Advanced Thermoforming, 2nd Edition

Chapter 35Peel and Reseal

Different thermoform applications require a multitude of semifinished products. In the “good old times” many convenience goods were sold without packaging because suitable packaging materials simply were not available.

Besides sacks, baskets, and leather tubes, bulky clay containers—partly closed by resin‐impregnated textiles—and wooden barrels were for centuries the only transport containers that were used, not only for oil and wine but also for grain, sugar, and salt.¹ The clay containers were bulky, heavy, and easily breakable. At that time the packaging offered mostly inadequate protection against deterioration and loss through humidity and against exposure to all kinds of vermin, making the flour sifter an important piece of kitchen equipment until the mid‐twentieth century.

Food hygiene was subject to many hazards. As transport and storage containers were heavy and expensive, this resulted in a standard offer of foodstuffs that cannot in the least be compared to today’s diversity of goods. Fresh fruit and vegetables could be sold only in the respective seasons.

Today approximately 90% of all foodstuffs are bought in the supermarket. The reasons are obvious: approximately 50 years of fast means of transport, refrigeration, suitable packaging materials, and in particular plastic packaging materials have revolutionized the way in which we transport, buy, and sell goods. More and more families are living in cities, and families are getting smaller. ...