Campbell, Pepperidge Farm Honored for Package Innovation

Campbell Soup Company and its Pepperidge Farm division were honored recently for consumer-driven innovation in product packaging at the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation.

Campbell’s Go soups, the company’s first soups packaged in flexible, stand-up pouches in the U.S., received a Silver award for innovative packaging. The packaging was designed to complement the flavorful new soups, featuring greater surface area than traditional soup packages and commanding attention with eye-catching graphics and a dash of humor. In addition, the custom-made pouch features a clear gusseted bottom that helps it to stand on shelves or in the microwave.

“Pouches are contemporary and incredibly relevant to younger consumers, who purchase many of their favorite foods and other products in pouches,” said Mary Gregg, director of packaging for Campbell North America R&D. “For the new Campbell’s Go soups, we believe our custom pouches are the right package for the right product.”

Pepperidge Farm’s packaging team was honored for a second consecutive year by the DuPont Awards. This year, the company received a Silver award for adding a first-of-its-kind, Seal Tab re-close feature to its Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals Cracker Chips bag. Created in collaboration with Sonoco Flexibles, this development was based on consumer insights that pointed to a key need -- flexible packages typically lack convenient re-close features.

“For consumers who want to eat only a portion of the chips and keep the rest of the product fresh, the best option was to use a chip clip or creatively fold over the bag. We knew there had to be a better way,” said Eva Peters, director of packaging for Pepperidge Farm R&D. “We worked with our packaging supplier to create a unique solution built right into the front panel of the package so the consumer couldn’t miss it.”

The packaging features a large and visible re-close tab with a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) system incorporated into the film lamination. The result is greater surface area and better adhesion that easily re-closes for the consumer and also solves a challenge for marketing -- brand appeal even when the bag is re-sealed, something that alternate methods could not achieve without obscuring the brand name.

Now in its 25th year, the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is the industry's longest-running, global, independently judged celebration of innovation and collaboration throughout the value chain.