Opening a stubborn jar lid is challenging for almost everyone, but is nearly impossible for people with disabilities, the elderly and people recovering from illness or injury. The age-old problem of struggling to get lids off jars has existed for over 75 years.
That problem was solved for good when innovative technology was developed to make opening jars easy for people of all ages and abilities. The EEASY Lid was introduced in 2019, changing the everyday experience of opening jars for the better.
The EEASY Lid’s story began with a simple question. Why isn’t there a way to make opening jars easier? That question was posed to CCT managing partner Pete Stodd by his friend Dawn, a woman who was recovering from breast cancer surgery that left her unable to apply enough strength to open jars.
That one simple question triggered the eight-year journey to develop the EEASY Lid.
As the inspiration behind the solution that makes jars up to 50% easier to open than traditional jar lids, we wanted to reconnect with Dawn to get her experience with the EEASY Lid now that it is commercially available.
Here’s what she had to say.
How did it feel seeing the EEASY Lid for the first time on pasta sauce jars?
It was very neat to see it and to use it. I think sometimes jar lids are just too tight. There are times when you can’t get a jar open – you’re banging it to try and get it open and nothing gives, so of course you wind up passing it along to someone else to try to get it open. The EEASY Lid is a great idea that would benefit a lot of people – especially people who have any kind of disability.
Tell us about your experience opening the EEASY Lid for the first time.
It felt great – it was easy! I thought to myself, ‘wow – this is a lot simpler and easier than I thought it was going to be.’ My sister has passed, but she was in a wheelchair for a long time, and lost strength. This would have been great for her. It is great for anybody, really. I don’t know what pressure companies use when they are putting lids on normal sauce jars, but sometimes you just cannot get them open. The simplicity and ease of opening jars with the EEASY Lid is great.
Can you see yourself buying products with the EEASY Lid as it becomes more widely available?
Absolutely. When the idea for the EEASY Lid came up, I told Pete it’s not just for the elderly. Me, someone who had breast cancer, can really use something like this. I don’t think a lot of people understand what reconstructive surgery is and the impact it has on our bodies. I had my surgery in 2014, and I still struggle this many years later.
Developed as a result of Dawn’s one simple question eight years ago, the EEASY Lid is changing the jar opening experience forever, taking the struggle out of opening jars for everyone.
Today, the EEASY Lid is making its way into stores across the United States and Europe. Consumers can now find the EEASY Lid atop New-York-based Guglielmo’s Sauce in more than 250 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania grocery stores and atop products in select EDEKA Kempken stores in Krefeld, Germany.
The EEASY Lid’s story is still unfolding as we work to bring accessible packaging to more products and more grocery stores everywhere.
In the first half of 2023, store brands posted record sales, continuing the strong growth of the last 18 months. Total store brand dollar sales for the first six months of this year were $108 billion compared to $100 billion in dollar sales last year. Store brand sales across all retail outlets also outpaced national brands, increasing 8.2% versus 5.2% for national brands.
With sales of private label products reaching record highs, retailers are looking for strategies to cultivate long-term customer loyalty that will keep this momentum going. Some of the strategies grocers can leverage to increase the appeal of their store brand products and continue to boost sales include:
Competitive pricing
Even as inflation begins to ease, consumers are still looking for deals, with many purchasing store brands to help stretch their dollar. A survey found that 55% buy private brands because they are less expensive, and 63% of private brand shoppers consider these products to be a good value.
To foster long-term loyalty among these cost-conscious consumers, grocers can target messaging around value and price and offer promotions and weekly deals. A majority of food retailers and manufacturers (71%) plan on working with suppliers to optimize price and availability to align with shoppers selecting private brands because of lower costs, deals or perception of good value.
New product offerings
Grocers can also boost store brand sales by expanding their portfolio of these products. Many retailers are looking at doing just that, with 64% planning to launch new products. Grocers are exploring options for offering healthier products such as plant-based, vegan, heart-healthy and gluten-free products. Fresh food and international foods are other growth areas for private label products.
