Quantcast
Channel: Best In Packaging » Hot-Can

Can We Do Something More With Soup On-The-Go? Part 03

0
0

We have seen that almost all soup packages need a microwave to get the soup at the right temperature. Some need only hot water to add and some can, as alternative, be heated in a pan of hot/boiling water. That brings us to the assortment of heating devices, whether they are incorporated in the packaging, as self-heating, or are, as a separate unit, coming with the soup bowl. Then we have the e-Coupled heating device, which is a nice alternative to the microwave, but still needs some extra device to let it do its work.

Let’s have a look at the self-heating device first.

Of course the self-heating is developed for coffee. After years of trial-and-error there seems to be, finally, a viable self-heating can for coffee on the market.

Hot-Can of Malaysia has created a revolutionary smart packaging that is self-heating. The Hot-Can is a double chambered aluminium can which contains the beverage in the outer chamber and holds water and calcium oxide (quick lime) separately in the inner chamber. When the button at the bottom of the can is pressed, the water mixes with the quicklime, starting an exothermic reaction that heats the contents of the outer chamber in less the 3 minutes to 50-55°C.
The heat is generated from mixing calcium oxide (quicklime, CaO) with hydrogen dioxide (water, H2O) which produces calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2). Once the heating reaction is complete, the calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) reacts readily with carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air to form calcium carbonate (limestone, CaCO3) and returns to its original state. The reactions are essentially CO2 neutral.

A heat indicator label clearly indicates when the correct drinking temperature has been reached, by changing from black to green. Should the beverage become hotter than the optimum drinking temperature, the heat indicator label will change from black to red.
You can argue that it is difficult to spoon or even drink soup from a beverage can. But don’t forget recent developments. With the full-aperture end, introduced in South Africa by SABMiller during the last World Football Cup, the aluminium beverage can is transformed into a convenient drinking cup. I wrote about this development in my article: “SABMiller’s Imitation of a Frosty Beer Glass”.

It might also be possible that the Malaysian development of Hot-Can, can be used for other packaging formats. There is still something left to do for the next designer or packaging engineer. But surely it has potential.

Update: Recently Crown Holdings signed a contract with HeatGenie to integrate its patented high-efficiency, solid-fuel technology into food and beverage packaging. The compact modular heat source at the base of the package is about the size of a small tea candle and weighs just 1.33 ounces. The common, food-safe material within the heater provides high content energy and heat at a controlled rate. Differently from other systems, HeatGenie isn’t mixing quicklime or other chemicals with water. It’s a very interesting development about which I will write later in detail in a separate article.

Speaking about potential, so has the eCoupled technology to wirelessly heat instant soup in its container.

Although no microwave or stove is used, it is not a self-heating container, but still the soup packaging cooks its contents without any external heat source. It features charging technology printed onto the packaging. This allows the consumer to cook the soup by just placing the pack on a wireless charged work surface and choosing low, medium or high temperature.
See for more details my article: “February – Five New Packaging Innovations”.

Although a very interesting development the initial disadvantage is, of course, the fact that the consumer needs an eCoupled-enabled countertop. Not a microwave, but still some extra device in the kitchen or in the office.

Ok, one last for the road. Literally, as this solution is an ideal one for the outdoor enthusiast, hiker, or somebody spending some time in the rural area. The sauce-bowl packaging which allows for easy heating by candle.

Originally the sauce bowls from Verstegen, The Netherlands were designed to keep sauces warm during a large diner. Its aluminium bowls for Candlelight Pepersaus (pepper sauce), which contain sauces in a bain marie, can be placed over a lit candle. A three-legged plastic tray incorporates an injection-moulded, press-on overcap that houses a tea light. The 300-ml bowl top is shaped so that once the sauce product is accessed, it can seat the tray over the candle, which warms the sauce.

It isn’t difficult to see the pepper sauce replaced by a nice, tasty and thick vegetable soup. Slow? Well, slow cooking is in and gives a much tastier result than the microwave. And what the hell, a hiker surrounded by nature, has all the time of the world. Wait and see the tasty soup getting ready to end a day with the sun setting in the background.

I hope that this article has given food for thought.


Tagged: Candlelight Pepersaus, Crown Holdings, double chambered aluminium can, e-Coupled heating device, HeatGenie, Hot-Can, quicklime, SABMiller, self-heating device, soup on-the-go, Verstegen

Self-Heating Packaging Containers – Part 1

0
0

110751-fdrinks top of Mt Fuji 540x318 100dpi

Consumer who want it the way they want it and want it now, are no longer just sitting in London, New York or Los Angeles. They’re also in São Paolo, Moscow, Taipei and Shanghai. As lives around the globe are becoming more complex and time increasingly a luxury, on-the go consumption is on the rise world-wide. Just in the last three years, the demand for convenient eating options has gone up to 40%, and the habit to “sip a drink while walking” became with 35% almost as popular. Increasingly sophisticated consumers expect high levels of convenience, including related to the environment.
110398-Hot-Can Picture 7 W320 100dpiBased on the products on show at Pack Expo 2012, it’s clear that convenience is one of the hottest trends, especially in beverage packaging. Apparently for the consumer, it’s all about convenience, ease of use and ease-of-recycling. In response to these requirements consumer goods companies have focused on active, smart and higher-value-added packaging that boost consumer safety, user convenience, shelf appeal and recyclability.

