GB2342315A

GB2342315A - Edible greetings "card" and protective package suitable for display/postage

Info

Publication number: GB2342315A
Application number: GB9821971A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Craig Matthew Dessoy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-10-08
Filing date: 1998-10-08
Publication date: 2000-04-12
Also published as: GB2358849A; GB9821971D0; GB0110692D0; WO2000020287A1; AU6216999A

Abstract

The "card" is made from a thin, flat slab of confectionery 10 (e.g. chocolate) with an edible ink transfer image 14 on the front surface. The card is placed in a transparent plastic sleeve 18 and then in a protective package made from two polystyrene foam slabs 22,26, the latter including a recess 20 to house the card. For display, prior to purchase, the package is placed in a cardboard carton with a die-cut window enabling the image 14 to be viewed. For posting, an address card is inserted behind the window of the carton.

Description

2342315 CONFECTIONERY ITEM The present invention relates to a greeting

card.

The normal chain of supply for a present day food product involves the manufacturer of the food product sending the product in bulk to a number of retailers. Consumers of the product then purchase the product from their local retailer.

Although it is possible for a purchaser of a food product to send the product to another person as a gift, this is seldom done. The present inventor has realised that this in part owes to the expense of sending the item, and in part owes to the narrowness of the selection of items that is offered by retailers. The latter factor has the result that a sender of the gift would be confident that the recipient would have noticed and possibly previously bought the item. This reduces the desirability of the gift.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a greeting card comprising at least one plaque of a confection, said plaque having two substantially oppositely directed surfaces, each of an area in a range from 25 to 750 square centimetres, said surfaces being spaced by less than 1Omm, the card further comprising a design formed from edible ink, which design overlies the plaque and is formed from edible ink.

Such a confectionery item is less bulky than known confectionery items and hence can be packaged and sent relatively inexpensively using a public postal service. Furthermore, by applying edible inks to one or both of the surfaces of the plaque, a large selection of confectionery items can be produced without significantly increasing production costs.

Preferably, the plaque has a surface area greater than 25 square centimetres as this allows the application of a design which is of sufficient size to be comfortably viewed. Reducing the upper limit on surface area to less than 375 square centimetres increases the ease with which the item can be packaged and posted. Reducing the upper limit still further to less than 200 square centimetres gives an even greater improvement in those respects.

Preferably, the confectionery item is sufficiently small to be posted in a standard letterbox. This saves the purchaser the hassle of taking the item to the nearest post office. In preferred embodiments, the weight of the confectionery item is low enough that it may be sent for the same cost as an ordinary letter. One way of achieveing this might be to space said surfaces by less than 4mm.

2 According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a packaging item for packaging a product, said item comprising:

two protective members; a container through at least one part of which the product can be seen; wherein the protective members are movable between a protective configuration in which the product is sandwiched between the protective members and a display configuration in which the product is located such that the two protective members are to one side thereof and said part of said container is to the other side.

This has the advantage of providing a packaging item that is both suitable for displaying the product and also for transporting the product.

In preferred embodiments, said container comprises a carton made from an opaque material and said part is formed by a window through said opaque material. This has the advantage of providing a cheap solution to the problem of enabling the product to be seen. Present day transparent materials that are strong enough for packing tend to be undesirably heavy and expensive.

Preferably, at least one of said protective members has a recess to receive said product. Such an arrangement lessens the likelihood of the item being broken during transit still further, and also holds the product in a visible position whilst the packaging item is in its display configuration.

Preferably, said item further comprises an address card which, when said protective members are in said protective configuration, can be located between the protective member closest to said part of said container and said part so as to render an address written on said address card externally visible. This means that the packaged product can easily be sent through the post.

Preferably, one or both of said protective members comprise a block of expanded polystyrene or the like. The use of such materials provides protection for the packaged product from external heat and forces without significantly increasing the weight of the package and thereby also increasing the cost of sending the package.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package comprising a greeting card according to the first aspect of the present invention and a packaging item according to the second aspect of the present invention. The size and shape of the greeting card mean that such a package can be easily posted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a confectionery item according to the first aspect of the present invention, said method comprising the steps of.

manufacturing said plaque of a confection, and applying said edible ink using an edible ink transfer.

This method of manufacture has the advantage of being relatively simple and inexpensive.

There now follows a description of specific embodiments of the present invention. The description is given by way of example only and Wth reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a stage in the production and packaging of a first embodiment; and Figure 2 illustrates a further stage in the packaging of the first embodiment.

Referring to Figure 1, the production of the first embodiment involves the preparation of a slab 10 of chocolate surrounded by a crisp sugar- based coating. The slab 10 is a parallelepiped having a thickness of 3mm, a wiidth of 105mm and a length of 145mm. The ingredients and method of production may be similar to that used in the production of Minstrels (registered trade mark). Alternatively, various other ingredients and methods of production will be known by those skilled in the art.

An edible transfer 12 comprising edible inks 14 carried on an edible backing sheet 16 (such transfers are available from Cake Art Limited of Andover, Hampshire) is secured to the upper surface of the chocolate slab 10 using known methods. The slab is then placed inside a transparent food grade polypropylene bag 18. Once the slab 10 is inside the bag 18, the bag is sealed.