Brand updates
To increase the appeal of their store brands, grocers are giving product logos and packaging a makeover, updating them to reflect a more modernized look. Earlier this year, Albertsons announced that it is rebranding its Signature Farms, Signature Care and Signature Cafe products under one master brand, Signature SELECT, which will feature “a refreshed, modern logo, bold packaging and a new marketing campaign designed to build an emotional connection with customers.”
Sustainable packaging
EDEKA Kempken Sauce with EEASY Lid
Grocers are also adopting sustainable packaging as a key differentiator aimed at boosting sales and building customer loyalty.
Brand sustainability matters to consumers, playing an increasingly important role in their purchasing decisions. Consulting firm Kearney’s 2023 Earth Day Survey of 1,000 consumers found that 42% of respondents reported always or nearly always considering environmental impacts when making a purchasing decision, “a historic high and an 18 percentage point increase over 2022.”
Grocers are already embracing innovations like the EEASY Lid to embed sustainability into their product packaging.
Brands like New-York-based Guglielmo’s Sauce and German grocer EDEKA Kempken incorporated the EEASY Lid in their product packaging strategies to bring the sustainable, accessible packaging consumers want and need to store shelves.
Made of recyclable aluminum, the EEASY Lid is a sustainable packaging solution that helps store brands convey a stronger value proposition, stand out from the competition and meet sustainability goals.
Interested in boosting your store brand sales? It’s easy with the EEASY Lid. Contact us today to learn more.
The packaging industry continues its shift toward sustainability as brands increasingly recognize the positive environmental impact and commercial opportunity of sustainably transforming their packaging.
Consumer preference for more environmentally friendly packaging is one of the major factors driving the growth of the sustainable packaging market, which is projected to increase from $371.4 billion in 2022 to $737.6 billion in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.30%.
The growing market share of sustainable packaging is not surprising considering that consumers are increasingly factoring in the sustainability of product packaging in their purchasing decisions. According to a recent McKinsey Sustainability in Packaging Survey, 43% of respondents consider environmental impact an extremely or very important packaging characteristic when making purchasing decisions. The same survey found that about half of US consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging, with 50% of consumers willing to pay 1-3% more, 25% willing to pay 4-7% more, and about 12% willing to pay 7-10% more.
As brands continue to recognize the benefits of green packaging strategies for increasing customer acquisition, retention and long-term loyalty, they are turning to innovative packaging designs and materials to reduce their environmental impact.
Here’s a round-up of some of the newest sustainable packaging designs and technologies that are helping brands reduce their carbon footprint:
Denmark’s discount grocery retailer Rema 1000 introduced its store brand dishwasher cleaner in new packaging made from recycled fishing nets. The retailer partnered with Plastix, a Danish company that collects and recycles plastics from the fishing industry, for the technology required to make the packaging material.
Source: Jägermeister
As part of its sustainability strategy, herbal liqueur manufacturer Jägermeister has switched from solid board to corrugated board, reducing the weight of the packaging by 38.5% on average. An increase in the proportion of recycled paper to over 90% means that less than half the resources are needed in production. Based on 19.4 million cartons, the conversion saves 249 tons of CO2 annually compared to the previous packaging, according to the company.
Coffee and tea company JDE Peet’s recently announced its intention to launch a new paper pack for its soluble coffee ranges. According to the company, this new paper pack solution is the first of its kind in the coffee market and will be recyclable. The company noted that the packaging is designed to create a more sustainable ecosystem in the soluble coffee market by incentivizing the reuse of existing glass jars and tin formats. The coffee from this new paper pack is expected to generate the lowest carbon footprint within the existing range of JDE Peet’s products.
ShineWater, a bottled water brand, announced last month that it is pivoting exclusively to aluminum cans by mid-2024.
