Basell Metocene, a polypropylene resin manufactured with metallocene catalysts, has been selected by Cadbury in Europe as the material for the packaging of its new chewing gum brand, Hollywood Sphere.
The Metocene homopolymer PP resin was selected for the Cadbury product due to its high level of stiffness and transparency.
“In the increasingly competitive world of confectionary and chewing gum the visual appeal of packaged products is becoming even more important to brand recognition,” said Pascal Foucher, purchasing manager at Millet Marius, the French plastics converter that makes the packaging for Cadbury.
“The more exciting the design of the packaging is, the more our customers will be recognised at the point of sale.”
A designer polypropylene
The package Millet is producing for Cadbury looks like a crystal ball with a transparent and a coloured part that feature a glossy surface.
Foucher adds, “We were looking for a real designer polypropylene allowing us a high level of design freedom as we were asked to combine exceptional clarity and a glossy surface on the one hand, with a higher level of stiffness needed in consumer packaging on the other hand.”
The gum, which is sold in containers of 70 pieces, is designed for consumers to leave at fixed locations such as cars or offices.
“In testing the product we recommended exhibited clarity similar to that of clarified Ziegler Natta random copolymer polypropylene, but with a stiffness of a typical homopolymer,” said Jean-Pierre Bideau, Basell’s customer project manager South Europe for Metocene.
The use of the homopolymer Metocene resin used for the packaging produced by Millet resulted in a high level of clarity without the loss of rigidity.
Millet was able, due to the different narrow molecular weight distribution of the resin, to create the requested glossy surface which is important to the visual attractiveness in the consumer market.
Reduced cycle time
The lower melting point of the Metocene resin compared to a standard homopolymer polypropylene grade also enabled the customer to improve its productivity by reducing the cycle time.
“This feature makes Basell’s Metocene grades attractive for injection moulding manufacturers producing food packaging,” Jean-Pierre Bideau said.
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