Cains Foods, L.P., Ayer, MA, specializes in the production and packaging of a broad line of salad dressings, sauces, and sandwich spreads for both retail and foodservice markets. When the company decided to revamp packaging (going from a 3”-wide bottle to a 4.25”-wide bottle) for its Naturally Delicious line of salad dressings, the change required a new capping choice.
Cains’ vp of sales and marketing, Chris Katopis, notes, “The previous packaging was using a 38-mm pour cap that had a fitment inside it. But we wanted to go with a portion-controlled, squeeze-dispensing, flip-top cap. We looked at different flip-tops, and our marketing and sales people liked the system from Weatherchem Corp.. They liked the lower, smoother profile and the more contemporary look. Other closures we evaluated were square and chunky-looking. In addition, Weatherchem offered integrated caps and safety liners with a tear-drop orifice, which we liked more than our previous round opening. They also offered us a broad range of shiny cap color options. And the company was there to meet our needs without undue delays—very reliable.”
Cains Foods ordered sample closures from Weatherchem and “squeeze-tested” them to see how their salad dressing would flow. They determined that they preferred the portion-control tear-drop flow, and they also liked the snap-tight, leak-resistant reclose feature of the Weatherchem flip-tops.
Cains Foods’ materials manager Steve Rines comments, “We look for competitive pricing, quality service, and on-time delivery when choosing packaging vendors. Because if we have a salad dressing delivery order and can’t meet the order date due to packaging supply delays, that’s a big problem. But with Weatherchem, there have been no issues or problems. We put in the order, and they are right on it.”
Rines also notes the excellent performance of the closures, saying, “There’s no plugging with these squeeze closures. They allow air to go over the top of the product as it’s flowing out. So the container always is filling with air. When the package isn’t filling with air is when you get product drip and over-flow problems.”
The new Naturally Delicious packaging was introduced in September 2010. The PET salad dressing bottles are supplied by Silgan Plastics and filled on a 21-station piston filler from Elmar. Caps are applied by a Model TG615 capping machine from Pneumatic Scale. Seven-color, litho-printed paper labels are supplied by Smyth and applied using a Universella labeler from Krones.
