Helping cheese producer Elcor increase sales and eliminate plastic

Innovative corrugated tray improves cooling and cuts plastic use

Smurfit Westrock collaborated with Argentinian cheese producer Elcor to develop a corrugated, self-assembling pyramid-style tray featuring sloping walls that enhance internal air convection, significantly improving cooling. The sustainable solution eliminated the use of plastic crates, reduced operating and cooling times, and ultimately tripled Elcor’s product sales.

The Challenge

Elcor, a cheese producer in Argentina had an issue with keeping their processed cheese pots cool. They were using plastic trays to transport the cheese through the production process, which then had to be packed and palletised before sending them out to store. Our challenge was to develop a cardboard tray that replaced the use of plastic trays and optimised their cooling times.

The Approach

Working closely with Elcor we developed a corrugated self-assembling pyramid-based tray. It was designed with sloping walls that generate air channels to improve convection inside to help cool the products quickly and effectively.

The Result

The 100% sustainable solution allowed the customer to significantly reduce operating and cooling times as well as replacing plastic crates. Elcor upgraded its production line to increase capacity which led to product sales tripling. Our new pack enabled them to smoothly facilitate this growth. The new packaging innovation was also applied to various packs of processed cheese.