Luxe Pack 2021: Quadpack breaks ground in cosmetic bottle customization with Canvas Airless

27 Sep 2021 --- Beauty packaging manufacturer Quadpack is showcasing its new airless product family with “never-before-seen shapes” for cosmetics packaging. The new Canvas Airless range allows custom shapes with minimum lead time and uses 15% less plastic. 

Quadpack is currently exhibiting its Canvas Airless product family at Luxe Pack 2021, hosted in Monaco, from September 27-29 at booth RB10. 

“Airless packaging allows consumers to use nearly all of the formula; no more squeezing or scooping to get out that last bit of product,” Pierre-Antoine Henry, head of market development at Quadpack, tells PackagingInsights.

Canvas Airless provides a “blank canvas” for creative design – one mold provides for a wide array of shapes and enables greater freedom of expression, supports the company. 

Brands can choose oval, square, convex, concave and other forms – all without additional outlay or time delay. Henry further highlights cosmetics companies are looking to customization as a means of expressing their brand identities, but customization also needs to become accessible and personal.

“Inclusivity [is a major trend inspiring customized bottles], as there is a growing desire for not only self-expression, but also showcased individuality, both among consumers and beauty brands,” Henry explains.

“In terms of trends, brands need to build their equity through their story, their purpose and of course their products. On-shelf differentiation, in addition to the digital need to pass on an impactful message that can be shown through the product, is driving the need for ultra-customization.”

Preforms are bi-injection molded at Quadpack’s airless manufacturing center in Germany, before being blown in a single pass at point of sale in the desired shape.How to customize
For brands, custom shapes in airless bottles are “often impossible” or “out of reach” in terms of investment and time, says Henry. 

“With Canvas Airless, we have addressed these areas by providing an accessible solution that can be developed much quicker and with a much lower investment compared with the use of a bespoke injection mold.”

The company’s bag-in-bottle was developed with its technology partner Inotech. “Unlike piston-based systems, the interior pouch adapts to the final shape, so brands are free to choose the shape that best expresses their identity,” Henry details. 

“Shape customization does not exist for single-wall piston airless,” he adds. “What is customized is the decoration, the cap or even the actuator, but never the shape of the single-wall bottle.”

All in the materials
Airless packaging prevents formulas from coming into contact with air before being dispensed, thereby protecting them from oxidization and external contamination. 

“It is ideal for beauty brands with natural or organic products as it reduces the need for artificial preservatives while extending shelf life. It also enables formulas with strong actives while preserving their full potency,” Henry explains.

For hair care and body care products, airless packs work at a 360-degree angle, which means the bottles can be used sideways or upside down.

Canvas Airless performs at an average restitution rate of 97%. Airless packaging comes in piston-based and pouch-based formats. 

“Our new Canvas Airless is closer to the latter, produced with our patented bag-in-bottle technology. We also favor recyclable materials like PET and LLDPE, and other post-consumer recycled materials without the need for them to be food grade, as they don’t have to be in contact with the formula.”

Quadpack’s sustainability strides
Alongside its airless portfolio, Quadpack is currently working on monomaterial airless packaging, as well as refill formats. 

Henry previously spoke with PackagingInsights when Quadpack partnered with Sulapac to develop a biodegradable jar for i+m’s deodorant cream.

In August, the Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, Spain, collaborated for the fourth consecutive year with Quadpack. Throughout the partnership, the company employed several graduates and acquired the rights to develop “the most outstanding concepts.” 

By Anni Schleicher