Fantastic Plastic

Federal Package is a health, beauty and personal care contract manufacturer that provides formula development, compounding, filling, decorating and packaging for lip balms, sunscreens, deodorant, lotions and other similar products. Established in 1984, Federal Package employs 65 people at its single location in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Federal Package continually looks for ways to make their plastic container offering environmentally friendly for their clients. Finding options for recycled resins to solve for reduction of virgin use while remaining recyclable as well as options for being biodegradable was a challenge. They finally found their solution with an organic additive that allows a plastic container to degrade more quickly in a biologically active landfill. The additive allows the containers to break down into methane, carbon dioxide, and humus (enriched soil), which shortens the time span the plastic would have occupied the landfill from hundreds of years to several years. 

“A lot of manufacturers like us don’t have resources for a big marketing department,” said Steve Dakolios, CEO of Federal Package. “We are the only ones using this additive in consumer products, so it’s a big deal. We knew we needed a branded marketing approach. But we didn’t know what we didn’t know.”

To help them create a brand around its new sustainable plastic packaging, Federal Package brought in Penny Hanson, a marketing expert from Enterprise Minnesota, part of the MEP National Network™. Hanson and the team dove into Federal Package’s target market research, product mix, market positioning, and potential competitors. That foundation informed the strategy from which branding and marketing efforts were created. The new packaging was named Eco Smart®, and Federal Package created a complete marketing brand profile to give Eco Smart® a personality of its own.