Squround

A squround is a container whose shape is between a square and a round tub. It resembles an oval but is sometimes closer to a rectangle with rounded corners. These allow the contents to be easily scooped out of the container. The name is a portmanteau for "square round" (cartons), referring to a compromise between a square and a round carton. It is also sometimes known as the scround.[1] [2]

Ice cream
Round corner tub of cottage cheese, lid, and lidding film

"Squround" can apply to shapes of things other than tubs: Watches, swimming pools, bottles, etc.

Ice cream squround containers

The term applies mostly to ice cream packaging design, where the switch to a squround from paperboard bricks, cylindrical half-gallons and other containers is motivated by consumer preference, as well as cost effectiveness. These packages are more rectangular than square, but the side edges are rounded, while top and bottom surfaces are completely flat. Squround packaging affords some of the consumer appeal of traditional cylindrical packaging, while also packing tightly like brick-shaped square cartons.[3]

The container is usually made of paperboard but can have thermoformed or injection molded plastic components. There is usually a separate lid made of paperboard, plastic, or both.

It offers several advantages over other ice cream packages:

  • It can be easily scooped out
  • it fits better in home freezers
  • it packs tightly into secondary packages for shipping
  • it makes more efficient use of retail shelf space
  • it has good brand recognition (over the round half-gallon) since the flatter front is a more legible "billboard" for each flavor

The lid can have tamper-evident features.

Although squrounds are available in traditional half-gallon sizes, there exists a trend toward marketing non-traditional 56-ounce, and recently even 48-ouce sized cartons. The downsizing in carton size has not seemed to negatively affect unit sales.

Mayfield Dairy, which announced the switch to squround cartons in January 2003, told Food Engineering in April that they expect to sell the same number of 56 oz. units in 2003 as it sold 64 oz. cartons in 2002. Breyers, which in 2000 was an early adopter of the smaller package for its "Ice Cream Parlor" brands, as of 2005 uses the smaller package across all its ice cream flavors. In 2008, they changed to an even smaller 48 oz container.

See also

References
  1. US20120012489A1, Mongen, "Packaging Article and Device", published 2010
  2. Marshall, R T; Goff and Hartel (2003). ice Cream Health and Public Policy. Springer Science and Business. p. 234. ISBN 9781461501633. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. "Ice Cream Packaging Update", Dairy Foods, September 1, 2003, retrieved 8 April 2020
  • Yam, K.L., Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology, John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6
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