A breath of fresh air

Alexir Partnership, British carton converter, came up with the award-winning design for Peppersmith, a premium confectionery company specialising in mints and gums. The need for the packaging arose when Boots, the high-street chemist with over 2,500 stores nationwide, wanted to stock Peppersmith mints but had no shelf space available.

A plastic clip strip that would hang from existing shelves seemed like the obvious solution but with Peppersmith priding itself on the naturalness of its brand and products this was out of the question. For a product that is often an impulse purchase, Peppersmith wanted packaging that would help their mints stand out.

Alexir’s designers came up with a clip strip made out of cartonboard for Peppersmith. “It is actually quite difficult to do,” says Alexir’s Marketing Manager, Claire Summersby. “And as far as we know, ours is the first clip strip made of cartonboard on the market.” The mint box nestles neatly in its slot and is secured on all sides. “It is a flat printed sheet with perforations which allow it to be creased in such a way that it becomes a staircase of mint boxes,” Summersby says. “It is a clever design.”

Clive Mowbray, Alexir’s Commercial Manager, says Billerud cartonboard fit the bill perfectly.  “We needed a board with good strength and rigidity that would help make an excellent finished product.
” We also needed it to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to fit with Peppersmith’s values. Billerud cartonboard always gives a consistent and predictable result.

Peppersmith’s co-founder Dan Shrimpton says: “What we really like about Billerud cartonboard is that it looks bright and fresh, is of a high quality and is sustainably sourced, all reflecting our brand.”

The Peppersmith clip strip has picked up a string of prizes. It won the Bronze Star Award in Structural Design at the Starpack Industry Awards, the Best Cartonboard Packaging category at the UK Packaging Awards and topped the Shelf Ready and Display category at the Pro Carton European Carton Makers Association (ECMA) Awards.

Boots was also happy with the clip strip. “They were really pleased that we’d made such an effort to do something new and innovative for them,” Shrimpton adds. “And sales have been really good too.”

“We needed a board with good strength and rigidity that would help make an excellent finished product.”
Clive Mowbray
Commercial Manager, Peppersmith