(PRWEB) March 10, 2006 -- Stick packaging is compact, travel friendly, good for anywhere/anytime, and easy to open with superior product characteristics. So why did it take nearly 30 years for it to become a mainstream package/product factor in the US?

Japan-based Sanko Machinery Co., Ltd. developed stick packaging in the mid-1970s.

In 1996, US based T.H.E.M. (Technical Help in Engineering and Marketing), which specialized in providing innovative packaging solutions to food, beverage and healthcare marketers in the US, contacted Sanko. Things then began to happen slowly.

Between 1997 and 2000, a handful of stick pack introductions took hold in North America, including sugar, sweetener, soluble coffee, and infant formula. In 1998, General Mills (Yoplait®) introduced “grab and go” yogurt in a tube. By 2003, Sanko had a US-based representative; machinery could fill 90 cycles/minute across up to 26 lanes; US consumers were realizing that stick packs were not just for dry, powder confectionery applications; a major contract packaging network existed; major US converters had qualified economical lamination structures to run on Sanko machinery; and one US converter acquired the license for easy open film technology.

The ultimate potential for stick packaging commercialization then resided in the hands of the consumer. And one of those hands increasingly held something vitally important to the stick pack’s success; a bottle of water.

But, Sanko and the stick pack’s US success was not just luck. Commercialization of any new innovation in the US markets requires:

-    RISK MANAGEMENT
-    ‘AMERICANIZATION’
-    CLEAR REASON FOR CHANGE
-    LITERAL VALUE PROPOSITION
-    TIMING
-    TREND/LIFESTYLE
-    PRODUCT ‘DNA’

Lessons learned: Companies can not afford to wait years for investments to be returned on new ideas, and failure to innovate results in extinction.

For information on T.H.E.M.’s products/services, contact:
Neil Kozarsky
President
T.H.E.M.
5A Stow Road
Marlton, NJ 08053
Tel: 856-988-8436, x36
Website: http://www.them.net

For press information, contact:
Ed Delia
Delia Associates
295 Route 22 East, Suite 102W
Whitehouse, NJ 08888
Tel: 908-534-9044
Website: http://www.delianet.com

For the full version of this release and photos, go to http://them.net/Press_Releases/PR-New_Stick_Packaging.html.