Pretium Packaging is pioneering a new innovation approach for private label and independent brand companies at its new Pretium Innovation Center in Aurora, Illinois.

The center, which is housed in an existing Pretium manufacturing facility, has been thoughtfully designed with separate rooms, each dedicated to a different part of the package selection process—Market Insights, Design & Selection, Market Validation, Sample Room.

“There are many decisions that have to be considered when a brand owner starts the packaging selection process. For many small-to-medium companies, the process can seem overwhelming, at first. The Pretium Innovation Center has been designed to take what may feel daunting and break it down into more manageable segments to help focus on one key aspect at a time,” explains Paul Kayser, president and chief executive officer, Pretium.

The Pretium Innovation Center features a “spoke and hub” design, anchored by a large open conference room area in the center, or hub. The process begins with a brand owner entering the Market Insights room which promotes a discussion of specific market goals and features a display of the many packages Pretium has helped commercialize. The objective is to identify market drivers and learn from the approaches others in similar or adjacent product categories have taken.

Next is the Design & Selection room which begins with a conversation about “bottle anatomy,” and continues on with resin options, color options, neck finish, closures, decoration and tooling.

The Market Validation room features retail store shelving which can be turned into a planogram of the specific product category for which the bottle is being designed. Pretium has also partnered with Package InSight to provide optional product and market study services. The company uses nonconscious consumer research (including eye tracking) specific to retail packaging and point-of-purchase marketing to help brand owners develop market differentiating packages.

For additional idea generation, the innovation center features a large sample room with all the blow molded bottles and injection molded jars and closures the company has produced. A 3D printer is also housed there.