At this year’s Pack Expo International, Tetra Pak unveiled its Tetra Reva container that’s slated to launch in the United States and globally in the first half of next year. 

Tetra Reva is primarily made from paperboard and has a plastic pull ring on top. 

The container is suitable for refrigerated foods eaten with a spoon, such as yogurt, cottage cheese and pudding. The carton is square instead of the round plastic cups traditionally used for those products, which allows more packages to fit on a store shelf, according to Tetra Pak. Plus, the ability to stack the squared-off containers tightly without requiring secondary packaging materials allows for up to 57% more units per pallet, the company said.

Keeping with the square theme, American Packaging Corp. introduced its FlexCube, a flexible pouch that’s preformed in a cuboid shape.

The pouch reduces excess headspace compared with rigid alternatives and can use 30% to 40% less material than traditional flexible packaging formats.

Hormel is tackling challenges with portioning bacon by introducing a package with smaller sections. 

Three individually perforated sections come folded and can be separated before use. Each section contains four slices of the company’s Black Label bacon. Hormel says this design lets consumers choose how much bacon they want at once while also cutting down on food waste.

Packaging innovations: Tetra Pak squares up food cartons, Hormel slims down bacon portions | Packaging Dive