New SYNEK Countertop Beer Dispenser Relies On Unique Flexible Pouch Produced By Mondi In North America

It sounds like every beer lover’s dream: fresh drafts of favorite craft beers poured direct from a tap in your own home. This summer that seemingly farfetched dream became reality with the introduction of an innovative countertop beer dispenser from St. Louis-based SYNEK. SYNEK is a standalone home appliance that refrigerates, pressurizes and dispenses beer for the home consumer.

The system is made possible by a custom-engineered flexible pouch that holds and preserves a full gallon of beer. The pouch is the result of a year-long collaboration involving SYNEK and Mondi’s Consumer Goods Packaging business in North America.

“Because of the delicate nature of beer, the dispenser’s pouch is a critical draft system component,” says Markus Hoedebeck, vice president of product development, Mondi Jackson (Mo.). “The pouch is designed to handle the intense pressures produced by beer, which is well in excess of pressures in boxed wine bags, and also to preserve the beer’s freshness for over a month.”

SYNEK’S Founding
SYNEK is the brainchild of company founder Steve Young. A former stock analyst covering the retail industry, Young heard persistent laments from top brewers on the outmoded state of beer packaging and distribution. There were few packaging options to fill the void between bottled beer and growlers, small containers whose contents stay fresh for only a few days. Determined to address the problem, Young succeeded in raising $650,000 though Kickstarter, a global funding platform for creative projects, and then assembled a team of engineering experts.

The first step was developing a portable, flexible container that could transport beer and keep it fresh for many weeks. After a lukewarm response from a few large packaging companies, Young met with executives of Mondi and the two companies quickly agreed to work together on the pouch.

A year-long team effort overcame many packaging challenges. It resulted in a unique flexible pouch consisting of three layers: an inner layer that is FDA approved and does not react to the ingredients in beer; a stretched aluminum middle layer that functions as an oxygen barrier and protects the pouch’s contents from UV rays; and a polymer-like exterior that adds strength and durability. In addition, Mondi and SYNEK collaborated with a third company to develop a frontal spout for the pouch.

"SYNEK and Mondi 's packaging engineers and materials specialists worked closely to produce a pouch that meets requirements for maintaining freshness and keeping the beer properly contained during transport, handling and dispensing," says Steve Young, Founder of SYNEK. "The resulting one gallon flexible pouch is an essential and highly engineered component of the SYNEK system, and a unique solution to a particularly demanding flexible packaging challenge.Our collaboration with Mondi has proven successful. We have received interest in SYNEK from many of the world's largest breweries and retailers."

Fresh Drafts for 30+ Days
SYNEK contains a complete cooling system and CO2 pressurization cartridge. It dispenses beer at just the right temperature and pressure and can be adjusted to user taste. The standard system is priced at $299.

Users take the pouch to their favorite brewery for filling or can have it filled from a tap at a restaurant or bar. After filling, the pouch is securely capped. Once home, the user removes the cap and connects the pouch to the draft system. The pouch holds 128 oz.—the equivalent of 11 12-oz. beers. The beer stays fresh and delicious for 30+ days.

SYNEK is being introduced across the U.S. and Canada this summer during a tour that is stopping at brew pubs and breweries in over 30 cities.

About Mondi in North America
Mondi North America designs, develops and manufactures solutions for its Industrial Bags, Consumer Packaging, Coatings, and Sack Kraft Paper customers. Industrial Bags produces ultra-strong paper bags for high-speed filling, air-permeable bags featuring hermetic and vacuum sealing, sewn open mouth, valve, pinch bottom, block bottom, woven polypropylene and slider bags, as well as two-ply bag constructions made from high performance kraft paper. It serves the sugar, gardening, building and construction, pet food and animal feed industries. Mondi offers the hygiene certification scheme AIB for food and animal feed applications. Consumer Packaging solutions include stand-up pouches, reclosable bags, microwaveable packaging and other products with optimal barrier properties, along with extruded films for labels. Major markets include food and beverage, pet care, hygiene and the personal and household care sectors. Coatings encompasses silicone-coated and specialty paper, as well as film release liners for a host of pressure-sensitive adhesive solutions, including hygiene and graphics applications. Primary markets include fiber composite sectors, building and construction, and tapes. Sack Kraft Paper products include multiwall consumer and refuse bags.

Mondi creates packaging and paper solutions that touch millions of lives every day.

About Mondi
We are Mondi. IN TOUCH EVERY DAY.
Mondi is an international packaging and paper Group, employing around 25,000 people across more than 30 countries. Our key operations are located in central Europe, Russia, North America and South Africa. We offer over 100 packaging and paper products, customized into more than 100,000 different solutions for customers and end consumers. In 2014, Mondi had revenues of €6.4 billion and a return on capital employed of 17.2%.

The Mondi Group is fully integrated across the packaging and paper value chain - from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and compound plastics, to developing effective and innovative industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Our innovative technologies and products can be found in a variety of applications including hygiene components, stand-up pouches, super-strong cement bags, clever retail boxes and office paper. Our key customers are in industries such as automotive; building and construction; chemicals; food and beverage; home and personal care; medical and pharmaceutical; packaging and paper converting; pet care; and office and professional printing.

Mondi has a dual listed company structure, with a primary listing on the JSE Limited for Mondi Limited under the ticker code MND and a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange for Mondi plc, under the ticker code MNDI.

For us, sustainable development makes good business sense. We don’t just talk about sustainability; we make it part of the way we work every day. We have been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the JSE's Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index since 2007