The firm which produces roasted coffee beans, nuts, spices, dried fruits and confectionery, partnered with Multivac to pack 15 nut mixtures in small to medium-sized batch sizes on its R 145 thermoforming packaging machine.
Attractive presentation and pack reliability are critical
It has now ordered a second R 145 packaging line for producing large packs.
Shareef Sadeq, general manager, International Mill, told BakeryandSnacks the technology ensures the packs are tightly sealed and since the product is now packed in modified atmosphere packaging it has achieved a minimum shelf life of one year.
“Attractive presentation and pack reliability are critical factors for a business, when it comes to successful cooperation with large food companies, shopping malls or airline catering suppliers,” he said.
“In addition to a visual redesign of the packs, it was also a question of optimising their quality and automating the packaging procedure.”
Prior to the machine installation, International Mill, packed its nuts, fruits, spices and confectionery by hand. By moving to an automated line it has increased its throughput efficiency, producing products in advance and supplying customers with sufficient quantities, even when demand rises at short notice.
“It was clear to us we could only meet the requirement for a consistently high standard over the long term by having an automated packaging procedure,” added Sadeq.
Reclosable single portions
The R 145 packaging machine produces usual consumer pack quantities and reclosable single portions.
As there was limited space in the production area for the technology a weigher and printer had to be integrated into the design.
In the case of the weigher, this involved a multi-head weigher, controlling the portion amounts of the individual ingredients when the nut mixtures are being filled into the packs.
A direct web printer prints production and use-by dates, and batch numbers onto the upper web.
The customer’s wish to have the pack cavity and lid exactly matched to each other in terms of colour provided a major challenge.
“In the case of some of the 15 layouts for the different nut mixtures, the colour shades on the lower web were reproduced differently from those on the upper web,” said Philip Koshy, area sales manager, Multivac.
“Working in cooperation with a film supplier, we experimented with various materials before the desired result was achieved.”