Source: Nestlé
Nestle is partnering with German start-up Circolution to pilot reusable packaging in Germany. This partnership enables German consumers in select cities to enjoy Nesquik in standardized, reusable stainless-steel containers. Circolution rents reusable containers to Nestlé, its first testing partner, and takes care of the cleaning, quality inspection, transport and assessment of environmental performance. Consumers can return the reusable packaging in reverse vending machines or to staff in stores, to receive their refund.
Earlier this year Procter & Gamble announced the launch of a new palm-sized one liter concentrated mouthwash called Scope Squeez. The company said that the concentrated mouthwash has 70% less packaging than a 500 mL Scope mouthwash bottle.
As consumer demand for sustainable packaging solutions continues to increase, companies will need to take a more environmentally responsible approach to their packaging strategies to capture share of wallet, or the amount of money an average customer devotes to a particular brand rather than a competing brand in the same category.
Brands can start capturing more share of wallet today with the EEASY Lid. Made of recyclable aluminum, the EEASY Lid is an eco-friendly packaging solution designed to help brands reduce their carbon footprint and increase sales.
Contact us today to learn more about how the EEASY Lid can help your brand harness the competitive advantage of sustainable packaging.
We recently caught up with CCT president Brandon Bach for a question-and-answer session. Read on to learn a little bit about his background, gain some insight on the journey to develop and market the EEASY Lid, learn what’s next for CCT and the EEASY Lid, and get some useful, experienced-based entrepreneurial advice.
What is your background?
I have a BA in communications with a minor in business. I spent 20 years as a video director in the field of live staging events, concerts and shows including for Fortune 500 companies. After 20 years in the live events world, it was time for a change. I started at CCT in the R&D phase, and I was able to use my video background to help design and develop the tools required to make the EEASY Lid. Being able to video tape and slow down the footage, we were able to see how each variable reacted and how it affected the performance of the EEASY Lid compared to the computer FEA models that we generated for the concept of each variable.
What brought you to CCT?
After two decades in live event staging, I started thinking about making a career change. At that time, a great opportunity came about that involved working with my father Jim and CCT co-founder Pete Stodd to bring the EEASY Lid to market.
After giving it some thought, it felt like the perfect time to jump in and experience something new. It was and still is an amazing opportunity to work on an easy-open jar lid product that provides tremendous value in helping people. It’s also pretty special to have the opportunity to work with my father.
What was it like developing the EEASY Lid?
In the process of developing the EEASY Lid, we tried over 40 different combinations and tools to try and make it work with steel. Because steel corrodes, we made the decision to switch to aluminum to overcome the corrosion issue. This was a massive pivot because, not only did we make a completely new product, but we were also changing the industry.
The aluminum EEASY Lids we produce today are durable, safe, sustainable and accessible. They also yielded outstanding results in testing by independent labs.
Is the EEASY Lid patented?
Yes. The EEASY Lid is patented worldwide. There are hundreds of patents out there for easy-open jar lid designs, but only one EEASY Lid!
What is CCT doing to break into the jar lid space?
When we first began, we had to answer the question of who our customers are. That sounds simple, but in the packaging industry, it is not as straightforward as it might seem. We had to determine whether our customer is the brand or the owner of the jarred product or the fillers and the manufacturers of the product. The answer? It varies. Depending on the amount of product produced, the filler or manufacturer might be specifying what packaging to use. That’s because some brands don’t have the in-house resources to advise them on the best packaging, so they rely on fillers to make these packaging decisions for them.
What has been the hardest part about starting this business?
Time. During the pandemic, timelines for everything – whether it was scheduling a meeting or purchasing equipment – became longer. The pandemic is still having a cascading effect on timelines. Before COVID, getting a tool made for us took 6-8 weeks, now it’s anywhere from 4-6 months.
We have had to get creative in navigating shifting timelines to meet our own deadlines. That might mean taking on more vendors to get enough boxes to ship out completed lids or being more strategic in scheduling.
What is the best part about starting this business?
In developing the EEASY Lid, we solved the age old problem of opening stubborn jar lids which has plagued consumers ever since the jar lid was invented. The best part of solving this problem is that the EEASY Lid makes jarred products more accessible to everyone. That universal value is something we are proud of.
