Spartan Profiles: Paul Pezzoli

INNOVATION IN PACKAGING

            Once upon a time, packaging was seen mostly as a necessary cost.  But major innovation has turned packaging into a key component of the product brand and marketing strategy.  One leading innovator in the industry for the past quarter century has been Paul Pezzoli, M.S. ’77, senior director of packaging innovation and technology for the Kellogg Company, Battle Creek. 

            “There’s always a new challenge in this field,” says Pezzoli, whose background is actually in chemistry.  “That’s what keeps me going every day.” 

            A native of Labrobe, PA, Pezzoli was working for the Dow Chemical Co., Midland, when he obtained his master’s degree at MSU.  “In the good old days, packaging was not very exciting,” he recalls.  “It served to protect the product.  But then with the development of plastics, packaging could serve as a means to enhance your brand.  There were lots of new-fangled things and that’s how I got into the business.” 

            At Abbott Laboratories in Columbus, OH, Paul pioneered retortable plastic bottles, a new way of packaging infant formula.  When he worked for Colgate-Palmolive in Topeka, KS, he introduced the “quad-seal” bags for pet foods.  “Today you have to cater to the on-the-go market, which demographically means teenagers,” he notes.  “You have many new materials, and there’s the sustainability issue where you have to make packages more environmentally-friendly.” 

            Paul notes that because many of the decisions to buy products are made at the store shelf, “You have to use graphics that capture the buyer’s attention.” One new technique is “laser-scoring,” which allows packages to be torn open with ease.  “We’re introducing a new, on-the-go cereal snack,” Paul notes.  “It’s packaged in a flexible tube box that can be easily torn open and you can pour the snack directly into your mouth.”