As a new foreign trade service provider driven by technology commercialization and foreign trade, HiSiaddi has established a "1+2+3+4=1" service system and can supply original factory ESBO products from multiple well-known brands. As a foreign trader with R&D capabilities, HiSiaddi has repeatedly proposed ESBO formula optimization schemes and application improvement suggestions through technology cooperation with manufacturers and precise market insight. Below is a case of HiSiaddi’s ESBO formula optimization consulting service. For more formula optimization consulting services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
Buyer: IBERPACK S.L. (Spanish IBERPACK Packaging Co., Ltd.) Located in the food industrial park on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain, the enterprise has deep roots in the high-end flexible plastic packaging industry for 39 years, with three core product lines: PVC sealing gaskets for infant complementary food bottle caps, high-temperature cooking composite films for olive oil, and cold-storage dairy sealing soft films. Its products are directly supplied to Spanish royal supermarkets, cross-border EU dairy groups and leading EU infant food brands. All products comply with EU Regulation 10/2011 on food contact materials, Spain’s local REACH control and mutually recognized Germany LFGB standards, with a full ban on phthalate plasticizers. Internal control indicators of products are far stricter than general EU standards, making it a typical high-standard mid-to-high-end end manufacturer in Southern Europe. IBERPACK previously purchased food-grade ESBO originally produced by BASF Germany on a long-term basis with an annual stable procurement volume of 162 tons. Driven by surging prices of native European vegetable oils, continuous capacity compression of European local chemical manufacturers and delivery cycles extended to 110 days for imported goods, the enterprise launched a domestic ESBO substitution project in 2025. It independently contacted two domestic mass ESBO manufacturers through industry channels and purchased a total of 35 tons of national standard premium general ESBO for planned mass production across its three core production lines. Only one week after raw material delivery and commissioning, successive mass quality failures occurred on all three production lines:
· Oil bloom and bleeding appeared on infant sealing gaskets after 15 days of room-temperature storage; massive ESBO oil precipitation occurred after high-temperature cooking sterilization;
· High-temperature olive oil packaging films turned yellow and hazy after sterilization at 121°C;
· Cold-storage dairy films cracked extensively upon bending at -28°C cold storage. A single batch of 5.2 tons of finished products was fully scrapped, downstream partner brands suspended incoming material acceptance, and huge compensation for delayed orders would be incurred if technical failures could not be resolved rapidly. Domestic suppliers could only provide factory physical and chemical test reports and lacked downstream PVC formula application R&D capacity, only able to slightly adjust additive dosages without addressing root causes of failures. The customer urgently entrusted its long-term cooperative foreign trade service provider HiSiaddi to take full charge of raw material performance diagnosis, formula system optimization, production process rectification and raw material grade upgrading full-process technical services.
HiSiaddi immediately formed a three-person technical team consisting of chemical application engineers, PVC formula R&D specialists and raw material testing officers. It received defective finished products, in-use domestic ESBO raw materials and original BASF imported reference samples sent by the customer, and conducted full physical-chemical testing and reverse analysis of PVC formulas jointly with domestic SGS laboratories to lock failure causes one by one, categorized into raw material inherent indicator defects, imbalance of upstream and downstream auxiliary agent compatibility, and unreasonable production processing technology.
1. Failure Phenomenon: Oily precipitates emerged on gasket surfaces after two weeks of room-temperature storage; after 10 days of constant-temperature storage at 40°C immersed in olive oil simulation liquid (EU Regulation 10/2011 standard), ESBO specific migration reached 72.8mg/kg, exceeding the statutory EU limit of 60mg/kg and failing infant food access standards. Gaskets softened and leaked oil after 125°C cooking sterilization, unable to meet sealing pressure retention requirements.