Where do you see CCT in two to three years?
We see the EEASY Lid on products worldwide. Awareness of the EEASY Lid is growing, fueling increasing interest in our product. In the next two to three years our aim is to max out our first production line and move on to building our second and third lines.
What advice would you give to entrepreneurs based on what you have learned?
Do your research to get background in the industry you are trying to break into and to help answer any burning questions that might come up. Also, look for groups and associations that are affiliated with your target industry. These groups can provide valuable guidance and help point you in the right direction if you get stuck on an issue or run into a problem. They are also a great way to make valuable connections in your industry.
Sales of specialty foods and beverages are on the upswing. The Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) annual State of the Specialty Food Industry Report released last month showed that specialty retail (brick and mortar) rose to a record high of $96.5 billion in 2022. The report also highlighted that sales of specialty foods and beverages across all retail and food service channels neared $194 billion in 2022, up 9.3% over 2021, and are expected to reach $207 billion by year’s end.
According to the SFA, the specialty market is composed of 63 food and beverage categories, which collectively account for nearly 22% of retail food and beverage sales.
The top 10 specialty categories in retail sales according to the SFA report were:
Chips, pretzels, snacks
Meat, poultry, seafood (frozen, refrigerated)
Cheese and plant-based cheese
Bread and baked goods
Coffee and hot cocoa, non-RTD
Entrees (refrigerated)
Chocolate and other confectionery
Water
Desserts (frozen)
Entrees, lunch, dinner (frozen)
Commenting in a press release on the report, Denise Purcell, SFA’s vice president, resource development, said: “The resilient specialty food industry continues to thrive despite weathering challenges since 2020. While food inflation has impacted the market in the past couple of years, that is stabilizing, and the industry is poised for the future with several positives in place. Consumers have more retail channels in which to purchase specialty foods, food service is rebounding, and makers are innovating with sourcing, ingredients, and promotion.”
Brands in this sector can grab even more market share by adopting sustainable, accessible packaging solutions. Bringing sustainability and accessibility to packaging meets increasing consumer demand for products that are more eco-friendly and easier to open for people of all ages and abilities.
Specialty food brands that don’t incorporate these features into their packaging will fall behind.
The good news for brands is that packaging innovations like the EEASY Lid can help align their packaging with consumer values and preferences.
Made of recyclable aluminum and up to 50% easier to open than traditional jar lids, the EEASY Lid is the perfect solution for brands looking to embed sustainability and accessibility into their packaging.
Early adopters of the EEASY Lid include New-York-based Guglielmo’s Sauce and German grocer EDEKA Kempken. With the help of the EEASY Lid, these forward-thinking brands are improving overall consumer experience with their products and bringing the sustainable, accessible packaging consumers want and need to store shelves.
Interested in boosting sales and capturing more market share for your specialty food product? Contact us today to learn more about the EEASY Lid.
This summer, supply chains appear to be in recovery mode, improving significantly over the last year. That is good news for consumers who over the last three years endured pandemic-driven supply chain snafus that depleted store shelves and sent prices soaring.
According to the New York Fed Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI) for May, supply chain pressures for all regions tracked by the GSCPI were below their historical averages.
A White House press release last month also highlighted that supply chains are getting stronger, saying: “Today, we see increased access to transportation and warehousing capacity and equipment, solid throughput at the ports, improved delivery times, greater ocean shipping reliability, and steady declines in transportation costs.” Supporting data cited in the release included:
The nation’s ports moving record levels of cargo in 2021 (25.8 million units) and 2022 (25.5 million units), which helped reduce the significant backlog of anchored vessels from a peak of 155 to roughly a dozen in May 2023
92% of goods at grocery and drug stores are in stock—above where they were pre-pandemic
120 new trucking firms with Registered Apprenticeship programs to help attract, train, and retain talent
While supply chains are starting to rebound, challenges remain. The majority (72%) of supply chain professionals responding to a survey by DispatchTrack are still experiencing significant challenges including fuel costs, inflation and various delays outside their control. This survey also found that inventory supply remains a concern among supply chain organizations with 1 in 3 still grappling with inventory shortages while 1 in 4 are contending with oversupply.
