Background
Since it was established in 2019, Sweetzy has gained a reputation for high quality pick n mix confectionery products, with its festive ranges proving particularly popular.
When Sweetzy needed a new pack for its innovative 2025 Advent Calendar product, it approached Stockport-based Macpac – one of the UK’s leading independently owned and run thermoformed packaging manufacturers.
The new design would replace a previous advent calendar large flattened square pack which comprised cardboard inserts in a winebox style for the individual sweet cavities.
The brief
Sweetzy asked Macpac to design a lightweight thermoformed tray for a mail order advent calendar offering that would hold 24 x 50g bags of sweets and a large 200g bag for opening on Christmas Day.
The new design needed to be easy to assemble and pack whilst ensuring the individual bags of sweets were held securely in their respective cavities, eliminating the risk of them migrating during transit or when on display in the home.
The challenge
The key design challenge for Macpac was to create deep individual cavities with dividers that would prevent the packs of sweets moving around.
With thermoforming constraints and the shape of the cavities, it would have been difficult to form the trays with full height dividers and retain strength in the base of the cavities. If the base of the cavities were too thin, then the tray might collapse and sweets would migrate.
The solution
Macpac’s in-house design team developed the advent calendar tray with dividers that reduce in height across the width of the cavity which helped with the forming process.
Macpac created a half size prototype to test the concept and ensure sweets stayed in place before producing a full size prototype which was extensively tested by Sweetzy before progressing to the tooling stage.
The advent calendar tray is produced from low density Eco-Form material which is a lower cost alternative to conventional APET/RPET. Produced from 90% recycled material, Eco-Form offers excellent processing characteristics and utilizes post industrial APET/PE recyclate to reduce a major source of landfill waste.
The results
The finished design delivered on all aspects. “We were so excited to introduce the eye-catching new pack for our popular advent calendar product,” said Sweetzy founder and Director, William Godfrey.
“It is more than just a design change though. It has helped us improve packing and filling efficiencies and further underlines our commitment to more sustainable packaging solutions that make a positive impact, as well as delivering the same high quality sweet products that our customers know and love.
“Not only has it elevated the look of the finished advent calendar product, but it has also delivered on functionality. Despite being put through its paces during transit, all 25 packs of sweets stay firmly in place – even when the advent calendar is standing up – so consumers are promised a confectionery treat every time they open a door.
“We feel the new pack design really does offer a point of difference for advent style confectionery offerings,” he added.
“The feedback has been very positive, with customers stating that the sweets stayed in place, unlike previous years, where packs fell to the bottom of the calendar, which was disappointing for lots of children.”
