Kickstart: 'Evolving' brands and packaging

PepsiCo Inc. made some headlines on June 17 when it announced it was cutting Aunt Jemima from its catalog of brands. The company, part of the PepsiCo subsidiary Quaker Oats, will still make syrup and pancake mix, but it is taking "a hard look at our portfolio of brands" as it works "to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives."

It likely won't be the last branding makeover.

Mars Inc., the owner of the rice brand Uncle Ben's also said it was "evolving the Uncle Ben's brand, including its visual brand identity." Before the end of the day Wednesday, Conagra Brand Inc. said it has a "complete brand and packaging review" on its Mrs. Butterworth's brand. That includes its syrup bottle made to resemble what Conagra calls a "loving grandmother figure."

"We stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown communities and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values," Conagra said in a news release.

With those changes on the horizon, expect the implications to flow down the supply chain. Obviously packaging firms need to be able to shift right along with their customers. That may not be difficult if it's just a different label on a bottle, but how much Mrs. Butterworth's blow mold tooling is in production right now? How many pouches for Uncle Ben's microwavable rice are already in a warehouse?

Perhaps one silver lining out of the coronavirus-related shutdowns this year — along with all those face shields and masks molders began producing at a moment's notice — may be that processors already know they can make rapid changes needed to keep up with unexpected disruptions.

Nearly 50 employees of reusable packaging maker Orbis Corp. picked up hammers (and saws and drills and a lot of other equipment) to build a duplex home in Waukesha, Wis., for Habitat for Humanity. In total, the Orbis employees contributed more than 400 hours of work on the project.

Now the Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County has given the company its 2020 Housing Champion Award.

In addition to hands-on work, Orbis employees helped with fundraisers, raising thousands of dollars for Habitat and donations to Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

"We're proud of our employees' commitment to serving the community and honored to receive recognition for our volunteer work," said Andrea Schwartzmiller, community action team leader at Orbis, based in Oconomowoc, Wis., and part of Menasha Corp. "We look forward to continuing our support of local organizations and improving the housing conditions of workers across Waukesha County and beyond."

Not Scoose himself, but his owner/trainer/employee Hollee Keller, editorial research coordinator for Plastics News.

We here at PN are trying to get a handle on how the plastics industry responded to the funds available through the federal Paycheck Protection Program — if the program has been beneficial or if you've come across questions that need to be answered.

Hollee has put together a short survey at www.plasticsnews.com/PPP that will help us understand how big the program has been for the industry and seek out information you need. Please take a couple of minutes and fill it out.

And sorry, we haven't yet come up with a way to have Scoose swing by for visits or belly rubs to make your day better. But we'll tell him that he's a good boy on your behalf.