Box Rebellion

Replacing bottles and cans

If Dustin Hoffman were filming a remake of The Graduate, the well-meaning family friend who pulled him aside to utter one word worth a million dollars would not say "Plastics." Today he would whisper "Aseptics." That is the name for a kind of packaging technique, a sort of second cousin to the retort pouch used by campers. Aseptics may change American packaging in the '80s the way plastics replaced many paper and cellophane wrappings in the '60s. In brown bags and school lunch boxes across the U.S., little boxes of fruit juice and other drinks are becoming as commonplace as potato chips and soggy sandwiches. Says Dick Ponte, a vice president of Stop & Shop, a supermarket chain: "We're having trouble keeping them on the shelves."

Constructed primarily of several thin layers of polyethylene, foil and paper, the containers can keep milk and other liquids fresh for several months without refrigeration. Reason: the airtight packaging seals in its sterilized contents. That has been a crucial marketing aid in countries where transportation and refrigeration are limited.

More than 25 billion aseptically packaged liquid units were sold worldwide last year. While these packages have long been popular in Europe and Asia, however, they were slow to catch on in the U.S. One California company tried marketing milk and juice in similar containers in the U.S. during the '60s, but consumers did not like them because they were too hard to open. But by 1981, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared an improved aseptics packaging method for commercial use, a container with a straw attached, which made opening and drinking easier, had been developed.

Then the rush was on. American companies will turn out an estimated 750 million aseptic packages this year. By 1987, U.S. firms expect to ship about 4 billion annually. Says David Dumbleton, a marketing consultant who has produced a new study on the containers: "This is the most important new food packaging development to hit the market in 25 years."

Consumers like the convenience of aseptics. Working mothers can easily stock up on milk and juices without worrying about spoilage. Tossed in the freezer the night before, the packages are still cold when they are pulled out at school for lunch. Children like the space-age packaging, the built-in straws and, most of all, the ear-splitting noise the empty boxes make when stomped. Says Ralph Graves, vice president of California's Real Fresh: "After the container's empty, kids blow it up and jump on it. It goes off like a 108-mm howitzer."

Manufacturers like the lower production costs. Ocean Spray, the Massachusetts cooperative that produces cranberry and other juices, estimates that its aseptically packaged products cost customers about 10% less than those in cans. Unlike liquids packed in bottles and cans, which must be pasteurized in the container for up to 45 minutes, the contents of aseptic packages are sterilized separately, in under one minute. This not only saves energy costs but also helps preserve flavors. In addition, food distributors do not need to use refrigerated trucks and warehouses to protect milk or juices.

Milk producers are hoping that aseptics can help them regain some of the market share they have been steadily losing to other beverages. Dairymen, Inc., an 8,000-member cooperative based in Louisville, is now selling whole and low-fat milk in the new packs, as well as such flavored varieties as chocolate, strawberry, banana and fruit-punch milk. It is also exporting milk in aseptic packages to Nigeria and the Caribbean. Says Larry Johnson, Dairymen's vice president of marketing development: "It's opening up new markets."

The biggest drawback to the new packaging is that it is not strong enough to be used for carbonated beverages because the pressure of carbonic gas would make the containers burst. Nonetheless, the popular new packs have helped spur renewed growth in U.S. consumption of fruit drinks, now rising by 3% to 5% per year.

In the future, Americans are likely to find all sorts of things coming in aseptic packages. The Japanese drink sake out of aseptic containers, and Frenchmen quaff vin ordinaire from them. Without straws, naturellement. qed This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.