Tetra Pak
Rausing had been working on the design since 1943, and by 1950 had perfected techniques for making his cartons fully airtight, using a system of plastic and aluminium coated paperboard combined with an aseptic filling system. The discounts to Parmalat, it said, are similar to those that benefit other large customers. In June 2009, Tetra Pak announced it would invest in production in 2010 in China, India and Pakistan. .Tetra Pak also produced other non aseptic packaging systems – including Tetra Rex (gable-top), Tetra Top (paper and plastic moulded in one) and the now-discontinued Tetra King. Later, Tetra Pak launched other packaging formats such as Tetra Wedge (wedge-shaped), Tetra Prisma (round octagonal), and Tetra Fino (pouch-shaped).
Recent innovations have seen the introduction of laminated paper boxes for vegetables as an alternative to tinned goods. It claimed that Parmalat, as a major customer for many years, benefited from marketing support and discounts on packaging material.
It is claimed that this new product, Tetra Recart, allows for more subtle processing of vegetables than canning permits. Until recently the company held a monopoly in China, but in mid-2000, the Tetra Pak monopoly was broken. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing.
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic.
These initial cartons were tetrahedra, leading to the company s name, derived from four in the Greek language. Other companies producing comparable aseptic beverage carton packagings are SIG with its proprietary Combibloc technology, Tralin Pak with its Tralin Brick Aseptic materials, and Elopak with Pure-Pak.
The first Tetra Classic package was launched in 1953, and in 1963 the company introduced Tetra Brik, a rectangular cuboid carton. Before his death in 1983, Ruben Rausing was Sweden s richest person. Tetra Pak s innovation is in the area of aseptic processing liquid food packaging which, when combined with ultra-high-temperature processing (UHT), allows liquid food to be packaged and stored under room temperature conditions for up to a year.
The company is part of the Tetra Laval group which also includes Sidel – who specialise in PET bottles – and DeLaval, a producer of dairy farming machinery and food processing equipment. Ruben Rausing s sons Hans and Gad Rausing ran Tetra Pak from 1954 until 1985, taking the company from a seven-person concern to one of Sweden s largest corporations. This allows for perishable goods to be saved and distributed over greater distances without the need for a cool chain. Tetra Pak s first product was a paper carton used for storing and transporting milk.
Even so, Tetra Pak remain the largest packaging company in the world. Early in 2004, there were reports that the Tanzi family, the owners of the Italian dairy food company Parmalat, had benefited from some improper activities. Milliken manufactures a similar packaging system in the United States.
The first product was a package in the shape of a triangular pyramid (or tetrahedron), today called Tetra Classic.
