Spotlight: Metal Packaging
Teisseire To Introduce A Blow-Formed Syrup Can To North American Market

Teisseire’s lightweight, three-piece package has an ergonomic hourglass shape that facilitates gripping for both adult- and child-size hands.

Fruit syrups from Teisseire (Grenoble, France) will soon hit supermarket shelves across North America in the shaped can that the manufacturer says “changed the face of European packaging.” Teisseire calls the three-piece, blow-formed can crucial to successfully repositioning the brand in Europe, helping to increase sales and enabling the brand to emerge as a leader in its market.

The new package, created in the Vourles, France, factory of Crown Speciality Packaging Europe, an affiliate of Crown Holdings, Inc. (Crown), is designed to catch the consumer’s eye, provide instant brand recognition, and increase shelf appeal. Composed of 0.190-mm steel, the lightweight package features a hinged plastic closure and an aluminum foil seal in an ergonomic “hourglass” shape.

“Designed for both aesthetics and practicality, the unique blow-molded can will help us achieve maximum brand impact in the competitive North American marketplace,” says Veronique Girod-Roux, communications director for Teisseire.

Since 1720, Teisseire has produced high-quality fruit syrups for a variety of uses. Today, Teisseire fruit syrups are popular in homes throughout Europe, where consumers combine the syrup with water to create refreshing, fruit-based beverages for children. Teisseire has also developed a market in coffee shops, bars, and restaurants, where the syrup is used with coffee or alcoholic beverages to create unique cocktails and mixed drinks. In restaurants, chefs have become increasingly creative with syrups, adding them to desserts, ice creams, and milk shakes.

Higher quality trumps lower cost
In the 1990s, as lower-cost competition in the syrup market grew, Teisseire saw a need to differentiate its quality product on the shelves. Facing a substantial drop in market share, Teisseire turned to the Speciality Packaging affiliate of Crown Holdings, Inc. to maximize consumer appeal and freshen brand image.
Teisseire says that the concept from Crown not only provided the desired upturn in sales and market share, but also successfully repositioned the brand and set a precedent in packaging with the development of the shaped can.

A key aspect of the Teisseire shaped can is its metal composition. Metal cans provide product protection with light-blocking capabilities that prevent color and taste degradation from exposure to ultraviolet light in stores and restaurants. The can’s properties maximize shelf life, making possible a “best-before” date approximately 24 months after the production date.

Crown’s patented blow-molding process begins with a can preform placed in precision engineered molds to create the desired shape. The preform is then blow-formed with pressurized air, expanding the preform into the shape of the mold.

During blow-forming, no tooling is required inside the can. Because only air touches the surface, no marks are made on the can, and the integrity of internal coatings and lacquers is protected. According to Crown, alternative methods, such as pressurized water jets, have proven detrimental to coating stability. With the blow-molding process, shape consistency is ensured, and package strength is not compromised.

The ergonomic “hourglass” shape of the Teisseire bottle is designed to facilitate gripping and carrying for both adult- and child-sized hands. The hinged closure, produced by Crown Astra France, another Crown subsidiary, maximizes convenience and ensures cleanliness with its easy opening and pouring characteristics. Another key element of the Teisseire bottle design is the aluminum hermetic foil, which prolongs freshness and extends shelf life.
The Teisseire can and its producer, Crown, have been recognized for the design with awards including the Canmaker Award, the Oscar de l’Emballage, the Packaging Industry Award, and the Steel Packaging Effectiveness Award from APEAL, the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging.
Teisseire says that it will enhance the European packaging design for its North American launch. Tailored specifically for the new market, the Teisseire can will be available in 60-cl sizes (about 1.2 pints) and will include the instructions, “Just Add Water” on the label.