The bagged slab (Figure 2;24) is then placed (Figure 2) inside a recess 20 formed in a first block 22 made of expanded polystyrene type material. The first block 22 has substantially the shape of a parallelepiped having a depth of 10mm, a width of 140mm and a length of 180mm. The recess 20 is located in the centre of the upper surface of the block 22 and has a depth of 4mm, a width of 107mm and a length of 147mm.

The bagged slab 24 is placed into the recess 20. A second block 26 of expanded polystyrene type material has the shape of a parallelepiped having similar dimensions to the fwst block 22, but is thinner having a depth of 5mm.

4 The recessed block 22 and second block 26 together form the container for the bagged slab 24.

The container can be arranged to hold the product in two ways. In a first arrangement, hereinafter called a display arrangement, the bagged slab 24 is placed inside the recess 20 and the second block 26 is placed flush against the lower surface of the first block 22. A second arrangement, hereinafter called a posting arrangement, is similar save for the second block 26 being placed flush against the upper surface of the first block 22. When in the posting arrangement the two blocks 22,26 protect the slab 10 from external forces and heat that might otherwise cause the slab 10 to melt and break.

A rectangular address card 30 is provided with the container and the bagged slab 24 which has similar lateral dimensions to the largest surfaces of the blocks 22 and 26 (i.e. it measures 180mm by 140mm). A sticky message label which is slightly smaller than the lateral dimensions of the slab 10 is also provided. The sticky label is carried on a backihg sheet.

The product further comprises a cardboard carton (not shown) which is sized and shaped to snugly receive the first and second blocks 22,26 when they are placed flush against one another. The upper surface of the carton has a centrally located die-cut window which has the shape of a 100mm by 140mm rectangle.

For display purposes, the container 22,26 and bagged slab 24 are placed into their display arrangement and placed inside the carton such that the design 14 on the slab 10 is visible through the window in the carton. The message label (not shown) is tucked in behind the second block 26.

After purchasing the product a user removes the contents of the carton 40 and writes the address of the intended recipient on the central area of the address card 30 and a message on the message label. He or she then affixes the message label to the polypropylene bag 18 containing the slab - on the opposite side of the slab 10 to that through which the edible transfer 14 can be seen. The purchaser thereafter places the blocks 22,26 and the bagged slab 24 into their posting arrangement and places them inside the carton. He or she then slides the address card (with the written address facing outwardly) on top of the second block 26. It will be realised that the address will then be viewable through the window. Finally, the purchaser closes the carton and affixes a postage stamp to its upper surface. The product can then be sent to the recipient using the public postal service. The product is sufficiently small that it may be posted in a letterbox. This has the advantage that the purchaser does not have to travel to the nearest post office in order to send the product.

On receipt, the recipient can open the carton and remove the bagged slab 24. He or she can read the message on the bagged slab 24 and display it or simply remove the slab 10 and eat it.

In the above embodiment, the slab is formed from sugar-coated chocolate. It might also be formed from toffee, milk chocolate, butterscotch or any other suitable confection.

Also, the shape of the edge of the slab 10 need not be rectangular, it might for example be circular, heart-shaped, the shape the outline of a Christmas tree or an Easter egg. Numerous other possible shapes will occur to those skilled in the art.

In effect, embodiments of the present invention represent an edible greeting 'card'. Thus the invention enables the production of a novel product in a field that has, until now, largely seen variation only in the design applied to the card.

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Claims

A greeting card comprising at least one plaque of a confection, said plaque having two substantially oppositely directed surfaces, each of an area in a range from 25 to 750 square centimetres, said surfaces being spaced by less than 1 Omm, the card further comprising a design formed from edible ink, which design overlies the plaque and is formed from edible ink.
2. A greeting card according to claim 1, wherein said surfaces have an area in a range from 25 square centimetres to 750 square centimetres.
3. A greeting card according to claim 1, wherein said surfaces are spaced by less than 4mm.
4. A packaging item for packaging a greeting card according to any one of claims 1 to 3, said item comprising: two protective members; a container through at least one part of which the greeting card can be seen; wherein the protective members are movable between a protective configuration in which the greeting card is sandwiched between the protective members and a display configuration in which the greeting card is located such that the two protective members are to one side thereof and said part of said container is to the other side.
5. An item according to claim 4 wherein said container comprises a carton made from an opaque material and said part is formed by a window through said opaque material.
6. An item according to claim 4 wherein:

at least one of said protective members has a recess to receive said greeting card.

7. An item according to claim 4 or 5 further comprising an address card which, when said protective members are in said protective configuration, can be located between the protective member closest to said part of said container and said part so as to render an address written on said address card externally visible.
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8. An item according to any one of claims 4 to 7 wherein one or both of said protective members comprise a block of expanded polystyrene or the like.
9. A package comprising a greeting card according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and a packaging item according to any one claims 4 to 8.
10. A method of manufacturing a greeting card according to any one of claims 1 to 3, said method comprising the steps of: manufacturing said plaque of a confection; and applying said edible ink to the surface of said plaque using an edible ink transfer.
11. A greeting card substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 1.
12. A packaging item as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 2.