SOCOJARS 1 INTRODUCTION WHY HASNT THE FOOD MARKET

SOCO-JARS 1

INTRODUCTION WHY HASN’T THE FOOD MARKET EXPERIENCED THE CHANGE THAT HAS ALREADY OCCURED IN THE BEVERAGES MARKET: THE SUBSTITUTION OF THE GLASS JARS WITH THE PET JARS? Until today, these were the main problems blocking this evolution: 1. Insufficient oxigen to guarantee a shelf life of the product for longer than 12 months 2. Insufficient resistance to the Hot Filling process 2

THE INNOVATION Socoplas, with its new. SOCO-JARS prodution line has solved both problems with a solution that involves raw materials, a new production process and a perfect packaging design. Let’s have a look at the numbers: Oxigen barrier of about 0, 1 PPM/Year Hot filling resistance of up to 90° C (194° F) depending on the technology chosen (we can provide the precise technology to suit the customers needs) High vaccum resistance Great clearance/transparency Low ecological impact and great recyclable packaging (we can achieve the oxygen barrier with only one layer) The cost is very competitive 3

ACTUAL ALTERNATIVE ON THE MARKET AND RELATIVE ADVANTAGE /DISADVANTAGE Glass packaging Advantages: 1. Great clarity 2. Great heat resistance 3. Great vaccum resistance Disadvantages: 1. Heavy weight 2. Fragile 3. High risk of micro splinters 4. Low resistance to “termic jumps” 5. Glass suppliers price policy not always very “transparent” 6. High logistic costs 7. Low possibility to play with various shapes and colors 4

Tetrapack Packaging Advantages: 1. 2. 3. 4. Low weight Unbreakable Sufficent oxygen barrier Great Opportunity for graphic decorations Well known technology Disadvantages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Few shapes Low commercial appeal (low ability to personalize) Not an ergonomic packaging Not a clear packaging Low recyclability (layers are made with different materials) 5

Packaging Coestruded Polypropilene (COEX) Advantages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Good heat resistance Unbreakable Allows to have both jar/bottle and cap in plastic (mono-packaging) Low weight Allows to play with shapes and decorations Disadvantages: 1. Low clarity 2. Low recyclability due to the different layers in the Coex (for example Polypropylene with EVOH or NYLON) 3. The cost is normally higher than glass 6

Packaging in CO-INJECTED PET Advantages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Sufficient clarity Good oxygen barrier Allows to play with shapes and colors Unbreakable Allows to have both jar/bottle and cap in plastic (mono-packaging) Low weight Possibility of “in-house” production with the relative logistic cost savings (less used storage space of the incoming preform compared with the other empty packaging) and better hot filling performance. Disadvantages: 1. Low heat resistance 2. High cost (normally higher than glass) 3. Problems during an industrial production with the costant distribution of the oxigen barrier along the jar/bottle profile (since it is a stretched multi -layer, the thickness of the nylon layer can not be constant along the shape of the bottle/jar and this could bring an unexpected oxigen input with a reflection on the products shelf life) 4. Low clarity 5. High cost of production machines 6. Low recyclability due to the different layer in the Coex (for example Polypropylene with EVOH or NYLON) 7

Packaging in Monolayer PET BARRIER (SOCO-JARS) Advantages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Good clarity Great oxygen barrier Monolayer product (good recyclability) Low cost Allows to play with shapes and colors Unbreakable Possibility to have both jar/bottle and cap in plastic (mono-packaging) Low weight Possibility of “in-house” production with the relative logistic cost savings (less used storage space of the incoming preform compared with the other empty packaging) and better hot filling performance. 10. Possibility to create Marketing campaing based on the good “environmental friendly” aspect of this packaging compared with the others (good LCA, good “carbon foodprint”. . etc) Disadvantages: 1. Low heat resistance 2. Possible shelf life problems with the products that want more than 24 months (to be verified with the product contained) 8