The DipatchTrack survey notes that, despite supply chain challenges and uncertainties, the majority of supply chain leaders are optimistic about the future, with 61% reporting a positive business outlook for 2023.
Supply chains returning to normalcy is a big relief to consumers, but spot product shortages are still a reality. A recent Taste of Home article listed some items consumers currently might have trouble finding at their grocery stores including cooking oil, rice, corn, eggs, sugar and beef.
As the outlook for supply chains improves, CCT continues to implement successful strategies for navigating through lingering supply chain challenges. We are full systems go manufacturing and shipping EEASY Lids to top jars of Guglielmo’s Sauce sold in over 250 grocers across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and to top jars of German grocer EDEKA Kempken’s new tomato-basil flavor of its in-house private label pasta sauce. Making sure supply chain issues don’t interfere with an easier, better jar opening experience with these sauces is great news for the many customers who enjoy them.
On the road again should be our theme song these days. The CCT team recently returned from New York where we showcased the EEASY Lid at the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show. Held at the Javits Center June 25-27, the Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show is the largest B2B specialty food industry event in North America.
The show is open only to qualified members of the specialty food trade, industry affiliates, and journalists and is a premiere destination for buyers of specialty food products. This year’s show covered over 400,000 square feet of floor space at the Javits Center and featured over 2,000 exhibitors showcasing thousands of products.
The 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show’s strong exhibitor showing and packed show floor reflect a thriving specialty foods industry. Sales of specialty foods and beverages across all retail and food service channels are booming – they neared $194 billion in 2022 and are expected to reach $207 billion by year’s end, according to the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) annual State of the Specialty Food Industry Report.
As we displayed and demonstrated the EEASY Lid in the show’s New Product Showcase pavilion, buyers and retailers were eager to learn more about how the accessible, sustainable and durable EEASY Lid can help supercharge sales of their specialty food products.
These buyers and retailers were also interested in learning about how New-York-based Guglielmo’s Sauce and German family-owned grocer EDEKA Kempken are using the EEASY Lid to improve overall customer experience and boost sales of their products.
We had a great three days at the show networking and making connections with potential buyers and are looking forward to expanding EEASY Lid availability on more products in more stores later this year.
Check out some photos of our time at the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show:
CCT has been front and center in the news again lately. Gourmet News wrote an excellent piece on the EEASY Lid and Forbes again cited the EEASY Lid as a great example of assistive technology. Media coverage also continued to roll in following the EEASY Lid’s debut in the European market.
In case you missed it, here’s a recap of some of the best articles and a look at a few other top headlines.
Gourmet News
Leading with the headline “Innovative Lug EEASY Lid Promises to Make Products More Accessible to Consumers,” Gourmet News, a premier magazine for the specialty foods industry, recounted CCT’s journey on the road to inventing a better jar lid.
The article stated that CCT “had the brilliant idea that perhaps the industry doesn’t need more jar openers. It needs a better lid.”
The article noted that the EEASY Lid is simple. Consumers press a button on the lid’s center, which reduces the vacuum seal and allows the lid to be opened with significantly less effort. The sustainability and safety features of the EEASY Lid were also detailed in this piece.
Quoted in the article, CCT president Brandon Bach said, “brands and grocery stores can boost sales once consumers realize how easy it is to open products.”
The article highlighted that co-packer Craft Cannery in New York has converted its production line to exclusively use the 63 mm lug EEASY Lid as it produces Guglielmo’s Sauce for 250 grocers across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Forbes contributor Steven Aquino mentioned CCT’s EEASY Lid again in his coverage of assistive technology. Aquino reminded readers that “although it is very true analog pieces of tech like the aforementioned EEASY Lid aren’t … as headline-making as iPhones or MacBooks or AirPods, it’s also true analog tools are valid examples of assistive tech in their own right.”
