A baby food closure designed specifically for the Asian market has received an award at the Dairy Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore.

The 127 SAFE-TE flip-top closure by United Caps will be produced at the company’s Kulim, Malaysia plant from September 2020 and will be available in 127mm, with a 99mm solution in the pipeline.

The closure features a tamper-evident band with a ‘drop down’ lock and a contamination-free foil-sealed chamber to protect the scoop until use.

“With its rapidly increasing population and emerging middle-class consumers, Asia has the highest growth in demand for milk and dairy products in the world and an expanding appetite for health and wellness solutions,” said Adhi Lukman, chairman of the Indonesia Food and Beverage Association (GAPMMI). “This includes a demand for safety, convenience and a premium look in baby food packaging.”

Benoit Henckes, chief executive of United Caps, said: “Not only does the 127 SAFE-TE closure address concerns about product purity, but it also includes effective security solutions and a more premium look, both of which are important to consumers in the Asian market. It builds on popular PROTECSCOOP features – ease of preparation, scoop hygiene and more – while adding a tamper-evident feature with our Flexband technology and ‘drop down’ lock. At the same time, it only requires very minor changes to existing capping/filling lines, important for infant nutrition manufacturers, for whom extensive changes can be very expensive and time consuming.”