Issue Date: 2 June 2009

United Biscuits’ (UB) launch of its ‘Best Ever’ Cheddars cheese biscuits includes an innovative tear tape solution from Payne designed to significantly improve consumers’ easy opening experience.

UB, a leading European manufacturer of biscuits and snacks, has long added Payne tear tape to all of its roll wrap packaging to provide simple access to the contents.  One issue that emerged from consumer feedback was that users were sometimes having difficulty locating the end of the tape as the existing tab design became stuck down when the pack was sealed. 

Payne devised an innovative new device, the Communication Tab System, to provide an ideal solution to this issue.  By cutting a larger, U-shaped or horseshoe tab into the tape during its application, the tab protrudes beyond the seal area to deliver a prominent opening feature that is easily visible to the consumer. The new tab is also more senior-friendly.

On being shown the system, UB was so impressed that the company immediately trialled it and found that it offered ease of integration into the packaging line with the provision of enhanced pack opening and excellent opportunities for communicating with consumers at the point of consumption. 

This has led to the addition of Payne’s tab feature to the new Jacob’s Cheddars cheese biscuit packaging, part of the brand’s ‘Best Ever’ launch.  The packaging has been printed with the words ‘Easy Open Tear Tape’ to underline the benefits to consumers. 

“The new Cheddars cheese biscuits deliver our ‘Best Ever’ recipe, therefore we wanted to offer consumers packaging to match,” says Paul Cheeseman, Packaging Systems Manager at UB.

“Roll wrap is already one of the simplest and most efficient uses of packaging, and yet we believe that with the addition of Payne’s communication tab system we have managed to improve and enhance the overall product for the consumer.”

Payne’s new tab cutter comprises two main components, the cutter mechanism and the tab save device.  The cutter mechanism is a compact unit designed to fit to most wrapping machines, which clamps and cuts a horse shoe-shaped tab 12mm wide x 20mm long into the film during application of the tear tape.  The compact, pneumatically operated unit is designed to fit most wrapping machines.  It is supplied in three sizes (100, 150 and 200mm) to accommodate varying film widths.

The tab save device is a compact, simple but clever mechanism that can be mechanically or pneumatically operated. It is designed to save the tab from being cut during the main film cut operation. The end result produces a tab on the pack that protrudes past the seal area offering a highly visible opening feature to the consumer. 

UB is now considering further plans to roll-out the new tear tape tab feature across other its other brands of roll wrap biscuit products.