Every drop counts - The innovation of the Inverted Pouch for HFFS machines

What if you were told that 15% of your product is wasted due to the use of the wrong packaging?  

It's not a provocation: it's reality. Traditional rigid packaging, such as bottles and jars, get the final consumer to struggle with getting the last bit of product out – whether it’s shampoo, ketchup, or lotion. This fact generates frustration, but above all, a real waste of product.  

The solution? The Inverted Pouch by Volpak, one of its most awarded packaging innovations, a breakthrough in flexible packaging, combining convenience, sustainability and brand differentiation for food, personal care and home care products.

What is the Inverted Pouch?

Let’s start with a detailed product overview: an inverted pouch is essentially an upside-down, shaped pouch designed to provide a broad, highly visible display surface that acts as a prominent billboard for brand communication. Made from a lightweight, flexible foil material, it minimizes overall resource consumption while still offering the convenience of effortless, one-handed dispensing for the user.

This innovative packaging also features a practical flip-top cap equipped with a no-spill valve that ensures clean, controlled, and secure closure during everyday use. This design brings together the ease and handling comfort of a traditional bottle while maintaining the sustainability, adaptability, and material efficiency typically associated with pouch-based packaging.

Innovating with HFFS: The technology behind the Inverted Pouch

First of all, the key benefit of Inverted Pouches can be summed up in a number: they allow up to 99% product evacuation. This means a great reduction in waste and an enhancement of user satisfaction.

The advantages, however, are many and affect three different targets: consumers, manufacturers, and brand owners.

The final customer will find the Inverted Pouch easy and fun to use, thanks to its ergonomic, lightweight, and portable format. It still stands upright even when half empty!

Dosing is highly controlled, and the product cut-off is cleaner than ever, for a mess-free experience. In addition to all these practical advantages, this packaging is the perfect solution for those who are seeking ways to reduce plastic usage: the Inverted Pouch uses, in fact, less material, it collapses after use and it reduces CO2 emissions from transport.

Manufacturers and brand owners can choose the Inverted Pouch without worrying: it is compatible with Volpak’s existing horizontal form fill and seal platforms (SI and SP series). Moreover, the unique design of this packaging makes it look very different from all the other products on the shelves, conveying a modern look, thanks to the large branding area too, for eye-catching designs and stronger brand visibility. Talking about practical advantages, the Inverted Pouch generates lower production, logistics and transportation, it’s break- and leak-resistant, which makes it ideal for e-commerce sales.  

The Inverted Pouch is more sustainable, from every point of view

In addition to the more practical advantages, a feature that makes the Inverted Pouch a real innovation is the sustainability aspects: this innovative packaging lowers material use and reduces CO2 emissions, with a strong sustainability message, that brings credibility and modern relevance, attracting younger and eco-conscious consumers, who are very careful about their environmental footprint.

This sustainable characteristics of the product align with the ESG trends, especially for FMCG and personal care brands under pressure to demonstrate environmental responsibility.

A packaging innovation that redefines its category

The Inverted Pouch is the result of collaboration between major industry players.

The standcap was co-developed with Aptar and Glenroy. It features Aptar’s SimpliSqueeze® valve technology for drip-free, controlled dispensing, easy-open flip-lid with tamper-evident ring and customizable valve configurations to march product viscosity.

The Flexodose Light was co-developed with Amcor and Menshen. It is equipped with Menshen’s Lotus cap for controlled, clean dispensing, to prevent spills and ensure full product evacuation, making it ideal for on-the-go and refill applications.

Thanks to solutions like these, that connect end-to-end, Volpak positions itself as a forward-thinking, consumer-oriented innovator, showcasing how technology translates into real-life impact.

Find out more about Volpak’s Inverted Pouch and its advantages and different uses: visit our website.