2. Raw Material Test Data: Domestic general ESBO epoxy value 6.12% (BASF reference sample 6.85%), acid value 0.48mgKOH/g, iodine value 2.96gI₂/100g, high residual free small-molecule oils. The customer’s original formula used an ESBO addition dosage of 28phr (parts per hundred PVC resin), far exceeding the safe compatibility upper limit of 22phr for this grade of ESBO.
3. Core Causes: ① Insufficient epoxidation conversion rate of domestic ESBO with high residual unepoxidized triglyceride small molecules, poor compatibility with PVC resin leading to migration and precipitation from the substrate interior during long-term storage; ② The customer retained the addition ratio formulated for imported raw materials. Poor synergistic stability between general ESBO and calcium-zinc stabilizers weakened the capacity of epoxy groups to capture HCl decomposed by PVC under heat, loosening matrix structure and accelerating plasticizer migration; ③ Excessive lubricant in the original formula with unbalanced synergy between internal and external lubricants further aggravated ESBO surface bloom.
1. Failure Phenomenon: Films turned light yellow and hazy from high transparency after sterilization at 121°C for 30 minutes, light transmittance decreased by 18%, failing appearance standards for high-end olive oil packaging.
2. Traceability Testing: Domestic general ESBO contained high residual unsaturated double bonds and excessive trace peroxide catalyst residues. Residual double bonds oxidized and discolored during high-temperature processing and cooking, trace heavy metal impurities catalyzed accelerated thermal decomposition of PVC to form conjugated double bonds causing coloration. Matching ordinary ESBO with original calcium-zinc stabilizers easily triggered "zinc burning" with localized degradation and yellowing.
3. Key Inducement: Commercially available general ESBO adopts conventional first-grade soybean oil raw materials and standard catalytic processes without secondary rectification impurity removal procedures, failing to match high-temperature cooking processing conditions. Original BASF ESBO underwent three-stage molecular distillation to remove residual catalysts and unsaturated impurities, delivering thermal stability far superior to domestic general grades.
1. Failure Phenomenon: After 72 hours of static storage at -28°C in European cold-chain warehouses, extensive cracking occurred at film bending positions, with elongation at break dropping from 380% (original imported material) to 152%, failing low-temperature packaging standards.
2. Indicator Comparison: Domestic general ESBO featured single carbon chain structure with insufficient molecular chain flexibility at low temperatures, weak low-temperature plasticization efficiency when used as sole primary plasticizer. The customer’s formula relied solely on ESBO as primary plasticizer without compound low-temperature auxiliary plasticizer systems, hindering PVC molecular chain movement at low temperatures and hardening the material to cause brittle cracking.
Domestic suppliers only produce ESBO per national standards, solely controlling basic national standard indicators including epoxy value and acid value, lacking understanding of downstream PVC formula compatibility logic and EU end-use working conditions. Simply reducing ESBO addition dosage only addresses symptoms rather than root causes, while reduced dosage leads to excessive product hardness and substandard sealing performance, creating a dilemma of "bloom with high dosage, hardening with low dosage".
Leveraging HiSiaddi’s domestic ESBO factory resource database, engineers conducted on-site screening of two high-tech manufacturers equipped with fine rectification and modification R&D capacity, abandoning raw materials from continuous general mass production lines, and custom-developing three improved ESBO grades matching the working conditions of the three production lines respectively:
1. Improved ESBO for Infant Sealing Gaskets: Non-GMO refined soybean oil as raw material, optimized gradient temperature-controlled epoxidation reaction to raise epoxy value to 6.7%~6.9%, two additional stages of negative pressure molecular distillation to remove free fatty acids and small-molecule oils, acid value strictly controlled ≤0.25mgKOH/g to reduce migration and bleeding risks;
2. High-Temperature Resistant ESBO for Cooking Films: Heavy-metal-free organic acid catalytic system, low-temperature decolorization and peroxide removal procedures added post-processing, iodine value ≤1.9gI₂/100g, trace heavy metal residues <0.3ppm to improve high-temperature anti-oxidation and thermal stability performance;
3. Modified ESBO for Ultra-Low-Temperature Films: Modified vegetable oils blended into raw materials to fine-tune molecular side chain structure and improve low-temperature flexibility for working conditions around -30°C. 5kg small batches of each improved ESBO grade were sent to Spain in advance for parallel comparison of physical and chemical indicators against BASF samples by the customer’s laboratory, with all key parameters matching imported raw materials.
