The Italian flexible packaging giant has formed a joint venture called Cheer Pack North America with US-based CFD Corporation and Japan’s Hosokawa Yoko “to develop and support spouted packaging technology in North America”, said a CFD statement.
The firms believe the partnership could create a strong platform from which they hope to gain a significant share in the growth of the nascent spouted flexible pouch market, Cheer Pack president Steve Gosling told FoodProductionDaily.com.
“There isn’t a huge presence in North America for this type of packaging and we believe there is gap in the market that nobody else has yet tapped into,” he said. “Over the next three to four years, we hope to be producing around 100m spouted packages annually.”
The joint global output from all the partners will top one billion units annually, said the US company.
Volume challenges
Although the agreement was only signed two weeks ago, the new venture said it had hit the ground running. It has already “got a few machines running” and had secured a number of co-packers.
Gosling said that one challenge facing any new packaging venture in the US was the ability to produce the sheer volumes that any customer would need in this huge market.
“We believe we have a viable solution because with Guala and Hosokawa on board the technology is already in place,” he added. “There is no guesswork or trialling involved with issues such as material composition or strengths because they are both industry leaders in what they do. Added to this is the engineering knowledge that CFD brings as a manufacturing group.”
The Cheer Pack chief said the flexible pouches would be aimed at the health and premium product market such as organics, baby food, yoghurts and ice-creams.
Massachusetts-based CFD specialises in thermoforming, blow moulding and heat sealing. As part of its expansion strategy – including the Cheer Pack joint venture - the company has just opened a 109,000-square foot facility in Plymouth, MA.