4C Stick Packs Bring a Taste of Home to Troops

Marlton, NJ–Single-serving packets of powder drink mix are designed to go anywhere, and make it easy to turn a bottle of plain water into an instant flavored and nutritious beverage. But Iraq isn’t just anywhere. It’s where over 127,000 American service men and women are stationed. And anything that can bring them a little taste of home is a blessing.

Enter 4C Foods and the single-serving stick pack.

Just after 4C Foods introduced its popular instant beverages in stick pack form in 2005, the company approached the food service brass within the Department of Defense. “We knew that the service personnel have to drink lots of water over there,” recalls Donna Mangasarian, advertising director for 4C Foods, “so we donated stick pack product by the caseload to see how our new single-serve packaging would be received.”

As it turns out, the troops took to stick packs with the first wave of product, and the supply chain hasn’t let up since. Some service personnel even write to 4C directly to request more products. “When we get a personal request from Iraq, we offer the individual a case of their favorite 4C drink mix in stick pack form at a bulk rate,” says Mangasarian. “And we pick up the shipping and handling costs.”

The 4C surge in stick packs meets with approval up and down the ranks. After all, 4C drink mixes have no sugar, no carbohydrates, and pack a good vitamin punch.

Of course, the role stick packs are playing in Iraq is not just giving 4C something to feel good about. According to Neil Kozarsky, president of Technical Help in Engineering and Marketing (T.H.E.M.), “The popularity of stick packs among our troops is quite a source of pride around here. We’re glad to see our packaging technology help provide essential functionality and convenience in this venue.”

The Marlton, NJ-based T.H.E.M. is the leading US-based provider of small volume flexible stick packaging. Just this year, Packaging Strategies recognized T.H.E.M. among their “Most Influential” contributors to the packaging industry. The magazine noted that T.H.E.M. helped set in motion an innovation and consumer acceptance avalanche for stick packaging by creating full-scale production capacity.

Today, T.H.E.M. is leading the packaging industry movement in the area of flexible, single-serving stick packs, and companies like 4C Foods are meeting the growing demand here and abroad.

The new 4C line of Totally Light™ Drink Mixes in 2Go™ single-serving stick packs is a favorite among American troops in Iraq. Flavors now available are Cranberry Pomegranate, Fruit Punch, Lemonade, Morning Orange, Just Apple, Wild Berry Pomegranate, and Pink Lemonade. Energy drink mixes are available in Energy Rush Citrus and Energy Rush Berry flavors. Each packet of Totally Light™ turns a plain 16.9 fl. oz. bottle of water into a refreshing flavored beverage sweetened with Splenda.™ Each has zero calories, zero carbs, and provides 100% of the minimum daily requirement of vitamin C.

4C’s single-serving Tea2Go™ line of Iced Tea Mix packets is also popular. It comes in Lemon, Raspberry, White Tea with Blueberry, Decaffeinated and Green Tea flavors.

4C Foods is promoting their new single-serve lines as “shaking up the way America drinks bottled water.” That slogan serves as a reminder of how the stick pack phenomenon got its start. “The single-serving revolution really took off with the tremendous popularity of bottled water,” explains T.H.E.M.’s Kozarsky. “It was great for instant drink makers and anyone on the go with a taste for something a little more flavorful than water.”

Founded in 1973 and located in Marlton, New Jersey, T.H.E.M. has served as the gateway for North American companies to find innovative packaging solutions. By monitoring packaging trends globally, T.H.E.M identifies innovations from all over the world and has put them to work for a wide range of companies in North America. Visit http://www.them.net

For more information on T.H.E.M.’s products and services, please contact:

Attention: Colleen
T.H.E.M.
5A Stow Road
Marlton, NJ 08053
Tel: 856-988-8436, x47
E-mail: sales@them.net

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