MADISON, WI (August 7, 2024) – Placon, an industry leader in innovative, sustainable thermoformed food packaging, was recently announced as a 2024 AmeriStar award winner for Design Excellence for a custom line of sandwich and wrap containers. The Ameristar awards are an annual award given by the Institute of Packaging Professionals and recognize innovation, product protection and product design across more than a dozen categories.
Placon’s award-winning container line was designed exclusively for Farmer’s Fridge, a company that produces fresh food and distributes it through their network of more than 1,200 state-of-the-art vending machines. The primary goal of the packaging was to increase the vendibility of these items, as the previous containers frequently encountered vending issues, resulting in jams and disruptions in machine operation, and negatively impacting revenue.
The sleek, rounded edges of the sandwich and wrap containers, which are made with 100% post-consumer recycled PET, resulted in more than a 50% reduction in vending jams. This improvement not only reduced disruptions and enhanced the customer experience, but has also relieved the workload of field teams tasked with machine maintenance.
The most significant impact of the new packaging lies within its ability to alleviate revenue loss linked to jammed machines. By drastically reducing machine disruption, the new containers have curbed lost sales, and increased customer loyalty by minimizing the probability of negative vending experiences.
“The collaboration between Placon and Farmer’s Fridge is a perfect example of design innovation and teamwork combining to deliver an award-winning product that saves money, increases operational efficiency and improves brand loyalty,” said Theresa Knight, Placon’s VP of NPD Engineering.