Kickstart: Packaging for the COVID era

In today's installment of "that news is so 2020," we have this news release from Tekni-Plex Inc. on its new "Sniff Seal" closure liner, which allows shoppers to smell the scent within a package and "can be experienced through face masks."

The liner, from Tekni-Plex's Tri-Seal business unit, is intended to allow consumers to check out the aroma of a detergent or soap or fresh peanut butter or other product without being tempted to peel back the seal.

"There are many instances where consumers want to know what a product actually smells like before putting it in the shopping cart," David Andrulonis, senior vice president and general manager of Tri-Seal, said in a news release.

"In the current environment where face mask wearing is mandated in many communities, consumers may be more prone to peeling back seals or removing fitments to experience the scent before buying. When a package is returned to the shelf in a compromised condition, it is no longer sellable. As a result, the retail industry experiences a significant amount of loss annually," Andrulonis said.

In another item from the COVID files, it seems that home cooking is good for the makers of food storage containers.

Last week, both Tupperware Brands and Newell, the maker of Rubbermaid-branded containers, reported surging sales for home products.

Tupperware beat sales expectations for the quarter by 31 percent as consumers reached for familiar storage products.

For Newell, sales in the home solutions division, which includes Rubbermaid, climbed nearly 20 percent for the third quarter. Appliances and cookware, the Newell business group that includes the Mr. Coffee brand, was up 17 percent for the quarter. And it was a great summer to sell iced coffee makers for the home.

"The consumer trends during COVID has helped because people have loved this [iced coffee] thing," CEO and President Ravi Saligram said in a conference call with analysts.

(On the flip side for Newell? Its writing instruments business, including brands such as Paper Mate and Sharpie, slid as people delayed a return to offices and schools.)

Here at Plastics News, we've been doing a lot of work preparing for our Women Breaking the Mold virtual networking forum (set for Nov. 17-19). I've spoken to women who were among the first women in their businesses, as well as women who are fairly new to the industry. It is still not very unusual for women to find themselves a minority in the laboratory, office or shop floor.

So it's interesting to read this piece in our sister paper Automotive News about how Ford Motor Co. decided to consolidate a lot of individual women's working groups within its global operations to create the Women of Ford organization.

The united group involves roughly 7,000 female engineers, designers, executives and other leaders.

The leaders of Women of Ford have objectives that range from smaller actions — such as allowing new mothers to remain in the loop during maternity leave by not automatically suspending their email accounts while they're away, if they choose — to larger initiatives such as insisting a slate of women and minority candidates be included in executive succession planning.