Europe’s leading paper-based packaging manufacturer, Smurfit Kappa, has created ‘Protektapak’, a revolutionary, new corrugated mail order pack for wine bottles, specially designed to withstand the grueling postal distribution chain environment.
The strong and durable ‘Protektapak’ corrugated box design provides unique transit protection for bottles. It has a 100% guarantee and during tests has been proven robust enough to protect bottle contents, even when being dropped from 5m (the height of a standard first storey window).
Smurfit Kappa created ‘Protektapak’ when briefed by Winehound.co.uk to develop an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to protective mailing packs currently used in the market. The resulting corrugated box design aims to replace environmentally unfriendly and expensive polystyrene.
The new pack has also been specially designed to be simple to pack and post. It can also be modified to take any fragile object that needs to be protected in the post and offers an ideal solution to internet shopping, which requires maximum protection.
Paul Cahill, sales director at Smurfit Kappa display and print, said: “Our award winning design team at Smurfit Kappa display and print worked hard to create the new ‘Protektapak’. Part of this process was to put the product through vigorous testing to ensure it provided the necessary protection.”
He continued: “The resulting corrugated box product provides maximum protection without excessive cost – financial or environmental. It provides the best solution to all areas of the customers’ requirements and is a huge step forward for the mailing pack market. As internet shopping increases, this provides a much needed solution, which will enable companies to use normal post and should save enormously on courier costs.”
Marco Attard, director at Winehound.co.uk, said: “The brief was to design new postal packaging for our premium quality bottles of wine. Our key requirement was for the pack to withstand the brutal demands of the distribution chain. With the introduction of Protektapak, our breakages have been reduced and as a result, we are now able to despatch wine products with complete confidence. We have also reduced our carbon footprint due to the pack replacing harmful polystyrene alternatives.”
The Smurfit Kappa Protektapak is a one-size-fits-all design. The box is a quick-assembly design and is one piece, machine glued and die-cut. The outside of the packaging offers brand print opportunities, but it can also be plain on the exterior to create pack anonymity, whilst when opened, it can present the product in a full colour setting.
Protektapak innovative new design has been awarded the UK Packaging Awards 2008 Corrugated Packaging Award.