By Shadiah Abdullah Al Jabery
FOR parents who were grappling with finding healthy snacks for their kids, here is good news: Tetra Pak, the leading consumable packaging company has entered into collaboration with a Jordanian company to pack hummus, the quintessential Arabic spread.
As a result children in the region can enjoy healthier and gluten free snacks to eat on-the-go. Also parents need not fear that their offspring will not like this new product, as a lot of effort was put to ensure that the product will whet their children’s taste buds. Not only that, but the packaging with its two colorful characters “Hammous and Hammousa will definitely catch children’s attentions.
Speaking about the product on the sidelines of the recently concluded Gulfood Manufacturing 2016, Ziyad Ziyad Al-Jadid, Marketing Manager at Tetra Pak, said this year was a special year for his company.
“We celebrated together with our entrepreneur food manufacturing customer Jordan-based Kasih the first global deployment of the latest filling machine platform and the launch of “ the first food product for kids in Tetra Pak packages.” Hammous and Hammousa “filled in the first packaging material format that can handle high viscous product like hummus globally,” he said. He pointed out that Tetra Pak were happy with their collaboration with Kasih which is serving the cause of making food safe, available and affordable for all consumers.
Khaled Kasih said: “Hammous and Hammousa Hummus is a fun, youth-inspired addition to Kasih company’s already expansive and well-recognized spread of food products that offer customers a variety of convenient options with no compromise on quality, one of the main objectives of Kasih as a people-driven company.”
Hammous and Hammousa, Ziyad said, is a ready-made, easy-to-use, spreadable hummus that is also gluten free, shelf stable, free from preservatives and artificial coloring, and 100% natural. Additionally, the product is rich in vitamins A, B6, B9, B12, C, and D3, making it the perfect, any-time-of-day meal to support the health of growing kids, he added.
He said it took five years for the project to see light. “Kasih approached us five years ago with the idea of the product. The journey took time because this was a product that had not been packaged before,” he explained.
The product had to be developed from many aspects from the content, to the filling, as this was the first time it was being packaged there was need to ensure the right taste, texture and other aspects of the filling were fulfilled, he said. Adding, that the team also worked constantly at tweaking the recipe for the product to get the taste of fresh hummus.
“We have a special marketing services that work closely with our partners to help them achieve their marketing goals of a product,” Ziyad further said.
“Basically we have a journey for the product from an ideation process on the drawing board till the product reaches the shelves, every aspect, communication, from branding, pricing the many phases are covered by Tetra Pak marketing team. Tetrapak is involved in every aspect of ensuring that the product fits into the brand itself and gives added value to the consumer. We basically support our clients in all aspects of creating a successful product,” he pointed out.
About their participation at Gulfood Manufacturing, Abdullah Hassan, Communications Manager of Tetra Pak, said this year they took part under the theme of “Future Ready” with a 570 square meter stand.
“Tetra Pak is the world›s leading food processing and packaging solutions company. It has operations in 49 countries across the region, including offices in Jeddah and Riyadh and a converting plant in Jeddah. We took part in the exhibition to showcase our latest product and service offerings”, said Abdullah.
The company had an interactive ‘Food Island’ area that brought together five key categories to life: Tomato, Cheese, Soups, Yoghurt and Coconut Water. At the stations experts provided insights on the processing, packaging and technical services that are critical to making these products successful. At Tetra Pak’s popular sampling station, visitors had the opportunity to taste trend-setting products from different parts of the world.
Abdullah said Tetra Pak works closely with its customers and suppliers provides safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world.
The company also had a station showcasing its sustainability program. Hussam Nasser, Environment Manager, said the company attempts to minimize any environmental impact across its entire value chain, from sourcing to production to the use and disposal of its products. He pointed out that Tetra Pak works closely with its suppliers and customers to minimize its impact on the environment. This is done mainly though making efficient use of resources, including energy, water and raw materials, he added.