121045-HotCan exploded-can 160x672 100dpiBut convenience with a smart or active technological touch costs money. It’s obvious that the value vs. convenience equation in self-heating and self-cooling packaging translates into the usefulness and valued functionality versus the preparedness of the consumer to pay for it. For this type of smart packaging the functionality is obvious and it is not difficult to appreciate the usefulness of a self-heating or self-cooling beverage. But the 1,000-dollar question is what is the consumerprepared to pay extra for the convenience of hot or cold drinks or hot food away from home, on the road, at the beach?

To make things more complicated self-heating/cooling beverages, like so many packaging innovations, have a rough and bumpy history and the reviews on the internet aren’t very positive, even often plain negative, although that has more to do with the quality of the beverage than the non-functionality of the self-heating/cooling device. Nevertheless the general result is negative.

Unfortunately the consumer is well-aware of this bumpy history and is, for the time being, leery to unconditionally give this packaging format the “let’s try it”.

In this article I will only talk about self-heating (self-cooling is reserved for a separate article later). We will see the developments of Hot-Can from Malaysia, the Fast Drinks from Spain, and the Heat Genie from the USA. All in metal cans. Recently the Belgian company ScaldoPack entered the arena with a self-heating stand-up pouch. A really interesting development.

The History of Self-Heating Technologies
121045-100172-self-heating W320 100dpiThe only viable form of heat engine for self-heating is an exothermic chemical reaction. A number of options are available with varying degrees of heat output, but the most reactive are also the most dangerous, using potentially toxic chemicals and producing undesirable gaseous by-products.

The exothermic chemical reaction of choice for consumer packaging is lime reacted with water because it generates substantial heat output, lime is cheap and readily available, and the by-products of the reaction are environmentally acceptable. The Ca(OH)2 (calcium hydroxide aka slaked lime)component in the self-heating cans combines itself with the CO2 found in the atmosphere to form calcium carbonate and water, reducing the very gas that’s known to be one of the main players in the greenhouse effect.
An alternative reaction is the hydrolysis of calcium chloride, which has the advantage of producing no reaction by-products, but generates a lower heat output.
Note: HeatGenie uses a solid fuel source, different from the above mentioned ones. Later in this article more about the HeatGenie solid fuel.

100144-envase-autocalentable-Nestle-en-envapack W320 100dpiOne of the most successful self-heating containers was launched in UK test markets during 2001, as a joint venture between Crown Cork, Thermotic Developments (company dissolved as of 11 Feb 2011) and Nestlé. The 210 ml “Hot When You Want” Nescafé canned coffee heated, with an occasional shake, to around 40ºC above ambient in about 3 minutes. Although the trial was said to be a success and demonstrated that there was a significant market for such a product, Nestlé aborted the project in 2004.

By contrast, in many Mediterranean countries, small quantities of strong espresso coffee drunk at medium warm, not boiling temperatures is frequently the beverage of choice. CaldoCaldo, an Italian development, uses the exothermic reaction between anhydrous calcium chloride and water to meet this need. After the substances are mixed, the consumer shakes the container for 40 seconds so that the hot solution swirls around the aluminium cup containing 40 ml of beverage, producing a temperature rise of around 23ºC. Although a niche market the hot drinks sells across the Mediterranean in sports venues, motorway rest areas and many other outlets with variants as coffee, cappuccino, chocolate, coffee with grappa and tea with lemon.

121045-Hillside W540 100dpi

The pioneer in taking the self-heating formula to the USA market was Ontech, which introduced the Hillside Beverages and convinced back in 2004 WP Beverage Partners to introduce the 10-ounce (295 ml) Wolfgang Puck gourmet lattes in self-heating cans. Based on the lime/water reaction, the largely plastic container was portable, fitted into a cup holder and heated the coffee to around 60ºC (145ºF) in six minutes and kept it hot for some 30 minutes. The foam label added a degree of heat insulation.
Unfortunately, it was technically not a success and many a law suit was thrown around. Hillside Beverages (OnTech) went out of business in Nov 2008.

121045-60562-WolfgangPuck W540 100dpi

Let’s have a look at the current players in this market. We start with Fast Drinks from Spain.

