Tyler Packaging develops pet food packaging for ultra-premium AATU brand

Pet Food UK, the company behind the AATU brand, has developed AATU as a brand that targets health-conscious consumers who are keen to look after the health and wellbeing of their pets. The pet food product is made up of high-quality, premium content, which contains ingredients in the 80:20 ratio, where 80 percent is meat and the remaining 20 percent is a mixture of fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and botanicals. AATU has a unique offering in that its meat element is made up of a single protein, rather than a mixture of meats.

Paul Hunter of Pet Food UK said: ‘Quite simply, the higher the meat content, the better the quality. We see AATU as the premium luxury brand when it comes to pet food. We’re the equivalent of Rolls Royce or Bentley, the Tiffany & Co of the pet food market.

‘The current pinnacle of the market is ultra-premium. We believe that we’ve gone beyond that and we needed the necessary packaging to reflect this step up in quality on the shelf.’

Tyler Packaging, which supplies flexible packaging to a range of industries, was tasked with producing packaging for AATU that suitably conveyed the high quality of the product, whilst giving the necessary appeal to its high-end target market.

Following a conceptual period, which involved considerable input from both sides to determine the necessary specifications and requirements, Tyler Packaging was asked to develop a 1.5kg bag, a 5kg bag and a 10kg bag. The resulting designs saw a range of packaging technologies incorporated to suit the different requirements for each weight, such as the Easy Lock fastening system.

Adam Kay, sales and technical director at Tyler Packaging, said: ‘AATU is at the highest end of the scale when it comes to ultra-premium pet foods. We were tasked with developing and producing packaging that provided the optimum level of shelf appeal, whilst demonstrating the high end nature of the product to any prospective buyers.’

The first prototypes of the bags were finished at the same time that Pet Food UK was set to exhibit at Interzoo in Nuremberg, the world’s largest pet supplies industry trade fair. Tyler Packaging arranged for the prototypes to be delivered direct to the stand, and they duly arrived the night before the exhibition began.

Hunter said: ‘The experience and astuteness of the team at Tyler really came to light during the AATU conceptual process. The key was in the finer details. For example, they advised us to utilize as high a resolution an image as possible on the bags, promising us that it would make a huge difference to the overall appearance. They also advised on how we could manipulate different matt and gloss finishes to add depth and shine to convey that sense of quality.

‘[Interzoo] was the first opportunity for us to see the finished prototypes and, being a perfectionist, I expected to be at least slightly disappointed in the result. But when I saw the prototypes, to say they were spot on would be understating the effect. If anything, they were better than how I had imagined them to be. The effect was absolutely outstanding.’

Since then Tyler Packaging and Pet Food UK have worked together to prepare the products and packaging for its official launch at PATS 2014, the Pet and Aquatic Trade Show, which is taking place on September 14-15 at the Harrogate International Centre in the UK.