Category Archives: Packing Supplies

Shopping in the Grocery of 2020

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Looking around things don’t look like they have changed. I look out my backdoor and I still have a yard.  When I go onto my front porch I still see neighbors walking in my neighborhood.  We wave and say hi, but I have noticed a trend. It is almost like its halloween night and everyone is tricker treating.  Everyone is wearing a mask.  The children playing basketball only with their family members, are still wearing masks.  The neighbors from down the block are walking passed my driveway and waving wearing medical masks or home made flannel masks.  COVID-19 has struck and the biggest difference is at stores.

https://youtu.be/bcRslqWC3Ns

Driving anywhere feels like a ghost town.  So many stores are closed and only large chain stores are  allowed  to be open.  The parking lot is packed full of people and there are lines to get into the store.  It is as we went into a communist state.  Lines and people telling you where you can go.  When you get into the store many sections are roped off and you have to tell someone want you want to go get it for you. I don’t see the point if someone is directly going to touch the candy boxes I pick out and ask them to get.  The chance of getting the COVID-19 virus is still the same if the same person who gets my candy boxes give and received to 1000 other people on the same day.  There are rules upon rules for a virus that has barely even effected my area.

 Thousands of people have died from Heart Disease and Cancer in my city in the last week, but they simply don’t matter.  Only the 10 that have been infected by COVID-19 matter.  Nursing homes are losing people to other illnesses at an alarming rate due to their lockdown and people not being allowed to live even a semi normal life.  They are totally alone and away from families and my relatives who are being kept from us are struggling. 

 These are my thoughts as I am walking through the store.  I get back to my car and have hand sanitizers wipes and regular hand sanitizer and go over all of my groceries.  It is honestly hypocritical of me because there is still such a low chance that COVID-19 is on my groceries. There is even less of a chance that it will matter. I am a healthy middle aged male and it would only be like getting the flu. Shopping is no longer fun and I hope things get back to normal fast.

Using the right knife on Cardboard

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A little known fact is that cardboard boxes are very dense. This may sound a little funny but in a way its very obvious.  We use cardboard boxes all the time and in many cases every day.  Look in your pantry and you will see them every where and they are used many times in heavy applications.  This is simply because of the density of cardboard and if you work in a factory or in packaging you may find yourself cutting lots of boxes every single day.  This becomes a problem if you are using cheap knives.  The problem is obvious if you are in the industry, and its because your knife is always dull. So how do you choose the proper knife to work in a factory?

The answer is complicated and yet simple.  Stop buying the most inexpensive knife you see that looks cool.  Yes, it may have a great looking design on the handle or blade, but most likely it is made from the lowest bidder and out of the least expensive materials.  Instead look for a brand name that is known in the knife industry.  Yes the knife industry, not the sporting goods industry.  So this means you actually need to do a little research.  Brands are not country of origan specific either.  Some of the best knife brands come from China, because they use quality materials and craftsmanship.  Look for brands like, Benchamde, Spyderco, We Knives.  These are the most known brands in the knife industry and starting with a high quality brand means most likely you will be getting a better knife.  Now the actual steel on the knife is important. It actually will be what determines how often you need to sharpen your knife if you do the same task each day.

Ask yourself an important question. Do I work in wet conditions. If the answer is yes, then you will most likely want a stainless steel.  Now remember, all steel rusts. Stainless, means it stains less quickly or rusts less quickly than a normal carbon steel.  There are more types of steel than I can count, but here are a few good ones to look for.  If you need a good stainless steel, look for knives that are made in cpm s35vn,  cpm154, or vg10. 

These knives will cost more than your truck stop knives, but will be 10 to 20 times the quality.  Which means they will be tougher and last longer at your normal cutting tasks.  For Carbon steel look for, cpm 3v, m4, or m390.  These steels are amazing for edge retention but will rust faster than your normal kitchen knife.  So keep them dry and enjoy your knew experience of cutting boxes without sharpening your knife every other day.

Perfect Box For You

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As a professional confectioner you know the quality of your goods is the most important thing. It takes time to create the perfect recipes. It takes hours of trial and error to find what tastes the best. Then you have to decide the icing and the decorations that will fit perfectly on top of the candy or pastry. There are a lot of choices that go into the product as a whole.

Another component that is included in the presentation of the product is the packaging. It does not depend on what type of business you are running, you have to have some sort of packaging. In this case, confectioners need candy boxes for their product. It doesn’t matter if the product is just sold locally out of a display case or sent halfway across the country. The presentation and the type of packaging used is important. You can choose candy boxes that go with your theme and your style.