Another standout piece of coverage appeared in Food Navigator Europe, a publication that provides news stories and data of value to decision-makers in food and beverage development in Europe.
Headlined “German Grocer Becomes First in Europe to Embrace First Major Jar Lid Innovation in 75 Years,” this article reported on the news of EDEKA Kempken, Germany’s largest supermarket, adopting the EEASY Lid.
The article included a quote from Heiner Kempken saying, “I was quickly convinced that CCT’s EEASY Lid is a great innovation and a real help for many people opening jar lids. That’s why we are presenting this new lid in our stores.”
A 2021 quote from CCT president Brandon Bach is also included in the article: “The EEASY Lid is a modern and sustainable jar that significantly reduces the effort needed to open and reapply the lid. Through our research, we’ve found that nearly 50% of the market struggles to open jar lids. That’s a US figure, but we’ve got to believe that this is the same worldwide.”
We are thrilled to share the news that the EEASY Lid made its European debut last month in select EDEKA Kempken stores in Krefeld, Germany. A family-owned grocer known for innovation, EDEKA Kempken partnered with CCT to introduce this one-of-a-kind jar lid technology to European customers for the first time.
Bringing this proprietary jar lid packaging innovation to EDEKA Kempken store shelves is great news for customers, meeting a long-awaited need for more accessible, easy open jars.
The EEASY Lid allows consumers to vent a vacuum-sealed jar by simply pressing a button on the lid, reducing the amount of torque needed to twist off the lid by up to 50%. The EEASY Lid is also the world’s first aluminum lug jar lid – a more sustainable and durable alternative to traditional steel lids.
The EEASY Lid lug is currently available on EDEKA Kempken’s new tomato-basil flavor in-house private label pasta sauce.
Commenting on the news, Heiner Kempken, CEO of EDEKA Supermarkets in Krefeld said: “I was quickly convinced that CCT’s EEASY Lid is a great innovation and a real help for many people opening jar lids. That’s why we’re presenting this new lid in our stores. We stand for quality and innovation for our customers.”
This news follows the March announcement of Guglielmo’s Sauce becoming the first food brand to adopt the EEASY Lid in the United States. Guglielmo’s Sauce is using the EEASY Lid lug on its line of pasta sauces sold in over 250 grocers across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Since introducing the EEASY Lid in late 2019, the CCT team has been on a mission to accelerate adoption of the EEASY lid to change the way jar lids are opened for the better, making a positive and lasting impact on the packaging experience for consumers.
Watch this space for more news on the expanding presence of the EEASY Lid in both the European and American markets.
The CCT team recently returned to the office after a successful two days at the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) trade show in Amsterdam. Held at the RAI Exhibition Center in Amsterdam from May 23-24, the event is the world’s largest private label tradeshow.
This year’s PLMA Amsterdam show featured 2,600 exhibiting companies from 70 countries. At the show, exhibitors had the opportunity to connect with more than 15,000 attendees including buyers from supermarkets, hypermarkets, discounters, manufacturers, and sales agents.
Throughout the two-day event, show attendees sourced new products, made new contacts, and discovered the latest industry innovations to help their private label programs succeed and grow.
New products and innovations are especially important for continuing to fuel an already booming private label market. In the U.S., private label has shown tremendous growth, reaching nearly $230 billion in sales in 2022, an increase of $23 billion over the prior year.
CCT’s EEASY Lid was one of the packaging innovations on display at PLMA Amsterdam. At the event, our team stayed busy showcasing the EEASY Lid, exploring business opportunities and partnerships and making new business contacts with retail buyers from around the world.
Here are some photos capturing the team’s two days of valuable networking, idea sharing and strengthening business relationships at PLMA Amsterdam.
Opening a stubborn jar lid is challenging for almost everyone, but is nearly impossible for people with disabilities, the elderly and people recovering from illness or injury. The age-old problem of struggling to get lids off jars has existed for over 75 years. 
What brought you to CCT?
Gourmet News
We are thrilled to share 
This news follows the 
