EP4149859A1 - Packaging for confectionery product - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a type of packaging for a confectionery product which provides facilitated opening and rapid access to the edible portion of the product without prejudicing the ability of the packaging to guarantee correct preservation of the product.

Description

PACKAGING FOR CONFECTIONERY PRODUCT

The invention relates to packaging for a confectionery product which provides facilitated opening and rapid access to the edible portion of the product without compromising the ability of the packaging to guarantee correct preservation of the product, and at the same time separating the edible portion from contact with the exterior.

PRIOR ART

Confectionery products in the form of hard candy, with or without a filling, coated or uncoated, and supported by a stick made of various materials, including paper, cardboard, wood, plastic or any other material that allows the manufacture of a rigid support in stick form, are known. Said products are commonly called lollipops.

Lollipops are currently sold mainly as single portions packaged in various ways. Various packaging methods are used, depending on the shape of the lollipop, which may be flat, round, or a fancy shape.

For example, flat lollipops can be inserted in a kind of sachet that contains the edible part and is sealed to the supporting stick (as shown in figure 1).

Round/spherical lollipops can be inserted in bag pack which contains the whole product (figure 2), namely the supporting stick as well as the edible part. However, although said type of packaging is the easiest to open, it greatly limits the possibilities for displaying the product and making it available to the public. In particular, said packaging does not allow the use of display stands such as wheels or the like (figure 3), which constitute the preferred display system.

Lollipops can also be packaged by reproducing the typical packaging of “twist wrap” candies, as in W02006011793 (figure 4).

In order to be inserted in display stands such as those shown in figure 3, the whole of the lollipop cannot be contained in the packaging; on the contrary, the supporting stick must necessarily be left unwrapped.

If the lollipop has a spherical shape and is inserted in a display stand like those shown in figure 3, the wrapping placed around the edible part of the product is closed by being wound very tightly and heat-sealed around the portion of the stick immediately below the edible part of the product.

Such a seal can, for example, be made with lacquers or other adhesives, as indicated in EP 1447347 and EP1080877.

The use of lacquers gives part of the wrapping a different colour from the rest, thus creating an undesirable optical and aesthetic effect.

Said packaging methods make the wrapping very difficult to open, so that in nearly all cases, the wrapping is tom into several pieces.

The opening difficulty is partly due to the absence of a tear-off strip protruding from the wrapping which can be conveniently gripped to allow the wrapping to be removed by pulling.

Moreover, due to the characteristics of the product, it cannot be marked with instructions as to how to open the wrapping.

Finally, the known methods described above give rise to a solution wherein the wrapping adheres excessively to the product and is characterised by a visual effect which can be described as a “wet look”, namely an aesthetically undesirable translucent effect.

KR 2015 0059006 describes packaging for a confectionery product such as a lollipop featuring a pre-cut in the packaging material. The pre-cut does not guarantee easy opening of the packaging unless means facilitating opening are available to the consumer.

GB 2 570 662 describes a wrapper or film for a confectionery product which comprises a cut that extends partly through the film, and a tab overlaid on the cut having a non-adhering portion to facilitate gripping by the consumer: the adhesive is present in a limited area, not corresponding to the area close to the cut.

GB 2 570 662 creates a line of weakness in the film, but the tab applied above the cut, which is designed to ensure air-tightness, does not adhere to the inner zone, with the result that the tab does not pull the film. Moreover, the solution described does not apply to a spherical product like a lollipop, because the intermediate and inner zones must be on the same plane, as expressly described.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Applicant has therefore developed a solution that overcomes the above- mentioned drawbacks by allowing easy opening of the wrapping.

The invention relates to packaging for a confectionery product comprising an edible portion and a support in stick form, characterised by a pre-cut and a tab at least partly overlaid on the pre-cut.

The packaging or wrapping of the confectionery product, typically a lollipop, comprises a multilayer film made of laminated or unlaminated material, or a combination of a laminated and an unlaminated material. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, to avoid the wet look an opaque tab is used, stuck onto a single unlaminated biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film so as to align with the part of the lollipop exactly opposite the stick.

Said film must have a thickness sufficient to allow a pre-cut to be made, without cutting the whole thickness of the wrapping and thus exposing the edible portion of the product to contact with the exterior. The preferred film thickness is at least 25 microns.

However, said pre-cut must at the same time create a break line that allows easy tearing and removal of the wrapping.

The pre-cut can be made by known techniques, for example by laser cutting, with a mechanical type of cut or by creating a fold line, or by any other technique that achieves the same result.

The pre-cut in the wrapping can be made in any position that allows the above- mentioned tab to be applied. In particular, the pre-cut can extend vertically, horizontally or diagonally along the entire extent of the wrapping, or only part thereof (figure 5). The cut can be made in any position on the wrapping.

The film that constitutes the lollipop wrapping is preferably printed with graphic designs or text, and the pre-cut is positioned to align with said designs or lettering.