There are over eight different colors of boxes to choose from. You could choose to have every batch as the same color, or you can determine which different products get which different color box. You could also have color choices available for the consumer. Maybe for Valentine’s Day they choose a dark red color. Then for their wedding they can choose gold or another color to match their wedding theme and colors. Having these colors available for your customers is just an added bonus of personalization.

Another customization feature is selecting how many chocolates go into each box. Maybe some consumers don’t want to buy twelve chocolates and only buy four. Then again, some people may want to buy twenty-four chocolates! So having different options for packaging allows people with different price points and budgets to purchase your products.

Finally, you want to tie it all up with a bow. There are a few different ways to really set you packaging apart from other businesses. One way is to tie bows around each box. You can buy pre-made bows or learn how to make them yourselves. You can also just use regular ribbon to tie around the box. For people taking the boxes directly from your storefront, you can put the boxes in little gift bags with color tissue paper. Gift wrapping the box will make it more special for the person receiving the chocolates as a gift. Just have fun with the appearance of the box. Make it your own!

Wardrobe Boxes

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Spring is always the busy season for buying and selling a home. People have been inside all winter and they are just too excited to get out. They plan on planting a garden, hosting barbeques, and just enjoying a new yard. They want to buy in early spring so they have time to work on their new yard before summer. There is also the benefit of buying in the spring to be able to do any repairs or renovations on the outside of the home. Not to mention the move will be in much nicer weather. No one wants to move and haul all of their belongings with snow on the ground. That’s why it is best to haul your cardboard boxes for moving in the spring.

You have to pick the right type of cardboard boxes, though. No one wants to be moving a box of heavy things and then the box bust on them. It is best to go with sturdy, durable boxes when it comes to moving heavy things. Packing your things into boxes you know won’t break is the responsible thing to do. It is also great to use the appropriate boxes for what you are packing in them. Yes, there are multitude of different boxes to choose from when it comes to moving.

The greatest box for moving that I didn’t even know existed is a wardrobe box. For so many times that I have moved I have had to just throw all of my clothes into a box. Even when I would try and fold them as neatly as I could, the clothes would still be wrinkled by the time I got to the new place and started to unpack everything (because let’s be honest, the clothes will sit in the boxes for a few days). This specific type of box is taller than regular boxes. It also has a bar across the top that your hanger goes right on! That way, your clothes are hanging up on your own hangers the entirety of the move. So even when I get a little lazy and wait a week to finally unpack my clothes, they will still be sitting nice and next to the closet just waiting for me.

Moving can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be terrible. Make sure you are set to move during a nice day. Also make sure you are using the best boxes you can to make the move as smooth as possible.

Your Online Business

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Most businesses are shifting to an online business model. It seems like brick and mortar storefronts are on the decline more and more in every town. People enjoy searching for a product at home, filtering through thousands of options, reading reviews, and then making a final decision all while they are sitting on their couch at home. This means marketing has also started to shift. More and more advertisements for online stores are popping up all over social media. Influencers are even being sponsored by these online businesses to show off their products.

One thing that most of these influencers have hit on is the packaging of their products they are receiving. Plain, cardboard boxes seem to be a thing of the past when it comes to these popular millennial and Gen Z websites. Almost any box is colorful or has a cute little logo from the company. It may just seem like novelty, but it really seems to get the attention of buyers.

Aesthetic has really seemed to be the word of the decade. Everyone is focused on how something looks and if it matches their personality or their style. Cardboard boxes are just another way companies can appeal to consumers. If there are cute ads of a model holding their beautifully decorated box, then more people are likely to check out that website. Amazon uses this with their “smile” packages. Everyone associates these boxes with Amazon, which is just a marketing scheme for them. Some companies even change up their design depending on the season or the holiday. So the boxes then become sort of a collectors item, and people are more inclined to buy at certain times of the year.

Even the size of the box is something companies have to consider. Are they just going to have one medium size box that every item(s) gets shipped in. Or will they have multiple sizes with multiple different designs? These are things to think about when thinking of marketing or branding.

Next, companies need to decide how these are going to get stuffed. They could look into fun, colored shredded paper. Or they could choose packing peanuts or maybe even inflatable fillers. Maybe each item could be wrapped in pretty tissue paper. The same amount of thought that goes into the outside of the package should go on the inside. Companies should always consider adding extra inside the boxes. A little friend referral of 10% off your next purchase really keeps the customer coming back to their site.