Australian packaging company Visy Industries Pty. Ltd. will replace traditional thermoformed, high-impact polystyrene dairy containers with polypropylene injection molded tubs, featuring in-mold labeling.Shane Spence, market development manager, said injection molding technology with in-mold labels has been slow to come to Australia because of lower volumes and cost barriers.
Melbourne-based National Foods Ltd. initially will use injection molding for its 2.2-pound Yoplait yogurt tub, which includes a tamper-evident seal and custom-designed grip and pouring features.
Spence said Visy, also headquartered in Melbourne, had been working for a long time to introduce in-mold labeling to the Australian market.
“Before offering it to anybody, we needed the right combination of tooling, robotics, labeling and molding to produce a product on par with leading European [injection molded-in labeling] manufacturers,” he said.