International show delivers record attendance and comprehensive scholarships.

Pack Expo International 2006, the most comprehensive packaging trade show in the world’s largest packaging market, delivered 45,741 buyer attendees, up 553 from the 2004 show. The show saw increases in all attendance levels, including buyers, exhibitors and international attendees. In addition, the number of exhibiting companies and net square footage increased over 2004.

The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI) and Pack Expo exhibitors raised $127,050 to support packaging education, surpassing the announced goal of $100,000. The campaign was designed to provide packaging schools across the United States and Canada with financial grants.

PMMI created two Pack Expo Scholarship Funds to which companies and individuals could donate funds:

Pack Expo Scholarship General Fund — Contributions to this fund were distributed evenly among schools that have a packaging curriculum focus and exhibit at Pack Expo. The schools will be asked to name a student recipient. In 2006, 19 packaging schools divided up $107,050 in financial support, with $35,000 being designated to 2-year technical schools through the Claude Breeden and C. Glenn Davis scholarship programs.

Pack Expo Scholarship Designated Gift Fund — Companies or individuals who donated $5,000 or more to the Pack Expo Scholarship effort were able to designate a specific school to which the funds they provided would be directed. $20,000 was designated to specific schools from four sponsors companies.

“Working together, PMMI and the Pack Expo exhibitor community made a strong commitment to the future of the industry through financial aid,” says Charles Yuska, PMMI president and chief executive officer. “Because of their support, hundreds of students will be able to further their education and become packaging professionals.”

PMMI underwrote all of the marketing and development efforts to ensure that 100 percent of the funds raised would be donated directly to schools to benefit students.

Pack Expo Scholarship recipients were announced and honored at the Future Packaging Leaders luncheon during the show.  

Product and promotion news
Attention Sabres fans! There’s a new flavor in the Sabres’ lineup — Buffalo Sabres Top Shelf Sundae. Perry’s Ice Cream, Buffalo’s regional ice cream company located in Akron, N.Y., has launched its latest flavor. Top Shelf Sundae, which boasts its very own “hat trick” with swirls of thick fudge, fudge coated cone pieces and chopped peanuts, is packaged in an eye-catching container donned in Sabres colors, including the team’s new logo. Not only can fans indulge to show their team spirit, they can also help the local community with every purchase of Top Shelf Sundae. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the ice cream will benefit the Buffalo Sabres Foundation, a non-profit foundation that is committed to enhancing the quality of life across the Western New York region.  

The message from the Orthodox Union Kosher Division is as clear as it can be: “Managing Your Account Has Never Been Simpler.” The source of this management wizardry is www.oudirect.org, the new six-part Web site designed to provide a vast amount of information to companies certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. OU companies are issued a user name and password to enable them to log on to the system, and use of the site is free. “The OU’s philosophy regarding kashrut certification is to make it as user-friendly as possible,” says Rabbi Moshe Elefant, chief operating officer of OU Kosher. “Our goal is to provide the kosher marketplace, in all of its aspects, with the recognition that the simpler we make the process — without compromising our high standards — the easier it will be to have more kosher products available. As a result, we spent a lot of effort and resources into creating this program.”

What’s the Scoop? Café, Bangor, Maine’s newest ice cream/coffee shop, and Bangor Radiator, founded in 1929, have united to offer customers a unique combination.  Michael and Tammy Cormier, founders of Bangor Radiator and What’s the Scoop, have taken the simple trip of getting an oil change and sweetened it with a chance to pick up an ice cream cone, all at one convenient location. Beginning as a humble radiator repair facility, Bangor Radiator was started nearly 80 years ago and is currently in its third generation of ownership. Over the years, Bangor Radiator has grown into a full-service auto repair shop complemented by a new affiliation with Valvoline. What’s the Scoop, founded in 2006, offers Bangor’s only frozen-slab ice cream and elegant coffee selections. Customers can select from flavors such as Grease Monkey, inspired by the repair shop, or create their own customized mix-in concoctions.

HP Hood has unveiled its newest ice cream flavor — Freedom Trail Mix, created by Maine resident Charles Cannone. The ice cream features chocolate-covered peanuts, sunflower seeds and pretzels in honey nut ice cream swirled with caramel. The Chelsea, Mass.-based processor partnered with six New England tourism groups to launch the “Taste of New England” Flavor-Naming Contest. Residents from all over New England were invited to send in creative names and ingredient suggestions. After reviewing 1,000 entries, Freedom Trail Mix was chosen as the winner and will be available for purchase in grocery stores starting in March. A portion of the sales will be donated to the Freedom Trail Foundation, the non-profit organization that markets and preserves the historic Freedom Trail in Boston.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary year of its flagship import, Jarlsberg Cheese, Stamford, Conn.-based Norseland Inc. has named two noteworthy winners of its recent 50th celebratory promotional campaign. The first, Select Trade Sales brokerage, increased its base business an impressive 73 percent by means of highly creative point-of-sale (POS) activities including massive Jarlsberg displays, designing and executing successful merchandiser contests. The reward is a 7-day luxury cruise for two around the Hawaiian Islands on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of Aloha. The second winner was a consumer via the company’s Jarlsberg 50th Anniversary POS Sweepstakes. This grand-prize winner in the consumer sweepstakes, selected in a random drawing by an independent auditor, is Martha Loeffel of Ocala, Fla., who will receive a similar cruise for two in Hawaii.