Process-Printed PromoBag Gives Bueno Foods the Whole Enchilada

In the past two decades, competition in the ethnic foods marketplace has been as active as a Mexican jumping bean. For Bueno Foods, an Albuquerque, NM-based producer of southwestern-style food products since 1951, finding a way to cost-effectively differentiate a new enchilada product was critical to the company's success.

The company turned to a new and unique style of packaging — the Robbie PromoBag from packaging film converter Robbie Manufacturing of Lenexa, KS — to help its enchilada products stand out in crowded retail food cases. Made of DuPont Clysar polyolefin film, the PromoBag is converted into a process-printed wicketed bag, which contains a trayed product, is sealed and shrunk tight to create a most distinctive package.

Used in conjunction with Robbie's proprietary packaging equipment, the PromoBag incorporates a printing process developed by Robbie that provides quality graphics to offer packagers a high level of merchandising that utilizes the entire front, back and most of the sides of the package. The completely printable package provides ample billboard space that enables complete printing of product information. Bueno Foods is currently marketing its new four-packs of red chile and cheese and green chile and cheese rolled enchiladas in the Robbie PromoBag.

Trayed Product Inserted into Bag
The process-printed, "all-plastic" PromoBag is designed primarily for poultry, meat, seafood and prepared meal entrees and serves as an alternative to paperboard sleeves or boxes. With the PromoBag system the food product is placed in a foam, polypropylene, OPS or CPET tray and, instead of film overwrap and a second sleeve or labeling operation, the trayed product is placed in the PromoBag. The bag is then sealed on the end and shrunk tight to form a leak-resistant package.

Because of the superb photographic reproduction offered by the DuPont Clysar, the print quality of the PromoBag also eliminates the need for labels. This package represents the first time that high-quality process-printing has been available on a light-gauge polyolefin shrink film, according to Robbie Manufacturing.

"When process-printed, the PromoBag is like a paperboard sleeve, but less expensive and more operationally efficient," says Irv Robinson, president of Robbie Manufacturing. For customers who want to display their package like a typical paperboard box, Robbie has developed a standup tray. Robinson says the new patent-pending product is "like an all-plastic box."

Package Meet Company Objectives
Ana Baca, public relations/communications manager for Bueno Foods, says the company was looking for unique, appealing packaging for its new food product. She says the PromoBag provides the company a variety of benefits including excellent graphics and microwaveability. The package is also compatible with the standup tray supplied by Inline Plastics (Shelton, CT) that Bueno Foods was already using. Additionally, the company was able to incorporate existing packaging equipment into the PromoBag system.

Moreover, Baca says the cost is less than inserting a tray into a paperboard box, which is the packaging method Bueno Foods used for previous, similar food products. The packaging is completed in a one-step bagging and sealing process instead of two or more steps, as before. Also, the package offers considerable source reduction by using the packaging product as the merchandising medium. "We have seen a reduction in cost by using the RobbieBags," she says, though she could offer no precise figures. Robbie Manufacturing estimates cost savings of 2-8 cents per package compared to conventional tray-in-paperboard packaging. "The cost factor together with other benefits convinced us to use the RobbieBag."

The RobbieBag packaging system is available in fully automatic (60 packages/min.), semi-automatic (25 packages/min.) and manual (10 packages/min.) versions. Bueno Foods employs the semi-automatic version, along with an existing Speedy Bag Packager from All Packaging Machinery (Ronkonkoma, NY) and L-bar sealer from Beseler (Linden, NJ). With the use of the proprietary RobbieBag system, Bueno Foods has upgraded its packaging appeal from typical line print to high-quality process printing utilizing eight colors and 110 lines using flexographic printing.

New Way of Designing Packages
In the past, according to Robinson, it was not technically possible to offer high-quality photographic presentations on polyolefin shrink film. "With our new technology and DuPont Clysar, now photographic representation of products can be attained, pioneering a whole new way of designing packages," he said. "This technology is the entree for the shrink polyolefin market into areas which in the past had to be printed on other substrates, like chipboard, polyethylene and polypropylene."

By switching to the PromoBag, Bueno Foods increased its merchandising abilities while accommodating government-required and consumer information. The DuPont Clysar assures Bueno Foods of superior film memory for package presentation and uniform shrink to minimize distortion. In addition to excellent memory, the 75-ga. polyolefin film is available with anti-fog properties.

The PromoBag can be customized to the product to provide a tight fit and very little distortion. The versatile package can be used with virtually any tray, including foam and polypropylene, in contrast to many lidding film alternatives. Also, windows can be placed anywhere on the front of the package to show product, if desired, at no cost, as opposed to sleeves or boxes, which require die cuts.

"We see this packaging as having widespread application for both fresh and frozen foods," said Robinson. "Investments in new design, ink, eight-color printing and bag-making technology allowed us to develop a superior package at a low cost," he boasts.

For Bueno Foods, which has been committed to bringing flavorful high-quality products to its customers for nearly 50 years, the Robbie PromoBag meets the company's brand merchandising as well as packaging goals.

For more information:
DuPont Packaging and Industrial Polymers, Wilmington, DE, Tel: 1-800-4DU-PACK
Robbie Manufacturing, Lenexa, KS, Tel: 1-800-255-6328
Inline Plastics, Shelton, CT, Tel: 203-878-8537
Beseler, Linden, NJ, Tel: 908-862-7999
All Packaging Machinery, Ronkonkoma, NY, Tel: 1-800-637-8808