Ainsley Harriott Brand Soups Get A Boost From Chadwicks Packaging

By Alec Italiano, contributing writer

Breakthrough packaging technology allows soup a year-long shelf life

The Ainsley Harriott brand just received an upgrade to its packaging design, allowing the company’s soups a shelf life of up to 12 months. This is the first time soup packaged in a tub container has been able to maintain such a long shelf-life. This is all thanks to an innovative packaging solution from Clondalkin Group, a company of Chadwicks, specializing in flexible packaging solutions in the food, dairy, beverage, and pharmaceutical sectors.

This tub design package features UV flexo foil equipped with a doubled recessed lid, allowing for soup to be filled at extremely high temperatures.  As the soup cools, the container’s lid contracts, creating a very tight vacuum. This lets the soup have the look and taste of fresh soup all throughout the period of one year. The innovation also puts Ainsley Harriott in a couple of new markets. The innovative packaging puts the company’s soup in a position to compete with items in the fresh section of the supermarket along with entering the market currently dominated by canned soup.

Initially, when the package was being developed, engineers were having trouble with the tub becoming distorted during the cooling process. Symington’s, the parent company of the Ainsley Harriott brand, turned to Chadwicks for a solution to their problem. Chadwicks was able to immediately identify issues in the process and introduced the “Top Hat” lid which provides an extra layer of air. This extra air creates the space needed for the lid to contract during the cooling process as opposed to the container itself shrinking.

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