Hormel Foods 2

Paper Tape for Corrugated Containers

Company Background
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural Choice®, Applegate®, Justin’s®, Wholly®, Hormel® Black Label®, Columbus®, Happy Little Plants® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the “Global 2000 World’s Best Employers” list by Forbes magazine for three straight years, is one of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “The 100 Best Corporate Citizens” list for 11 years in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts.

As a leading corporate citizen, Hormel Foods has a strong supply chain program that explores best practices in environment, water, energy and impact throughout its supply chain, which includes a network of farm partners, including pork, beef, turkey and chicken producers. The company has made significant progress specifically related to climate and energy conservation.

Open Innovation Challenge
Create a self-wound paper (fiber) based adhesive tape that is recyclable with the corrugated containers it is intended to seal and does not require water to activate.

Reason for Seeking External Innovation Partnership
While there are paper based tape systems available today, most require specialized wetting systems that are not designed to work in our automated case taping systems that we utilize in our plants.  The paper based tapes are generally used in ambient environments, and not in refrigerated/frozen environments with high levels of humidity.  The biggest challenge we foresee lies in the development of paper and adhesive system that is able to withstand our plant conditions and hold up to our distribution system. Whatever system is created, it must be recyclable in the fiber stream at the material recovery facilities (MRF’s).

Scope of Solution Space

  • Fully recyclable
  • Self-wound
  • Conducive to different plant environments
  • Can run on existing box taping equipment
  • Comparable in cost to poly tapes (i.e. BOPP)

Innovation Solutions Not of Interest

  • Funding proposals

Proposal Response Date Deadline   
August 28, 2020

Website Link  
https://www.hormelfoods.com/ or  www.boldopenmn.com

Contact Information    
boldopen@auri.org 

In 1891, George A. Hormel founded Hormel Foods in Austin, Minn. While we are proud of those small-town roots, we are excited as we continue to bring our iconic products to the global market. For more than 125 years, Hormel Foods has brought innovation, beloved brands and outstanding value to our consumers, customers, communities and shareholders. We are proud of this milestone but are motivated by our future. We remain focused on our purpose statement: Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ by building on our founder’s legacy of innovation, quality and integrity.