Packaging Strategies’ recent reporting on PACK EXPO International 2024 – though extensive – represents a mere fraction of the networking and expertise sharing that will take place at the event.

New offering benefits from the company’s deep understanding of recycled PET resin characteristics and their impact on bottle production.

The bottles have an on-pack call to action "Recycle Me Again" message and will also drive consumer awareness with "100% recycled PET bottle" displayed on the pack.

At present, the bottles are the only kind of plastic food packaging in Switzerland that can be recycled and reprocessed in a closed cycle.

Marketing campaign depicts a cast of funny and typical beach characters with whom consumers have likely interacted, and asks, “And you, what beach type are you?”

Winners included Smurfit Westrock’s PETCollar™ Shield Plus, a sustainable alternative to plastic in the multi-pack beverage segment.

The official rollout of the new visual identity will debut next summer, with packaging hitting shelves as early as May 2025.  

This latest offering packs a powerful mix of smooth, quality coffee, focus-boosting caffeine plus B-vitamins, ginseng and guarana into a single can to give you an extra kick when you need it most.

As part of the brand refresh, the Somersby tree has been redesigned to make it more iconic, with a simplified, more recognizable shape that is naturally uplifting. Its canopy with its distinctive shape can flex to aid flavor navigation.

 The two products are designed to properly handle eggs and various fruits, respectively. 

Mondi’s kraft paper used for the paper band is made from renewable, responsibly sourced and certified materials.

Soft-fruit containers made with MONOAIR™ cushion technology now include square, large rectangular and standard versions.

Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has collaborated with Swiss converter ATS-Tanner to create an innovative paper band, which can hold individually labelled products or bundles reducing unnecessary plastic.

In September, my wife and I did a half Ironman relay. While waiting for my wife to finish the swimming portion, I struck up a conversation with a cyclist who was with team Rockit™ Apple. Inevitably, the conversation eventually turned to packaging.

Global produce company will debut the reusable plastic containers in select Texas markets.

The trays originate from natural waste and are designed to return to the earth, fully decomposing into compost at the end of their lifecycle.

New white paper aims to illuminate the role that packaging can play in reducing household food waste while providing insight into consumer knowledge of packaging’s value.

Representatives of leading European fruit and vegetable supply chain organizations, gathered by Pro Food at the Fruit Logistica trade fair in Berlin, reiterated the need for a non-ideological, data-driven approach.

This bold rebranding, themed “Modern Roots,” disrupts the conventional produce market by combining modernity with authenticity, bringing a fresh, dynamic, and innovative spirit to their products.

Company is expanding its palletizing range with the introduction of the high-performing RoboAccess_Pal S.

Cobotics brings several advantages to palletizing: a small footprint on the ground, flexibility by the possible movement of the equipment, and easy start-up and use.

British Sugar needed an extremely compact and flexible case packing and palletizing solution to be implemented within a tight plant area that would be capable of handling multiple pallet and format types.

New rackable pallet supports heavy loads, provides load stability and features unique design qualities to streamline operations.

Sidel has delivered a central palletizing system composed of eight robotic cells connected to 28 packing lines at Unilever’s nutrition factory in Ploiesti, Romania, for savory brands including iconic Knorr.

Ideal for thin-gauge hand wrap applications, the new resin is designed to help provide high tenacity and consistent extrusion, as well as help enable the incorporation of high loading levels of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content.

Rethink Robotics celebrates its comeback with a renewed company vision, aiming to serve the North American market with better, faster, and stronger products and solutions.

Ultimation Industries LLC, a leader in conveyor technology and automation, has launched a new range of specialty automated delivery systems for the e-commerce and automotive industries. The specialty systems build on Ultimation’s success in providing conveyors for sequenced tire and wheel assemblies that can be directly unloaded from the trailer to the plant’s assembly line.

Bumble Bee Seafoods has been recognized by NOSH.com’s annual “Best Of” Awards for the bold and fresh redesign of the brand’s iconic tuna cans, pouches and snack kits.

SideDrive Conveyor provides sanitary spiral and long-run transferless conveyors for virtually any application.

The petition aims to resolve unequal amounts of product in hot dog and hot dog bun packages.

S. Rozen’s buns and Vienna Beef Hot Dogs say they came up with a solution 16 years ago.

Acquisition will provide Amcor with a fully integrated, production-ready fresh protein packaging solution.

The new technology will enable producers, retailers and consumers to tell in real time whether the contents of a sealed food package are contaminated.

The goal of the rebrand is to engage directly with health-conscious consumers as they increasingly seek high-quality and ethically sourced beef products. 

Sustainable retail packaging solution replaces expanded polystyrene on processor production lines.

The PowerPak 1000 has been specially developed as an entry-level machine for the thermoforming segment and offers advanced functions previously reserved for machines in the higher performance range.

The fully servo-driven HQ Series counting & dispensing machines are designed to provide 100% accuracy for primary or secondary packaging of candy, confectionary and chocolate as well as non-food products.

