Company: McCall Farms and CROWN Food Packaging North America

Website: www.mccallfarms.com, www.crowncork.com

Packaging Snapshot: Helping food service customers better access its 6lb (2.72kg) cans of boiled peanuts, a Southern delicacy that has been dubbed “the South’s favorite snack,” has been a long-standing priority for McCall Farms. Seeking an alternative to unreliable industrial can openers, McCall Farms turned to CROWN Food Packaging North America, a business unit of Crown Holdings, Inc. (Crown), to explore various packaging options. Crown worked closely with McCall Farms to develop a unique variation of its 603 diameter (153mm) easy-open end, eliminating the need for the can opener entirely. The large-diameter end, available exclusively from Crown, was added to the company’s global product portfolio with the acquisition of Mivisa Envases, SAU.

The production process for boiled peanuts is demanding, and calls for air to be removed from the peanuts as well as pressure cooking. Crown’s engineers collaborated with the McCall Farms manufacturing team to modify the end to make sure it would withstand these challenges.

Like all easy-open ends, the 603 diameter (153mm) end is removable in its entirety with a simple, fluid gesture and up to eight times less force needed than a manual commercial can opener. 

Packages of McCall Farms’ 6lb (2.72kg) cans of boiled peanuts with easy-open ends started shipping to food service channels in the Americas in mid-October.