Based on performance of new ESBO raw materials and EU food regulation limits, HiSiaddi re-adjusted formula dosages for each of the three product lines (PVC=100phr benchmark), optimizing plasticizer compounding, stabilizer and lubricant system ratios to eliminate three core defects from compatibility roots:
Original Formula: PVC100 + Single General ESBO28 + Ordinary Calcium-Zinc Stabilizer3.8 + Heavy Calcium Carbonate Filler35 + Internal & External Lubricant1.8 Optimized Formula: PVC100 + High-Epoxy Improved ESBO19 + Food-Grade ATBC7 (synergistic compounding to enhance compatibility) + High-Efficiency Low-Zinc Calcium-Zinc Stabilizer3.2 + Activated Ultrafine Heavy Calcium Carbonate32 + Composite Lubricant1.1 Optimization Logic: ① Reduce ESBO dosage from 28phr to 19phr, compound with 7 parts ATBC auxiliary plasticizer to lower single ESBO loading. Excellent compatibility of ATBC locks oil content and drastically reduces migration and bloom; ② Replace low-precipitation composite lubricant and cut external lubricant dosage to eliminate excess lubricant carrying ESBO to surfaces; ③ Ultrafine coupled modified calcium carbonate reduces plasticizer adsorption and precipitation by fillers. Post-optimization olive oil simulation liquid migration measured at 41.6mg/kg, below the EU statutory limit of 60mg/kg.
Original Formula: PVC100 + General ESBO22 + Ordinary Calcium-Zinc Stabilizer4.2 + Transparent Filler22 Optimized Formula: PVC100 + Heat-Resistant Modified ESBO17 + Citrate Ester5 + Phosphite Composite Calcium-Zinc Stabilizer3.5 + Transparent Talc20 + Hindered Phenol Antioxidant0.3 Optimization Logic: Phosphite + hindered phenol antioxidant form thermal stabilization synergy with ESBO. Epoxy groups of ESBO capture HCl decomposed by PVC under heat, while antioxidants eliminate high-temperature peroxides to suppress oxidative discoloration of double bonds. Light transmittance of films post 121°C cooking recovered to levels equivalent to imported raw materials without yellowing or haze.
Original Formula: PVC100 + General ESBO25, no auxiliary low-temperature plasticizer Optimized Formula: PVC100 + Low-Temperature Modified ESBO18 + Food-Grade DOA7 + High-Efficiency Calcium-Zinc Stabilizer3.6 + Modified Filler26 Optimization Logic: ESBO compounded with low-temperature DOA auxiliary plasticizer, DOA reinforces low-temperature molecular chain flexibility to compensate for weak low-temperature performance of single ESBO. No cracking occurred after bending for 72 hours at -28°C, elongation at break recovered to 372%, matching finished product performance of original German imported materials.
Beyond raw materials and formulas, HiSiaddi issued production process adjustment manuals to remotely guide parameter rectification at the Spanish factory’s machines:
1. High-Speed Mixing Process: Lower maximum hot mixing temperature from 128°C to 118°C, extend high-temperature stirring holding time by 3 minutes to fully discharge trace moisture and low-volatility impurities from raw materials (excessive raw material moisture accelerates later plasticizer migration). Control cold mixing discharge temperature below 42°C to avoid slow internal degradation of hot stored materials.