Loma Systems designed and engineered the X5 SideShoot X-ray machine specifically for the inspection of taller food products.

The X350 is designed with large ink tanks, each holding 2L of CMYK ink, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing the need for frequent refills.

With April 20 approaching, we look at how cannabis producers can partner with local printers to create high-quality packaging that adheres to local laws and regulations while also establishing brand identity and increasing brand recognition.

By introducing the series, XSYS provides a unique and new approach to printing plates using renewable raw materials as part of the plate formulation. Furthermore, the plates can be processed 20% faster, leading to time and energy savings.

Working with RM Machinery, Colbert purchased an RMGT 1060TP-LX 10-CC-LD+UV. The unique configuration of the press allows for multiple colors, coatings and cold foil enhancement inline.

The Versatex Printbar leverages the architecture of two print banks, each equipped with six Xaar Nitrox printheads, to achieve up to three different laydown effects in a single pass and with one varnish.

Company will highlight its complete portfolio of sustainable solutions for the packaging and narrow web, tag and label markets.

Owned and operated by seasoned industry experts, APC boasts one of the largest teams of knowledgeable employees and support technicians of any graphics equipment distributor in the Northeast, Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

Members of the United States House of Representatives are listed here in alphabetical order. Each entry includes life dates if known, a member's area of residence when first elected, period of service, and party affiliation when known. Before 1795 and again from the 1810s into the 1830s there were no well-organized political parties or parties were in flux, and for those time periods no affiliation is listed. Between 1795 and the 1810s most members are identified as Federalists or as Democratic-Republicans. The eight men who were elected to the House of Representatives in 1865 but not seated are also included in this list. John Mercer Langston, elected in 1890, was the first African American elected to Congress from Virginia. Leslie Larkin Byrne, elected in 1992, was the first woman elected to Congress from Virginia.
Mon, 04 Jan 2021 09:26:01 EST

Building a Winning Team: The Volunteer Blueprint jhammond@desti… Tue, 07/02/2024 - 17:59

Comments from the Minneapolis Fed President in conversation with Yahoo Finance.

• Contacts are optimistic
• We have to wait and see what the new government policies are, we will have to wait and see
• A one-time tariff increase in transitory but it can become tit-for-tat, right now we're all just guessing
• Immigration could have a big effect but we will have to see what will happen
• New lease inflation takes a couple years to work its way through
• We have good confidence that the housing piece of inflation will get to normal levels, though it may take a year or two
• The labor market has been surprisingly resilient, it's a good labor market
• The economy looks like it's in a strong position
• If we saw inflation surprise to the upside between now and December, that might give us pause
• Probably not enough time for jobs to surprise on the upside
• Productivity looks like it's been stronger, which could mean a higher neutral rate
• If so, we may not cut as much
• We all agree that we're above neutral now
• The rise in long-term yields doesn't look like it's about long-term inflation expectations
• I think we're modestly restrictive right now. I thought we were putting two feet on the brakes but in hindsight we were only putting one foot on the brake
• My judgement is that we still have a long ways to go in shrinking the balance sheet
• Ultimately the economy will guide us in terms of how far we need to cut rates

Kashkari is candid and is oftentimes dovish but he sounded less like someone who wants to keep on cutting. His comment about one foot on the brakes was helpful in illustrating how he sees the economy and rates. The interesting discussion is about neutral right now and how close the Fed wants to go. He also touched on a longer timeline to get inflation all the way back to 2% and that should keep the Fed in the high 3s assuming no sharp slowdown in the economy. Of course, the Fed curve is also pricing 3.80% as the terminal rate.

Fundamental Overview

The puzzling weakness in the US Dollar following Trump’s victory looks more and more like it was just a “sell the fact” reaction. The greenback is now back in the driving seat, and we might also be seeing some pre-positioning into a potentially hot US CPI report tomorrow.

At the latest Fed’s decision, Fed Chair Powell said that they expect bumps on inflation and that one or two bad data months on inflation won’t change the process. This keeps the 25 bps cut in December in place even if we get higher inflation readings.

The market though is forward-looking, and the rise in Treasury yields showed that the market sees risks to the inflation outlook. Moreover, the red sweep could increase those fears if the progress on inflation stalls, or worse, reverses.

On the GBP side, this morning we got the UK labour market report and although the data was mostly mixed, it leant more on the dovish side. Overall though, it didn’t change anything for the market or the BoE.

GBPUSD Technical Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can see that GBPUSD broke through the support zone around the 1.2840 level and extended the drop as more sellers piled in. The natural target should be the swing low at 1.2665 level. That’s where we can expect the buyers to step in with a defined risk below the level to position for a rally back into the 1.28 handle.

GBPUSD Technical Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can see more clearly the break of the support which was defining the range between the 1.2840 support and the 1.3040 resistance. If the price retests the support now turned resistance, we can expect the sellers to step in with a defined risk above the level to position for a drop into the 1.2665 level next. The buyers, on the other hand, will want to see the price breaking higher to position for a rally back into the 1.3040 resistance.

