Greiner Packaging has supplied its K3 cardboard-plastic packaging format for Huel’s High Protein Ramen Noodle Cups in the UK, combining a thin-walled plastic cup with a printed cardboard outer wrap.
Featured in ThePackHub’s Innovation Zone, the format uses the cardboard component to provide additional structural stability, allowing the plastic cup itself to have thinner walls than a conventional directly printed plastic cup. The sleeve also performs a practical role when the product is prepared, providing thermal insulation between the hot contents and the consumer’s hands.
The development applies Greiner Packaging’s wider K3 approach to Huel’s hot-meal range, where the pack must accommodate preparation with hot water while also providing space for branding, instructions and disposal guidance.
Combining Structural Support with Thermal Insulation
The K3 format brings together two materials with distinct functions. The plastic component forms the cup, while the surrounding cardboard provides additional rigidity. This structural support enables the plastic element to be produced with thinner walls than would be required for a conventional directly printed plastic cup.
For a hot-meal format, the cardboard wrap has a second function. It provides thermal insulation, helping to reduce heat transfer to the user’s hands after hot water has been added. This allows the noodles to be prepared and consumed directly from the container.
The approach demonstrates how secondary structural components can influence the material requirements of the primary container. Rather than simply adding a decorative sleeve to an existing plastic cup, the cardboard element forms part of the overall packaging design and contributes to its physical performance.
Using the Cardboard Wrap for Communication
The outer wrap also creates a printable surface around the cup. Greiner Packaging uses high-quality printing and UV spot varnish for decoration, while the available area accommodates preparation instructions, disposal guidance and other product information.
That communication space is particularly relevant for an instant-meal format, where consumers need preparation information directly on the packaging. It also enables Huel’s different High Protein Ramen variants to retain distinct visual identities across the range.
Separating Materials After Use
An integrated tear tab is incorporated into the K3 format so that consumers can manually separate the cardboard wrap from the plastic cup after use. The two components can then be directed towards their respective recycling streams.
Effective recovery will depend on consumers separating the components as intended and on the availability and requirements of local collection and recycling systems. The inclusion of disposal guidance on the cardboard wrap is therefore an important part of the pack’s design.
For Huel’s High Protein Ramen Noodle Cups, the K3 format combines material reduction in the plastic component with structural support, thermal insulation, decoration and consumer information. It illustrates how a hybrid pack can use each material for a specific packaging function while also being designed for separation at end of use.
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