Cadbury rethinks flow wrap to encourage impulse buying

The package features a display aperture, a hole to place bars on display hooks, which allows chocolate bars to be hung vertically at tills rather than laid flat on shelves in the body of the shop.

Although display apertures have been used for pouch or bag type packaging, they have not generally been adopted for flow wrap due to lack of strength.

Cadbury claims to have overcome this problem by extending the depth of the end seal (D in Fig.1) and shortening the end of the seal at the other end.

It says that this allows the aperture to support the weight of the product without increasing the overall length of the packaging.

To inspire impulse buys​

In its patent application the company said: “Providing a display aperture in an end seal allows the package to be hung generally vertically and means they can be displayed more easily in regions close to the till or sales counter where customers often have to queue and where they may be open to impulse purchasing.”​

“It is a particular object of the invention to provide an improved flow-wrap which can be displayed in an alternative manner to conventional flow-wrapped packages.”​

Further support and angled display​

To give further support, Cadbury has incorporated a fin seal (118 of Fig.3) with aperture holes that extends over the full length of the package to provide further support.

The aperture on Cadbury’s flow wrap can also be positioned off-centre so that the chocolate bars hang at an angle.

The patent was filed under The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an international patent law treaty that allows a uniform patent to be considered by signatory national or regional authorities.

National and regional authorities that are signatories to the PCT will now decide whether or not to grant the patent.