Carlsberg Trials DS Smith Round Wrap in Poland | Packaging World

Carlsberg in Poland trials a new multipack format that uses rounded corners to reduce the use of shrink film on a pallet and offers 360-deg branding.

For global brand owners using packaging materials on a massive scale, small changes to existing packaging can yield significant sustainability benefits. Such is the case with a new rounded-corner multipack being tested by international beer brand Carlsberg in Poland for selected product lines. The new package, the Round Wrap from DS Smith, is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 224 tons annually in Poland when compared to standard corrugated multipacks.

Carlsberg began working with DSS on the project nearly two years ago. The 24-month process included development time on DSS’s corrugators as well as testing, learning, and validation time on the Carlsberg line. “These customer lines are in constant use, so we need to fit around the customer line availability,” explains Jonathan Carter, senior product innovation manager, Packaging Division, for DS Smith.

Round Wrap uses patented Arcwise technology licensed from Swedish paper company SCA to create curved corners on a corrugated multipack beverage wrap or shelf-ready packaging. As Carter explains, Arcwise technology involves paper ratios, in particular inner thickness versus outer thickness, and cutting, creasing, and shaping of the case’s folded flaps. While specifics on the material being used are proprietary, Carter says DSS can produce Round Wrap with B-, E-, and R-Flute corrugated.

According to SCA, Arcwise technology was developed at its Arcwise Design Lab and was “inspired by the way nature develops its organic shapes over time.” It adds, “A curved shape is naturally strong in relation to its weight, and scientific studies indicate that people prefer curved shapes over square shapes in design.”

A study commissioned by DSS confirms this consumer insight: According to Carter, an independent study with ToLuna in 2023 established that on average, 77% of respondents are more likely to want to purchase Enhanced Round Wrap Design compared to other designs.

Certainly differentiation on-shelf was one of the drivers for Carlsberg to pursue the new packaging design. In terms of aesthetics, the shape of the multipack also provides increased opportunities to place branding on the rounded corners and across the entire 360-deg side surface of the pack.

Round Wrap’s most compelling sell points though are its potential to protect the product and the package and to reduce the environmental footprint of the multipack. “Cylindrical bottles and traditional corrugated boxes never fit together as well as they could,” says Mattias Bodell, head of design at SCA Arcwise. “The curved corners fit the round bottles perfectly, creating minimum space for the bottles to move around.” The rounded shape also results in less damage to the corners of the case during transportation.

In terms of sustainability, the design—with the corrugated tightly shaped around the bottles— results in a materials savings of 20% compared with a standard corrugated solution, with a corresponding 20% reduction in the CO2 footprint. Not only is there a smaller ratio of paper to product, but Carter notes that the wraps use a much lighter inner liner. He cautions that “the percentage saved is always dependent on the comparison of the existing wrap.” with 77% of respondents answering that they are more likely to “purchase Enhanced Wrap Around design compared to other solutions.”

In some cases, the savings in CO2 can also be attributed to the need for less stretch film on a pallet. “The curved corner reduces the distance of shrink film traveled, but the main benefit comes from the contact area between the film and the wrap corner,” says Carter. “This is a lot larger, which provides stability and can encourage a film thickness reduction—it always depends on the starting specification and customer feasibility to run thinner shrink film. It always requires customer validation via transit testing.”

Round Wrap is designed to run on existing packaging equipment, with DSS working with the end user to smooth the transition to the new packaging. Carlsberg began testing the Round Wrap multipack in June for its Carlsberg, Garage, and Somersby beer brands. As of presstime, full-scale production of the packaging for Carlsberg’s products is scheduled to begin in September/October.

Carter shares that since development and launch of the Round Wrap package for Carlsberg, DSS is now able to implement the solution much faster, depending on customer line availability. PW