CONSIDERATIONS After all the considerations highlighted above, we have concentrated our development on the single-stage PET mono-layer oxygen barrier bottle/jars. In fact, comparing all the reasons underlined in the previous pages, this is the best compromise in terms of cost, performance, commercial appeal, and innovation amongst all the current possible packaging types/styles. We have therefore developed a complete know how on this kind of packaging solution with special attention on: 1. Oxygen barrier and shelf life performance 2. Interaction on the product-packaging 3. Integration with the existing filling line by the customer with the aim of minimizing the necessary adaptive modifications going from the glass jar to the SOCO-JAR (also thinking about those lines when we design the jar/bottle) 4. Hot filling and its implications during and after the filling process 5. Exploiting all the possible alternatives between the old and the new packaging in order to realize additional cost savings and functional implementations. 9

LET’S SEE EACH POINT IN DETAIL: 1. Barrier property Performance of the Socoplas barrier PET compared with the other barrier PET on the current market 10

Performance of the Socoplas’ barrier PET at 489 days 11

With an oxygen permeability of 0, 1 PPM/Year out PET is today the transparent plastic material, mono-layer, that offers the best shelf life in the world of packaging and its cost is very attractive !! 2. Interaction product-Packaging Our project is not just limited to this. During the creation of the new packaging, we considered, all the possible oxygen sources in order to adapt the new packaging to the REAL needs of the customer, and on the other hand to avoid useless costs. We have therefore developed specific forms in order to collect all the necessary information from the customer and create the “perfect fit” packaging. Exploitting all the possibilities offered by the plastic packaging, we are able to study together with the customer, the best solution in terms of respect for the function that the package has to accomplish and in terms of obtaining the best logistical cost savings. 12

3. Integration with the actual filling line After verifing our ideas with the first projects, we can affirm without any doubt, that the substitution of the glass packaging with our PET packaging need very few adjustments on the existing filling line by the customer. Of course this also depends on the type of product. In detail: 1. Cold filling line: in this case the line doesn’t need any change. The only point that needs to be verified is the closing belt of the capping machine in case of twist off cap. 2. Hot filling line: the main modification here could be in putting two “twisters” to put the jar upside down just after the filling and to bring it again in the original position at the end of the line (this is in case that the customer chooses this system to avoid pasteurization. Of course what we specify in point 1 regarding the capping machine is also valid here). 13

4. Hot Filling This part of the project, together with the oxygen barrier, has been the most challenging part for our R&D. Today we have reached a good standard enough so that we can guarantee an industrial production. Nevertheless we haven’t stopped our research and we are still developing and testing ways and new solutions in order to reach an even higher termal resistance for our packaging. This is in fact a very complex matter. The resistance to the heat and the vacuum come as a consequence of the hot filling, it depends not only on the material but also on the packaging design, packaging wall thickness and the production process. If we want to give an ideal standard value, we can try to create 2 macro families based on the production process: 4. a Single-stage Process 4. B Two-stage Process 14

4. a Single-stage Process In this process the same machine creates the PET PREFORM and blows it. So the customer receives a jar/bottle already formed. This technology is specially indicated for medium-small production (ideally under 8 -10 milion pieces/year). An advantage linked to this technology is represented by the fact that it’s possible to create different versions of the same bottle/jar with a very low cost (just maintaining the same mouth and weight). The maximun hot filling temperature reachable with this technology is about 85° C (185 °F). Of course this is just an indication, because it can depend on the kind of product, filling line, time of permanence at that temperature, bottle/jar dimension…etc) 15

4. B Two-stage Process In this process the production of the PET PREFORM and the Blowing station (that trasform the preform in the final bottle/jar) happen in two different machines. Generally the preform is produced by the supplier factory, while the blowing station is attached at the customers filling line. This is the same technology (with some special modification of course) used in the mineral water, sodas and juice market and is particularly indicated in the big production (let’s say over 8 -10 milion pieces/year) and for the high speed filling line. This process also creates a great saving in logistic costs in terms of empty packaging storage. In this case the customer can store only the preform and not the already formed bottle/jar with and save space. Our technology moreover has been created in a way that the oxygen barrier will be activated only when the preform is blown, so the customer can store the preform for the period that he needs without any problems in terms of packaging performance. This is why we call this process IN-HOUSE PRODUCTION. We will in this case install a blowing machine linked at the customers filling line (with a very small modification of the filling line). Our company will take care of everything that comes before the customers filling line! This means that we will provide not only the machines but also the people to run the machines and we will relocate the bottle/jars output with your filling line speed. This technology is also well indicated for all those products that need a hot filling temperature higher than 85° C (185° F). In fact with this process we can reach the 90° C (194° F). Moreover with this technology we the jar/bottle arrives to the 16 filling line pratically sterile.

