Innovative Food Packaging by Packhelp

Packhelp has been venturing into an R&D partnership with the up and coming dog food company, PsiBufet.

The result was an imaginative cardboard box which is being used to provide frozen food for dogs. Compared with existing packaging solutions the boxes are fully sustainable and cost-effective.

PsiBufet challenged Packhelp with the daunting project of developing sustainable packaging for frozen food delivery. The packaging engineers at Packhelp were able to produce a unique solution that outperformed any other available product through a series of prototypes, development, testing, and cost-optimizing.

The tailor-made box holds the temperature below 0 degrees Celcius for 24 hours, despite being manufactured sustainably and 67% more affordable.

Take a look at what went down in a nutshell:

The Polish dog food industry is in economic expansion. Now at an approximate value of EUR 675 million, it’s creating opportunities for the packaging sector as well. PsiBufet, is a new but pioneering name in the dog food industry in Poland.

“We aim at PsiBufet to improve the health of dogs by offering individually formulated dog food made from high-quality ingredients at a fair price.”

The business model of PsiBufet is based on subscription deliveries.
Customers get a food order every two to four weeks. PsiBufet also provides all of its food goods in each first order, so that the doggies can sample the full range.

The Creation of a Thermo Box

The Packhelp Lab team manually tested several types of packaging materials and designs during the R&D process, in order to understand the characteristics and shortcomings of each solution.

Some of the tested materials included:

• styrofoam,
• plastic containers and bags,
• organic wool
• corrugated cardboard
• paperboard

The possibilities had been narrowed down to corrugated cardboard as the go-to shipping material after the feedback round. The task now was to satisfy the requirement for temperature insulation.

Woolcool was costly and increased the heat transfer time, as each frozen can needs to be manually wrapped. Another option, corn-based, foam was still above the budget limit while reducing convection time.

The team came up with a new solution; honeycomb walls.

Tests were also carried out using a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the product. Cardboard boxes kept the product cold for the initial 24-hour cycle, with incremental temperature rises over time.

The box held a steady temperature of 0 C during the next 24 hrs. The boxes had to retain the thermal insulation effect for at least 24 hours, in order to prevent the product from expiration.

Cost Optimized and Sustainable Packaging

Along with the organic honeycomb walls, the Thermo boxes built for PsiBufet are made from 100 per cent recycled material. Cardboard is easily recyclable, in comparison to common plastic products.

Cardboard & honeycomb have also proven to deliver longer-lasting thermal performance outcomes. As a result, the R&D process has helped create a cutting edge food delivery approach that is environmentally friendly.

Optimizing Costs

The Packhelp Lab team calculated the unit price of many concepts during the study.

One suggestion was to use thinner cardboard boxes and use wool as the medium for thermal control. It greatly improved the time the pouches were kept cold though.

This solution would also require additional fillers in the form of wool which would have to individually cover each food pouch.

For shipping, a thicker form of corrugated cardboard (flute B) performed better. There was no need for additional fillers, thanks to better fit between the packaging and the product. And as such, compared to existing solutions, the costs were reduced by 67%.

To Wrap Things Up

The packaging research and development process allowed the company to implement a new and improved solution that outperforms others in the market.

PsiBufet’s business model needed a radically different approach.

Packhelp and PsiBufet managed to build a thermal cardboard box that exceeds the initial brief by means of a series of manual research, prototyping and collaborative work.

There were the final results:

Two box sizes, large (37.0 x 327.0 x 257.0 mm) and small (327.0 x 267.0 x 167.0 mm)

Boxes were made of 100% recycled cardboard, without any plastic or costly cooling materials

Price per unit was 67% lower than other solutions

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