To ensure greater ease of opening, a preferred embodiment according to the invention requires the pre-cut to be positioned laterally so as to divide the wrapping into two sections, each corresponding to a minimum of one-third and a maximum of two- thirds of the wrapping (figure 6a).

In a further preferred embodiment, the positioning of the pre-cut corresponds to the division of the wrapping into two halves (Figure 6b).

In a further preferred embodiment according to the invention, the cut is made in the part of the wrapping which, when applied to the product, is positioned in the “upper” part, namely the part situated opposite the area wherein the supporting stick is inserted into the edible portion of the product.

The pre-cut can be straight or take the form of curved or broken lines corresponding, for example, to the letters U or V or to any other preferred shape, such as a shape reproducing the trademark or logo affixed to the product (figure 7).

The function of the pre-cut is to facilitate opening of the packaging with the tab, which can be gripped by the consumer with two fingers. Removal of the tab adhering to the film in correspondence with said pre-cut allows tearing and removal of the underlying wrapping. The graphics printed on the lollipop wrapping, the pre-cut and the tab are therefore preferably aligned with one another.

The tab, consisting of a material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene (PE), bioriented polypropylene (BOPP) or any other contact material authorised for use in the food industry, can be made with any shape, colour or other desired characteristic, and can also be customised by means of printing with the desired text or design. For example, the tab can be printed with instructions for correct opening of the packaging, and alternatively or additionally can be printed with the list of product ingredients, a barcode or a QR-code.

However, said tab must not be completely integral with and adhering to the wrapping, otherwise it could not be gripped; the tab is therefore characterised by a part not adhering to the wrapping which measures a minimum of 5 mm, preferably a minimum of 7 mm, or between 5 mm and 20 mm. The tab is preferably further characterised by a portion projecting from the vertical tangent of the wrapping, as shown in figure 8, length “L”. To ensure easy gripping of the tab, projecting part L thereof must protrude by at least 3 mm, but not more than 20 mm. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tab projects from the wrapping perpendicularly to the support stick, as shown in figure 8.

The tab can be stuck to the portion of the wrapping bearing the pre-cut with glue, pressure-sensitive adhesives or, alternatively, with the use of heat-sealing or ultrasound systems.

Any other adhesion method which ensures that the force required to remove the tab must be greater than the force required to remove the pre-cut portion of the wrapping can be used in addition to the methods described above. In particular, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the force required to tear the pre-cut must be at least 150 gmf/15 mm or, more preferably, greater than 300 gmf/15 mm or greater than 600 gmf/15 mm (gmf/15 mm indicates the extent of the gram-force required to tear the pre-cut, with reference to a wrapping with a width of 15 mm).

Example 1

Prepare a film of unlaminated BOPP packaging material required to make the wrapping with a thickness of at least 25 microns, wound onto reels with a width of 1000 mm.

Print said film with the selected graphic designs or text, producing a plurality of prints of future single wrappings along both the width and the length of the roll.

Using the film referred to in the preceding paragraph, make a vertical linear pre cut in the centre of each print of the future single wrappings that does not cut through the entire thickness of the film.

Separately, prepare the material (BOPP) required to make a plurality of tabs which, when printed with the desired graphic designs or text, are cut to the preferred shape and caused to adhere by heat-sealing to said film, each perpendicular to and aligned with each of the pre-cuts already made.

The tab is not sealed along its entire dimension: a 5 mm strip is left unsealed, in such a way that when the wrapping is applied to the confectionery product said strip protrudes outwards so that it can be gripped by the consumer (see figure 8).

The resulting wrapping is wound onto reels suitable to feed packaging machines that effect the final packaging of the product.

Claims

1. A packaging for a confectionery product comprising an edible portion and a stick shaped support, characterised by a pre-cut and a tab at least partially overlaid on the pre- cut.

2. Packaging according to claim 1 having a thickness of not less than 25 microns.

3. Packaging according to claim 1 wherein the pre-cut is only made in a portion of the thickness of the packaging material.

4. Packaging according to claim 1 wherein the pre-cut is linear and extends vertically, horizontally or diagonally along the material.

5. Packaging according to claim 1 wherein the pre-cut has a U or V shape or a shape corresponding to the product logo.

6. Packaging according to claim 1 wherein the tab does not adhere to the area wherein the pre-cut is located for a length ranging between 3 mm and 20 mm.

7. Packaging according to claim 1 wherein the force required to remove the tab must necessarily be greater than the force required to remove the pre-cut portion of the packaging material.

8. Packaging according to claim 7 wherein the force required to tear the pre-cut must be at least 150 gmf/15 mm, preferably greater than 300 gmf/15 mm, or even more preferably greater than 600 gmf/15 mm.

9. Packaging according to claim 1 wherein the tab is printed with graphic designs and/or text.