5. Logistic Saving Last but not least, we have the possibility to create additional savings in this field by working togheter with the customer already in the packaging design phase. In detail: 1. “Stackbility”: “Stackbility” starting with a new project we have the possibility to interact with the customer analysing his actual logistic and starage system in order to find the best solution in terms of “lateral combining” (for example at the level of every single pallet to maximize the number of pieces per pallet) and “vertical combining” (for example studing the necessary vertical charge in order to exloiting all the vertical space in the warehouse). 2. Weight: our PET barrier packaging weights less then all the other packaging! In particular compared with the glass packaging we can consider it an average weight of the PET packaging of 1/6 of the glass packaging weight! This is particularly important for the transportation of the filled packaging because with the glass jars/bottles often the weight limit of the truck is reached before the volume limit. This means that with a single truck I can transport much more product with a positive impact on the transportation cost (in the same case we verified savings between 20 and 30%). 3. Unbreakable: Unbreakable the typical characteristics of the plastic packaging was one of the first reason for the change in the past from the glass packaging to the plastic packaging. It’s easy to consider all the savings of having no-broken packages in the warehouse throughout the year. 4. Portability: Portability in case of the above mentioned two-stage process, we also added an other transportation advantage because instead of transporting a heavy already formed glass bottle/jar we trasport only a PET preform. So with the same truck you can transport 30. 00040. 000 bottles of 1 liter or 700. 000 – 800. 000 preform. 17

For the above explained reasons, our company and our Team is now ready to offer all the advantages and cost savings that pushed the beverage market to move from glass to PET in the past to the food market. This project started in 2006 with the aim of solving those technical problems that were blocking the entry to the food market. Today we can proudly say that we did it. Our Team is able to create a PET packaging mono-layer that can substitute the glass in the solid food market. We interact with the customers in order to create the best possible packaging solution for THEIR NEEDS. We don’t treat this matter as a standard packaging, but we “model” the creation of the packaging on the REAL NEEDS of the customer in all the phases: from the packaging drawing until the possible modification of the filling line of the customer or the In-House production. We also have with an exclusivity contract, one of the most experienced Food Specialist of Italy. He comes from with a long record of experience in the R&D department of two of the biggest italian Food Companies. With his experience and know-how we are able to work together with the customer on the interaction between packaging and product so we can also solve the Microbacterial issue. In simple terms: we take care of everything! 18

We think that this packaging innovation is not only offers new savings, but also increases the always important Marketing opportunities. You will be able to propose to the market a packaging solution that is responding on all the most actualneeds of the customers, specially in term of SAFETY (unbreakable packaging, absence of splinters in the food…etc. . etc) and in term of ECOSUSTAINABILITY (inferior LCA, less Carbon Footprint, complete and easy recyclability of the entire packaging. . etc…etc). Like with all innovations, we also believe that the first Food Company that uses this new packaging will obtain an important competitive advantage! 19

PROJECT TIMING PRELIMINARY VERIFICATION: Collect all the information from the customer CREATION OF THE PILOT MOLD: 45 days CREATION OF THE DEFINITIVE MOLD: 90 days for approval of the Pilot Mold samples PRODUCTION: One week from arrival of the definitive mold 20

PROJECT LEADER Dott. Marco Petrini Socoplas S. p. a. Strada Savonesa, 8 15057 Tortona – AL Tel. +39 0131879555 r. a. Fax. +39 0131879565 Mail: marco@socoplas. it 21