Coconut oil is becoming a popular product in many people’s kitchens and baths as they discover the benefits it can add to their cooking and self-care routines, as an alternative to butter or lotion.
Like butter, coconut oil can move between different states of matter, becoming liquid or solid depending on its temperature. Unlike butter, coconut oil is conventionally packaged in glass jars. When it solidifies, it can be more difficult to scoop out, leading to dirty utensils, mess and product waste.
Four University of Wisconsin-Stout packaging majors set out to solve that problem and developed a new form of packaging for coconut oil. Their design, Coconut Cubes, are environmentally friendly, individually portioned containers stored in a convenient pouch.
Team members, who have graduated, were Benjamin Crooks, of River Falls; Joshua Geigle, of Amery; Sydney Olson, of Pulaski; and Robert Seichter, of Monroe.
Olson 
Seichter
Their design took second place in the 2020 Student AmeriStar Package Awards competition. Sponsored by the Institute of Packaging Professionals, the award honors the most innovative packages developed by undergraduate and graduate students and is one of the industry’s most prestigious design awards.
