EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL PACKAGING: TYPES AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

What are the main characteristics of a good container for our Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)?

• Its material should be inert to the content.

• It should have barrier properties to prevent air (oxygen) from entering.

• It should have barrier properties to block light.

• It should allow the cap to function in sealing tightly.

• Its production should have a small carbon footprint.

• It should be recyclable.

• It should be easy to handle.

What types of containers exist and what are their characteristics?

Bag-In-Box Container

Bag-In-Box is a term that refers to a bag inside a box. The Bag-In-Box container consists of a cardboard box and a bag. The bag is made up of one or more layers of thermoplastic material suitable for the characteristics of the product contained and a valve/tap at the bottom that facilitates dispensing. Its quality for EVOO is based on two very important technical features: it is the only container that prevents air from entering once opened and it blocks light.

Foto Cartobol

The bag wrinkles as it creates a vacuum inside (absence of air) while we extract the liquid. Bag-In-Box with polyethylene bags is not recommended for packaging EVOO due to the high air permeability of this plastic. It is recommended for oil packaging to use bags made of EVOH or with a double layer, with the inner layer made of polyethylene and the outer layer made of EVOH. EVOH is a thermoplastic polymer with very low air (oxygen) permeability. It has been confirmed that, in open packages for household consumption, the EVOO preserved in Bag-In-Box maintains the quality of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for a longer time. In the case of packages stored under shelf conditions, Bag-In-Box and cans are the only ones that maintain the Extra Virgin category after three months.

Classic Bag in Box Container

Its characteristics are:

• It is opaque to light and impermeable to oxygen.
• It prevents air from entering once opened.
• It is an excellent container for preserving the quality of EVOO.
• Large printing surface to incorporate mandatory, promotional, and voluntary information

There are different volume formats for household and restaurant or industrial use. While, like Tetra Brik, its industrial image has limited its use in high-quality oils, it is a magnificent container. It is the container that best preserves the quality of EVOO from the time of packaging to consumption. Its cardboard part is easily recyclable, but on the other hand, the bag is not recyclable.

Bag-in-Tube Container

It is another design of the Bag-In-Box family. It consists of a compact cardboard tube with two lids that can be metallic. The tube contains a suitable double-layer bag, and the liquid is dispensed through a high-performance Vitop tap. Its properties are:

• It is opaque to light and impermeable to oxygen.
• It preserves the oil very well, just like Bag-In-Box.
• It prevents air from entering once opened.
• It has good resistance to stacking and transportation.
• Available in a wide range of sizes from 1.5L to 5L.
• Bag-in-Tube uses high-quality Offset printing, allowing for customization of the container.
• Large surface area to incorporate mandatory, promotional, and voluntary information.
• Also, the handle at the top makes it easy to carry.
• Easy to dose.
• Its cardboard part is easily recyclable, but its bag, if it's multi-layered, is not easily recyclable.

Doy-Pack Container

Its properties are:

• Self-supporting plastic bag.

• Opaque to light.

• Impermeable to oxygen.

• Preserves the oil quality very well.

• Large printing surface, to include mandatory, promotional, and voluntary information.

• Easy to handle, with handle and tap.

• If the bag is made of multiple layers and various types of plastic, recycling is very complicated.

Tin Container

The material of the tin container is tinplate, which is a flat rolled product made of low-carbon steel (0.03-0.13%), coated on both sides with a layer of tin. This combination of materials combines the mechanical strength and formability of steel with the corrosion resistance and good appearance of tin. As a clarification, steel is an alloy of iron and carbon in different proportions. The layers of tin are given a coating of varnish. Varnishes and coatings play an important role in protecting the metal container from the product and vice versa, as well as in enhancing the container's appearance for the consumer.

We should know that not all metals are suitable for preserving oil. In the case of tin containers, they are one of the most suitable packaging for EVOO due to their opacity to light and air, and their very suitable mechanical strength for international transportation. Its properties are:

• Opaque to light.

• Impermeable to oxygen.

• Very good mechanical strength.

• Large printing surface, to incorporate mandatory, promotional, and voluntary information.

• Easily recyclable and can be recycled multiple times.

Tetra Brik Container

It is a good container for preserving the organoleptic properties and quality of EVOO. The Tetra Brik is a multi-layer container composed of three different materials: cardboard, polyethylene plastic, and aluminum. These materials are arranged in 5 overlapping layers: 3 layers of polyethylene, 1 layer of aluminum, and 1 layer of high-quality Kraft paper (virgin cellulose). Its characteristics are:

• Opaque to light.

• Impermeable to oxygen.

• Good mechanical strength.

• Multi-material container difficult to recycle due to its multiple layers.

• Optimizes space due to its shape.

• Allows extensive and high-quality printing.

Glass Container

Possibly the container that consumers consider the most distinguished for use with high-quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil packaging. It is widely used with very eye-catching and attractive designs. However, it is not the best container for preserving EVOO. It is essential for the glass to be opaque or have some kind of treatment that filters the light in order to preserve the oil in the best way possible. Although in many cases, we see it packaged with transparent glass to showcase the product, this implies that consumption should not exceed two months if you want to avoid significant quality loss due to auto-oxidation. We can say that, to preserve the intrinsic properties of EVOO under supermarket shelf conditions, the quality starts to degrade after two months. The properties of glass are:

• Allows attractive designs.

• Pleasant to the touch.

• Recyclable multiple times.

• Expensive price, becomes more costly if the design is sophisticated and exclusive.

• Fragile during transportation, requires expensive and resistant packaging.

• High carbon footprint, recycles well and multiple times.

Ceramic Container

We have previously mentioned the known attractiveness that a good design can have at the time of purchase, and ceramic containers fulfill that requirement. However, it is not a suitable container for preserving the quality properties of EVOO. Its properties are:

• Opaque to light.

• Not completely impermeable to oxygen.

• Fragile.

• Requires sturdy packaging.

• Artisanal appearance.

• Attractive design.

• Expensive.

• Widely used container in the gourmet EVOO market.

PET Container

It is not a suitable container for storing a product with high organoleptic quality, such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil, if it is going to have a commercial life of more than three months under the light conditions of a supermarket shelf. Its characteristics are:

• Not transparent to light.

• Not completely impermeable to oxygen.

• Lightweight and unbreakable.

• EVOO requires rapid consumption to minimize oxidation (rancidity).

• Can only be recycled a couple of times.

• Hardly biodegradable.

• Universal symbols to distinguish the type of plastic are usually engraved on the bottom of the container.

Polyethylene Container

Not recommended as a container for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.