2. Twin-Screw Extrusion Film Forming Process: Lower overall barrel zone temperature by 5~8°C, reduce die head temperature from 192°C to 183°C to mitigate thermal decomposition of ESBO under high temperature. Screw speed slightly reduced to extend uniform plasticization time of materials inside barrels and ensure full fusion between plasticizers and PVC, reducing localized poor compatibility.
Improved ESBO raw materials matched with optimized formulas for 50kg trial production on each of the three lines. Full testing of finished products conducted at Spanish laboratories showed no bloom or precipitation on sealing gaskets, transparent films without yellowing post high-temperature sterilization, intact low-temperature films after cold bending. All physical-chemical and food migration indicators fully met EU Regulation 10/2011 and customer internal control standards.
The customer purchased a total of 20 tons of three improved ESBO grades for phased mass production across lines for 12 consecutive days of continuous operation. Offline finished products sampled and inspected by Spanish third-party laboratories delivered a full-batch finished product yield rate of 99.6%, successfully passing incoming material acceptance by downstream brands and eliminating risks of compensation for suspended orders.
After full verification of pilot production, IBERPACK formally signed an annual framework procurement contract for 162 tons of domestic ESBO, shipped in batches monthly split by three product grades. Compared with imported raw materials from BASF Germany, comprehensive procurement costs decreased by 33.2%, delivery cycles shortened from 110 days to 42 days.
1. Full-Category Auxiliary Agent Technical Trusteeship: The customer entrusted HiSiaddi with long-term technical trusteeship for localized selection and formula optimization of PVC supporting stabilizers and auxiliary plasticizers, prioritizing domestic raw material formula adaptation via HiSiaddi for new product R&D in the future.
2. Standardization of EU-Specific Grades for Upstream Manufacturers: HiSiaddi assisted cooperating ESBO factories to finalize three improved grades as standardized products exclusively for Southern European food packaging markets, completing full REACH, LFGB and EU Regulation 10/2011 compliance dossiers. Leveraging measured application data from IBERPACK, HiSiaddi subsequently developed three equivalent high-end packaging customers in Italy and Portugal.
3. Establishment of Pre-Delivery Raw Material Inspection System for Customer: Drawing on experience from this failure rectification project, IBERPACK added full physical-chemical incoming inspection of ESBO (epoxy value, iodine value, acid value, small-molecule residues) to eliminate direct mass production using non-standard general raw materials and avoid recurrence of similar technical failures.
1. Common Industry Technical Pain Points: Most domestic ESBO manufacturers focus solely on production meeting national standard physical-chemical indicators, lacking downstream PVC application formula R&D capacity to develop modified customized grades matching strict end-use working conditions of European and American mid-to-high-end food packaging customers (high-temperature cooking, ultra-low-temperature cold chains, infant food contact). Procuring raw materials solely based on national standard parameters easily triggers mass scrap due to mismatches between raw materials, formulas and processes. Overseas end factories lack familiarity with subdivided domestic ESBO grades, leading to technical failures upon independent procurement.
2. Core Technical Value of HiSiaddi Foreign Trade Service Provider: Beyond simple import and export of goods, HiSiaddi delivers a full technical closed loop covering raw material performance testing & traceability, raw material grade upgrading & selection, full-dimensional downstream PVC formula optimization and production processing technology rectification. It bridges the two-way information and technical gap: domestic manufacturers lack understanding of end-use applications, while overseas customers lack knowledge of domestic raw material performance, serving as critical support for domestic ESBO to enter mid-to-high-end EU food packaging industrial chains.
3. Procurement Logic of European and American Mid-to-High-End Customers: For high-end food packaging manufacturers purchasing ESBO, raw material compatibility and supporting formula technical services take higher priority than unit price. Reasonable premiums for high-performance improved grades are acceptable, yet formula failures leading to finished product scrap and brand compensation are intolerable. Foreign trade service providers equipped with formula application technical service capacity become core long-term cooperation partners binding high-end overseas customers.
For more formula optimization consulting services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
+86-13120989737 
info@hisiaddi.com 
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