With an estimated turnover of 34.955 billion US dollars, the global pet food market is growing steadily despite the pandemic. To meet the growing demands of customers and the market, French pet food manufacturer Demavic has teamed up with Coveris to develop the MonoFlexE brand for its new range of therapeutic pet food in recyclable pouches.
The continuing trend towards the „humanisation“ of pets means that pet owners are paying particular attention to the quality of their four-legged family members' food. As a result, more and more pet food brands are introducing Therapeutic feed that contributes to a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. Pet food manufacturers now have the challenge, both to meet demand and to fulfil environmental and government regulations on waste prevention.
Taking consumer expectations into account
For this reason, Demavic asked the Austrian packaging company Coveris for help in designing pouches for their new product launch that would fulfil these requirements. „When we decided to launch a new range of therapeutic pet food, we had to think about the distribution channels we would choose. Normally therapeutic pet food is sold through vets, but We wanted to be innovative and market our products in large grocery shops. To persuade consumers to buy this type of product from this outlet, we had to take their expectations into account, particularly with regard to packaging and environmental protection„, explains Olivier Poupon, buyer at Demavic.
Coveris' answer was a four-sided bag developed using the proven MonoFlexE polyethylene film, whose mono-material structure enables easier recycling in existing plastic streams. The Coveris team also produced two variants of the bags, ranging from three to ten kilograms, which are equipped with a front zip that makes them easy to open and reseal. The new solution thus offers customers the same convenience and product protection as the standard versions while minimising waste.
The biggest challenge for Coveris was the production of mono-material bags with a filling capacity of ten kilograms, as this was the first enquiry from a customer for mono-material bags in this size. Fortunately, with the support of the Coveris R&D team, the larger bags successfully passed all product tests. The equivalent processability to standard PET/PE material convinced Demavic and made the switch to MonoFlexE easier.
Source: Coveris