Key Account Manager for Cermex, Julian Claudin, told Ben Bouckley at Pack Expo in Chicago that the firm did have several European customers who were keen to shrink wrap water in bulk using this method.
But he said that US bottlers and their customers were most keen on packaging bottles (from 250ml to 1.5l) into 24, 35, 40-unit ‘nested’ packs (the most popular sizes), which have been designed for use with Cermex shrink wrappers.
Discussing the development of so-called ‘honeycombed’ packs within Cermex, Claudin said: "Our customers drove this new type of packaging to remove the cost of corrugated [support: trays, u-boards or pad, required for traditional packs].”
He added: "It creates a very stable pack with the same amount of bottles."
End-of-line packaging equipment and machinery supplier Cermex forms part of Sidel, itself a division of Tetra Laval.