Campbell's thinks outside the can

Orlando, Fla. — A well-made package must transport and protect, but it also should be agile and adaptive in today's changing market where consumers are looking beyond traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Campbell Soup Co. is known for one the most iconic packages in the whole world: the metal soup can.

But that hasn't stopped the company from looking to new packaging solutions — including both rigid and flexible plastic — to keep up with the demands of today's market.

A few decades ago, major consumer product companies focused on designing packaging for mass production, said Robert Weick, vice president of packaging research and development at Campbell's.

"That was a great model for the 80s," he said at the Packaging Conference earlier this year in Orlando.

But fast forward to today. "We want to be able to change quickly. We have different distribution models that really want to have their own identity, their own products in the marketplace.

"How do we create adaptive ability? When you start to look at the challenges of omnichannel packaging, it really requires that we get down to really being able to adapt and do so agilely. That's not something that large CPGs have truly mastered. Certainly at Campbell's we're trying to make improvements," he said.

Existing infrastructure is a big hurdle in making packaging changes. Think about canning operations, for example, that are set up to run fast. Creating a packaging line to take advantage of the newer trends is not easily accomplished considering the investment made in existing equipment.

But Campbell's is moving some products into new packaging to take advantage of the attributes that plastics provide.

Prego, Weick said, is one of the company's major brands. Some Prego products have begun using PET containers as a substitute for glass as a way to allow shipment beyond traditional channels.

"PET is a way for us to deliver out to new markets that otherwise we would have been limited," Weick said.

The company has also migrated to using flexible packaging in some applications that previously called for other substrates. Some soup, as well the company's Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish crackers, for example, now have flexible plastic packaging options.

Campbell's uses the usual variety of materials in its packaging, including plastic, glass, metal and paper — whatever makes the most sense.

A key in its approach, however, is creating systems that can change quickly to respond to demand.

"The future for us is we're investing in technologies that enable flexibility and speed of response. That's what I call morphing technologies," he said. "You design for change. It's not just the package; it's the entire system. You start to look at how do you enable packaging and manufacturing savings.

"Cost savings is innovation. And innovation should deliver cost savings," Weick said.

Companies too often start with the "here's how" and use that to drive decisions.

"We're trying to take and learn and say what is needed and let that drive how we do that," he said.