Take a walk through the butter aisle in your local grocery store and you will see several butter brands packaged in rectangle and “scround” tubs. This space-saving, more stackable design is a big trend with butter and cultured dairy manufacturers, as it allows for more containers to fit on the store shelves and in transit. For consumers, it’s easier to store in their refrigerators, say manufacturers.
Challenge Dairy Products Inc., Dublin, Calif., introduced a lactose-free spreadable butter in a 15-ounce scround tub this summer. The company also uses similar containers for its flavored and spreadable butters.
"The scround packaging concept, originally developed and used throughout Europe, provides benefits to both our customers and consumers," said Greg Schwarz, vice president of Marketing at Dean Foods, Dallas, Texas. "For our customers, the design results in less negative space between packages in the case, on the truck and ultimately on the shelf. The stackability of the scround is a real benefit for retailers as it offers up more space in the already crowded dairy case."
Dean Foods updated its cottage cheese, sour cream and dip packaging last year, going from a standard cup to innovative curved bottom containers with rectangle lids (a scround design, that's easy to stack). Dean Foods, which makes sour cream under the Land O Lakes brand, has a licensing agreement to use the Land O Lakes brand on milk and cultured products. Read more on this packaging update here.
Schwarz said, "Research verified [that] consumers like the stackability and refrigerator features of the package. Additionally, the curved bottom and shallower depth are more convenient for spooning the product. Plus, the packaging is recyclable which underscores our ongoing commitment to be an environmentally responsible company."
Keeping up with the packaging trend, makers of nondairy buttery spreads also updated their tubs.