Fast Drinks
The 200 ml 2GO SHC (Self-Heating Can) of Fast Drinks in Spain was launched in April 2005. The can is a welded tinplate can and consists of a number of readily-available components such as three-piece welded and expanded tinplate can bodies and a full-aperture easy-open end to reveal the press-button that starts the heating process. Using ready-made standard components from third parties reduced the development costs of this self-heating system. The graphics are applied to a shrink film label.
110751-fdrinks 2go 0005 320x433 100dpiThe system consists of three compartments that are separated within the can: the first is the packaged beverage; the second, calcium hydroxide; and in the third, water. Once the calcium hydroxide is dissolved within the water, it generates, in just 3 minutes, a large amount of heat (up to 40 degrees Celsius, 104ºF), which heats the beverage that is located in the first compartment of the can and allows for it to remain hot for up to 20 minutes.

There are two sets of ring pulls on the can, one on top and one at the bottom. Pulling the bottom reveals the heating-module (see photo) which should be firmly pressed on the centre to start off the reaction that makes the heat, as it mixes the water with the calcium oxide.

The company claims that its technology is the only one that is retortable after that the heat-module is assembled. This technology translates in a few simple processing steps: Assembling, Filling, Retorting, Labelling and Packaging.

Furthermore the can, being made of welded tinplate, is said to be 100% recyclable, as well as the Ca(OH)2 (calcium hydroxide) used to create the heat reaction as I have argued above.

121045-Bottom of Fast Drinks left and Hot-Can right

Bottom of Fast Drinks left and Hot-Can right, after removing the protective seals

Hot-Can
In contrast to Fast Drinks which uses three-piece tinplate containers with components supplied by third parties, Hot-Can of Malaysia uses Drawn Wall Ironed aluminium cans made at its own can making plant near Kuala Lumpur. The graphics are applied to a shrink film label.

121045-HotCan Soup W320 100dpiAs said most self-heating technologies use slaked lime in a small canister to which water is added to create the energy that raises the temperature of the drinks by about 40oC. In Hot-Can’s case, the double chambered aluminium can contains the beverage in the outer chamber and the water and calcium oxide (quicklime) separately in the inner chamber. The canister, fitted in the base, is part of the drawn aluminium can body, taking up about 120 ml of the overall 330 ml, leaving a nett volume of 210 ml. This is said to simplify the manufacturing process, making it more cost effective, so long as high volumes are produced.
When the button at the bottom of the can is pressed in, the water mixes with the quicklime, starting an exothermic reaction that heats the contents of the outer chamber in less the 3 minutes.
This is the same process, by the way, as used by Fast Drinks, and also by Nestlé for its Nescafé self-heating can project which was aborted about ten years ago.

121045-Hot Can01 W320 100dpiAs the others, Hot-Can claims full recyclability of its aluminium cans, as it only produces natural bi-products: water, calcium carbonate, and calcium hydroxide.

In the next issue of the article we talk about HeatGenie, whose approach to self-heating is unlike other self-heating technologies involving mixing quicklime or other chemicals with water. Further we shall have a look at the new development of a self-heating/self-cooling stand-up pouch ScaldoPack.
-to be continued-


Tagged: beverage cans, CaldoCaldo, convenience, Crown Cork, Fast Drinks, Heat Genie, Hillside Beverages, Hot-Can, Ontech, ScaldoPack, self-heating packaging, Self-Heating Technology, stand-up pouch, Wolfgang Puck gourmet lattes, WP Beverage Partners

Self-Heating Packaging Containers – Part 2

0
0

121045-Scaldopack_02 W540 100dpijpgDid I speak, in my previous article, about self-heating technology in general and the beverage cans of Fast Drinks and Hot-Can in particular, in this issue we talk about HeatGenie, whose approach to self-heating is unlike the other self-heating technologies involving mixing quicklime or other chemicals with water. Further we shall have a look at the new development of a self-heating/self-cooling stand-up pouch of  ScaldoPack.

HeatGenie
HeatGenie is a different story. As said HeatGenie’s approach to self-heating is unlike other self-heating technologies involving mixing quicklime or other chemicals with water.
HeatGenie is a patent-pending solid-fuel technology. The heating element contains aluminium and silica, two benign materials, which in an intimately mixed powdered state can undergo a chemical reaction to give off a large amount of heat.
Aluminium can react with a source of oxygen to release large amounts of energy through oxidation.  Silica is the source of oxygen in the HeatGenie units.

