“tpod”- System with Integrated Secondary Packaging

- Innovative solution combines Stick- and Pull Pack packaging
- Packaging process customized to individual customer requirements
- Efficient process applies to first- and secondary packaging

Sigpack Systems, a Bosch Packaging Technology company, has developed an integrated packaging system for tea in Stickpacks in partnership with Bistrozucker. The system produces the perforated Stickpack as well as the secondary packaging, in a Pull Pack or in a conventional Flow Wrap style.

The partnership between Alcan Packaging and Bistrozucker resulted in the combination of the perforated Stickpack and the Pull Pack, developed by Sigpack Systems. The Pull Pack packaging concept enables particularly fast and accurate opening for clean dispensing. The consumer holds the longer part of the product with one hand and pulls the seal fin of the shorter part with the other hand in the opposite direction. Both packaging styles, Stickpack and Pull Pack, guarantee a flavor-sealed result and ensure product quality.

The purpose of this combination is to replace the traditional tea bag with a modern lifestyle product that offers enhanced convenience to the consumer. In cooperation with Alcan Packaging, the leading foil producer, the two companies developed a “springback” foil which springs back to a cylindrical form after the filling. The springback foil is certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is produced according to a special perforation process. The Stickpack filled with tea, also known as tpod (tea portion of design), replaces the traditional tea bag and is also used for stirring. Further application possibilities for this concept can be found in coffee or pharmaceutical products.

Sigpack Systems developed the machine for the production and filling of the perforated Stickpack, as well as the machine for the production of the secondary packaging of the “tpod”. The production line was customized according to individual customer requirements of Bistrozucker.

The joint efforts of Sigpack Systems, Alan Packaging and Bistrozucker have demonstrated a modern and efficient approach for firms cooperating to convert creative ideas into marketable concepts.