the bag was not waterresistant, was hard to open and store and included a sewnon paper label with only the legally required information.&ldquoit was quite unwieldy for our target consumer,&rdquo he says.not so the new box pouch in all respects, it is like a thoroughbred compared to an old mare of a package.off and running in early 2015with the repackage portion of his above directive realized in early 2015, christensen and ehs have been off to the races.&ldquowe formally launched the product online at haybalancer.com and in four existing retailers in february,&rdquo christensen continues. &ldquowe expanded starting in march to approximately 16 retail outlets, all of them &lsquofeed stores&rsquo or &lsquofarm stores&rsquo in the intermountain west, including utah, idaho, colorado and nevada. i hope to continue this pace throughout 2015, with a goal of having product in several hundred retail outlets by the end of the year.&rdquothe product comes in two versions, one for grass and one to be mixed with alfalfa, at an srp of about 37.95 per bag. the product is a unique equine supplement designed specifically to balance the nutritional deficiencies of the hay diet using appropriate levels of critical minerals, essential amino acids, vitamins and probiotics. it is a product that is fed in small amounts along with the normal hay ration. the bag includes a colorcoordinated feed scoop.what christensen lists as his minimum criteria for the product&rsquos packaging is that it needed to beeasy to carry weight was a key issue, but strong enough to hold 20 pounds of productwaterresistant and recloseableresealable to protect the product, since this would be stored and used mostly in barns and shedsallow for plenty of marketing and information space on the packageeconomicaldisplayed on shelves in the store &ndash not in &ldquofeed bags&rdquo in the warehouseupright so that it could &ldquostand&rdquo on the shelf and not be stackedeyecatching and different than other similar products, which are generally packaged in plastic buckets.winning features&ldquowe specified a clear window in the front of the bag,&rdquo christensen says. &ldquomaking the product visible to the consumer is very uncommon in this market. the printing also includes highcontrast gloss and inregister matte finishes for an expensive, classic look. the 5panel box pouch format allows the bags to be stocked on store shelves in a standing position for a better merchandising presence.&rdquochristensen says a major goal for the packaging graphics design was for a vintage look and feel. &ldquowe wanted to have an appropriate amount of informationeducation on the package itself, while updating the packaging. after closely analyzing, testing and reviewing many packaging options and samples, including plastic pails, boxes, polywoven bags, plastic pouches, paper bags and many others, we settled on the box pouch as the preferred format to accomplish all this.&rdquothe box pouch is manufactured using four webs and is provided preformed to ehs.printed rotogravure in four colors, the 40ga pet4.5mil polyethylene box pouch has a tearaway top and a zipper reseal. flexpack&rsquos coleman points out that the packaging uses a higherstrength, special grade pe to withstand a fill drop height of up to 10 feet for the product&rsquos 20pound net weight.&ldquoit also stands straight on a shelf, which is not easy for a large flexible package like this,&rdquo coleman adds. &ldquothat allows more retail facings on the shelf.&ldquowalmart loves the box pouch format because it&rsquos a very efficient package&mdashit holds the highest volume of product per square inch of packaging material.&rdquoweighty matters of conveniencechristensen says the 20lb weight was selected because it constitutes a 30day supply for most horses. &ldquothis makes the package easier for our key demographic&ndash4065 yearold women horse owners&mdashto handle, and it drives them back into the retailer more often than would a larger package,&rdquo he explains. &ldquofinding a manufacturer that could meet our technical specs and at the same time make the bag economical for us in relatively low quantities was a challenge.&rdquothat hurdle was jumped during the previous pack expo just 4 months earlier, in chicago in november 2014, where christensen had connected with flexpack. he attended that show specifically to find a bag manufacture who could meet his needs.&ldquoflexpack was not only able to meet our technical requirements, but they were able to meet our needs for an economical bag in relatively low quantities for our first runs,&rdquo says christensen. &ldquowe were also delighted when we were told that the bags would be manufactured domestically and not overseas.&rdquothe product is packaged on a semiautomated line in the company&rsquos salt lake city facility that includes manual filling and automated sealing using equipment from accuseal corp.&ldquowe are still relatively low volume, but will institute fullyautomated packaging once volume warrants it,&rdquo says christensen.he tells packaging digest that the product in the new packaging &ldquohas been very well received so far. we are working to aggressively expand our retail presence by pursuing the feed and farm store chains in the u.s. with approximately 10 stores or more. the unique, practical and beautiful packaging is one of the marketing features that will make it appealing to retailers. we are also advertising and marketing the product nationwide in major horse publications and at many of the major horse expos and shows held in the u.s.&rdquoi think that it&rsquos a safe bet that, with the new packaging, christensen has picked a surefire winner. 