121045-HeatGenie vs other technologies W540 100dpi

The HeatGenie self-heating component integrates into the bottom of a metal packaging. The can supplier is HeatGenie’s packaging partner Crown Holdings (www.crowncork.com), which supplies a 12-oz (355 ml) metal can designed to accept the 1½-oz (42 gr/45 ml) heating-unit that will heat a 10-oz (295 ml) product volume to 145°F (63ºC) in two minutes.
To activate, consumers simply press a button at the bottom of the package. The button is a thermo-mechanical device that when activated generates a localized hot spot on the surface of the fuel that starts the oxidation reaction and creates heat. Once the fuel is spent, the heating process stops.

121045-heatgenie02 W540 100dpiThe amount of heat generated and the rate that heat is released into the food or beverage can be precisely calibrated based on the mix of the fuel in the HeatGenie heater. This is important because the specific properties for a given food or beverage impacts its heating characteristics. For example, coffee heats faster than a soup which has more and varied density.

121045-Heatgenie02x W540 100dpiThe company claims that with the solid-fuel system heating times are four to six times faster and the heater itself is eight times more compact than the traditional self-heating systems. As an example, a one ounce HeatGenie heater can be used to heat eight ounces of coffee from room temperature to serving temperature in less than two minutes.

It is no surprise that the company claims full recyclability of the self-heating can.

We reach the point of the most recent development and leave the self-heating beverage can. ScaldoPack introduced last month at the Brau Beviale 2012 in Nuremburg /Germany the self-heating stand-up pouch for beverages.

ScaldoPack Self-Heating/Self-Cooling Pouch
121045-ScaldoPack_MG_1909 W320 100dpiScaldopack’s innovative self-heating (quicklime) for liquid food and beverages has a flexible twist. Althoug not the first one to try-out a self-heating flexible packaging, ScaldoPack certainly is the first one that comes to market with it. And that at the recent Brau Beviale, probably the most important beverage exhibition in the world.

The product consists out of a “pouch-in-a-pouch-concept”. The inner pouch serves as the reaction chamber while the outer pouch carries the consumable product.
The consumable product can be heated by pressing the reaction chamber. By doing so, the exothermic reaction is activated, adding 35°C in about 5 minutes to a 200ml consumable product.
The company claims that the temperature increase can be adjusted from +5° degrees up to +40° degrees, following customer requirements.

The advantage of a flexible pouch is evident. It only uses 15 gr of packaging material, which makes it an eco-friendly packaging, especially compared to metal can alternatives in the market. Furthermore, and I have argued this before, a flexible packaging is easily stored in a back-pack, overcoat or purse.

121045-Scaldopack_02 W540 100dpijpgAs was to be expected the existing manufacturers of self-heating beverage cans expressed their doubts about the viability of a self-heating pouch. In the relevant LinkedIn group the following comments were posted:
MS from the UK • This has been tried before by myself and others. The problem is always that the CaO water reaction can reach temperatures of 300°C which is above the melting point of the packaging. It seems like another pipe dream that is unlikely to reach production.

JS from the USA • I tested and made several hundred different pouch designs with quicklime. The one main issue is; if the consumer [...] activates the pouch you get a meltdown just like the old Wolf Gang Puck cans did. This will create a hazard for the consumers. Not good for the Self-Heating industry to have a pouch that can meltdown.

121045-ScaldoPackhow it work HOT W540 100dpiI asked a comment from ScaldoPack and they wrote me the following:
We have solved these and many other concerns by controlling the reaction so the inside temperature of the reaction chamber does not exceed 95°Celcius. Then there is no longer any concern, as you do realize a pouch can’t handle any form of pressure so we couldn’t tolerate steam.
Over 60k self-heating pouches have been made and used by end customers. None of them ever complained about the bad function.

Note: I haven’t been able to test the self-heating pouch, but for me the technology to control the exothermic chemical reaction must be possible, consequently the ScaldoPack self-heating pouch gets the benefit of the doubt. Time will tell us.

Self-Cooling/Self-Chilling
ScaldoPack has another interesting development as the company also introduced a self-cooling stand-up pouch. The same activating system is applied, so that pressing the centre of the pouch starts in this case an endothermic reaction. The cooling is obtained by the dissolution of salts in water. It is said to cool down a 200ml consumable product some 13° degrees Celsius, in about 3 minutes.

This is a very interesting development, as the road to self-cooling/self-chilling has been much more bumpy that the self-heating one. The self-cooling trail is literally littered with technological failures. There are thousands and thousands of patents about self-cooling containers and still we haven’t seen any reliable one in the market.

100172-self-cooling failures W540 100dpi

Group of self-cooling failures

In the last issue about self-heating/self-cooling we will talk in depth about the self-cooling technology and its developments and have a look into the future of the self-heating/self-cooling technology.
-to be continued-


Tagged: beverage cans, convenience, Fast Drinks, Heat Genie, Hot-Can, ScaldoPack, self-chilling, self-cooling, self-heating packaging, Self-Heating Technology, stand-up pouch




Latest Images