Nothing goes better with a movie at the theater than a bucket of popcorn. In fact, most moviegoers can’t have one without the other. Now, customers of Cinemark, the Chilean branch of the American Cines brand of movie theaters, are being rewarded for their loyalty with a refillable bucket and peelable in-mold labels (IML) that offer a discount.

The company’s brand new IML packaging, produced by Fosko, sets itself apart from the pack with its sustainability and reusability thanks to Verstraete IML’s “Peelable IML” label. Verstraete is headquartered in Maldegem, Belgium.

“Our customers believe popcorn is a major part of their cinema experience. It is an essential element of a cinema visit, and it helps them enjoy the film,” commented Loreto Boitano, Concessions Manager at Cinemark. “A lot of our customers are frequent cinema visitors, and their loyalty deserves to be rewarded. That’s where our idea of reusable popcorn packaging came from—on their next visit, customers can simply refill their IML bucket.”

Cinemark’s former popcorn packaging was made from cardboard and could not be reused, so the company began looking for a more sustainable packaging alternative. “Our new popcorn bucket also needed to provide added value to our customers, and Fosko proposed an IML bucket with Peelable IML labels in response,” said Boitano. “It’s proving to be a hit, both for our immediate sales results and for long-term customer retention.”

Fosko, based in Santiago, Chile, specializes in the creation and promotion of innovative and differentiated containers and injection molded products primarily for the food industry, including fast food and promotional items.

Nicholas Ramirez, Commercial Director at Fosko, said: “It didn’t take much to convince Cinemark of the excellent print quality of our IML buckets. To reward customer loyalty and boost popcorn consumption, we started looking for an innovative customer retention concept. Together with Cinemark, we came up with the Peelable IML action. Thanks to the three removable discount coupons on the IML label, the buckets can be reused up to three times in the cinema. Afterwards, customers can give their buckets a new lease on life at home as storage containers.”

According to Oscar Peres, Regional Business Development Manager for Latin America at Verstraete IML, “Peelable IML offers a host of marketing opportunities. It’s an elegant way to include reward points or discount coupons; it makes things easier for customers, as they don’t have to cut up the packaging or soak off the label. Peelable IML is exceptionally user-friendly, and once the label has been removed, customers are left with a neutral, sustainable storage container.” Peelable IML can also be combined with DoubleSided IML, which provides space for twice as much product information.

According to Ramirez, “the large dimensions of the label made the production process a little more complex, but with the right injection molding machine and a fine-tuned IML label, the results are excellent.”

Boitano explains that one of the best features of the plastic IML packaging is that it’s environmentally friendly. “It complies with legislation that promotes recycling and extended producer responsibility, and it’s a so-called 3R product: 100% reducible, reusable and recyclable,” Boitano said. “Consumers are better informed than ever before and expect companies to act in an environmentally responsible manner, which provides a commercial advantage. The new IML packaging is hygienic, too, and can be easily washed making it particularly sustainable. The buckets can be used over and over again.”

The promotional Peelable IML popcorn bucket has been a huge success, with sales and refill figures the “best response we could have hoped for,” said Boitano. “Some months, customers refill more buckets than they buy, which is the best evidence that they love and value our reusable packaging and the refill concept.”