GBPUSD Technical Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can see that we have a minor downward trendline defining the current bearish momentum. The sellers will likely keep on leaning on it to position for new lows, while the buyers will look for a break higher to pile in for a rally into new highs. The red lines define the average daily range for today.

Upcoming Catalysts

This week is a bit empty on the data front with the most important releases scheduled for the latter part of the week. Tomorrow, we have the US CPI report. On Thursday, we get the latest US Jobless Claims figures. On Friday, we conclude the week with the US Retail Sales data.

Midnight Evergreen Technologies, Inc. (Midnight) dares to reimagine the role of an AA game publisher, with a mission to fundamentally reshape how we play together. Midnight is building The Evergreen, the first (of-its-kind) publishing platform designed as a deconstructed, composable MMORPG, delivering immersive, cross-genre experiences that seamlessly span across various platforms, pushing the boundaries of how games are played and enjoyed.

The Evergreen fuses enduring player progression with constantly evolving gameplay, creating an interconnected arcade of games that offer the reach, engagement, and monetization of a traditional MMO—without the risks of a single theme, game narrative, or prolonged production cycles.

Midnight proudly announces the launch of the first of its 26 planned core games in this Deconstructed MMO: The Evergreen: Midnight Market. Set to release on Web, Mobile, and Telegram, and built in partnership with Aptos Foundation, Midnight Market is a daring game of risk and reward where every spin teeters between fortune and mischief. Combining the thrill of crypto gaming with the reliability and scalability of Aptos' Layer 1 blockchain, Midnight Market sets a new standard for decentralized gaming.

Players will find themselves in a high-stakes world of chance, crafting items, earning tokens, and navigating encounters with the elusive Night Pig. How far will you push your luck in pursuit of the ultimate prize?

“Our partnership with Aptos Foundation marks a significant tipping point,” said Steve Wade, Founder & CEO of Midnight. “Aptos’ innovative Web3 infrastructure aligns perfectly with our strategy to focus on player participation in the ecosystems they engage with. Specifically, we’ve solved for interoperability between games, and Aptos makes that solution a reality.” Wade further explained, “We believe in the creator economy and see Web3 as the next logical step—empowering individuals and communities to shape the ecosystems they interact with. With Aptos, we envision a world where players’ stories matter and endure long after the game is over.”

Key Features of The Evergreen: Midnight Market

• Engaging, Unpredictable Gameplay: Players experience unpredictable rewards or unexpected encounters, with every spin holding the potential for either fortune or a surprise interaction with the Night Pig. This element of suspense enhances the gameplay experience with an entertaining, high-stakes twist.
• Decisive Risk-Reward Mechanics: With each turn, players must choose between pushing their luck for higher rewards or banking their earnings. This gameplay design adds strategic depth, enhancing engagement through meaningful player choices.
• Aptos Powered Player Economy: Midnight Market features a blockchain-powered economy, enabling players to craft items known as Keys and earn tickets that can be redeemed for the native ecosystem token or other exclusive merchandise. This player-driven system ensures that every reward has tangible value, heightening the stakes and making the game’s risk-reward mechanics even more impactful.

The game is the first major title to utilize the Aptos high-throughput blockchain, which boasts low latency and high transaction speeds, creating a seamless gaming environment for thousands of players worldwide.

“Powered by the speed and security of the Aptos blockchain, we’re excited to see Midnight’s ambitious vision for The Evergreen brought to life,” said Bashar Lazaar, Head of Grants and Ecosystem at Aptos Foundation. “Players can expect an immersive, genre-spanning experience where every move shapes their unique journey, and the time they spend leaves lasting echoes within the game’s universe and control over the assets they acquire. This isn’t just a step into the future of Web3 gaming—it’s a bold leap forward, placing players at the heart of a dynamic ecosystem, where every moment they choose to spend has a meaningful impact on the worlds they explore".

The Evergreen: Midnight Market is in closed beta now and available to players globally November 13th.

About Aptos Foundation

Aptos Foundation is dedicated to supporting the development of the Aptos protocol, decentralized network and ecosystem and driving engagement with the Aptos ecosystem. By unlocking a blockchain with seamless usability, Aptos Foundation aims to bring the benefits of decentralization to the masses.

About Aptos Network

Aptos is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain. Aptos’ breakthrough technology and programming language, Move, are designed to evolve, improve performance and strengthen user safeguards.

About Midnight

Midnight (https://www.midnight.io/) is at the forefront of innovation with The Evergreen, the first-ever publishing platform that operates as a deconstructed, composable MMORPG. Players engage with and explore diverse, interconnected game worlds, all linked by The Evergreen, a dynamic nexus that binds these unique experiences together. Each game is its own universe, offering new adventures while feeding into a broader progression system. By combining immersive gameplay with a shared economy and evolving narratives, Midnight is reshaping how players discover and interact with new worlds across genres and platforms.