Cincinnati, Ohio-based ProAmpac, a flexible packaging leader, has partnered with the Clemson University Department of Food, Nutrition and Packaging Sciences to support the company’s commitment to leading the industry in developing smart food packaging.
“ProAmpac is committed to leading the industry in developing smart packaging technologies,” said Hesam Tabatabaei, VP of product development and innovation. “Smart packaging is a fast-growing packaging innovation, which can promote both food safety and food shelf life; and, within the food segment, seeks to protect food from harmful bacteria and virus contamination to prolong product freshness.”
With the partnership, ProAmpac is working with Clemson’s Kay Cooksey, professor and Cryovac endowed chair of the Food, Nutrition and Packaging Sciences Department within the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. Recognized as an expert in the fields of food safety, shelf life and active packaging, her lab will provide testing capabilities critical to the smart-packaging mission of extending shelf-life and promoting food safety.
“I am very excited about this partnership. I have worked in the field of active and intelligent packaging for over 25 years and it is a pleasure to work with a company so committed to advancing this field,” said Cooksey.
The university support is being integrated with ProAmpac’s Product Development and Innovation teams. ProAmpac is expanding research, adding personnel, purchasing equipment and building a new collaboration and innovation center that will serve as the company’s international hub for packaging design and development.
Clemson’s food science and packaging expertise complements polymer-science and application development engineering capabilities provided by the Polytechnique Montréal. Last year, ProAmpac announced a five-year extension of its R&D alliance partnership with Polytechnique Montréal for its Sustainable, Safe and Smart Polymer Flexible Packaging program operated by the university’s Department of Chemical Engineering, chaired by Professor Abdellah Ajji.
To learn more about ProAmpac’s smart packaging capabilities, contact Samuel J. Kessler, innovation engineer for active and intelligent packaging.
