Ishida Europe on how African snack manufacturers can be more competitive

09-Jan-2017 - Last updated on 09-Jan-2017 at 13:48 GMT

The CHW multihead weigher. Picture: Ishida Europe. Pic: Ishida

African snack manufacturers need to improve efficiencies by eliminating product giveaway and increase throughput, according to Ishida Europe.

The company will be showcasing its CHW multihead weigher and DACS-EL checkweigher for snacks, nuts, cereals, rice, pulses, pasta and sugar, at Propak East Africa, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Kenya, March 7-9.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Ishida has been operating in Africa since 1982 and has a sales and service office near Johannesburg, South Africa. It appointed Allwin Packaging International (Nairobi) as its official distributor for East Africa in August 2015.

According to a report by Canadean, ‘Consumer and Market Insights: Savory Snacks in South Africa’, South Africa’s savory snacks market is forecast to grow in value as well as volume from 2015-2020.

It claims the processed snacks category had the largest volume share in 2015 while the nuts & seeds category is projected to witness the fastest growth from 2015-2020. Indulgent taste is a key motivator behind the growth of premium savory snacks, and e-commerce will play a pivotal role as a platform for sales of savory snacks.

It says flexible packaging is the most commonly used packaging material in the savory snacks market in South Africa.

With this in mind, Ishida has developed a 14-head and 10-head model for its CHW multihead weigher range. It can deliver speeds of up to 80 packs per minute with accuracy to within 1% of target.

Its DACS-EL checkweigher ensures pack consistency, with a weighing range between 10g and 1,200g, and can handle pack sizes of up to 300m (length), 220mm (width) and 130mm (height).

Reject systems

The checkweigher offers a choice of reject systems – air, arm and pusher - with top speeds of 200 packs per minute.

Torsten Giese, marketing manager, Ishida Europe, told BakeryandSnacks the company strengthened its sales and service support in East Africa with the appointment of Allwin Packaging International.

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Allwin Packaging International was established in 2005 and is the largest supplier of packaging machines in East and Central Africa.

Saji Kuriakhose, MD, Allwin, said at the time, it wanted a strong and reliable partner for the supply of weighing and inspection equipment.

“Our multiheads help East African food manufacturers and packers to reduce giveaway, improve packing line efficiency and maximize profits. While our checkweighers protect customer brand reputation by offering consistent weight, if required complying with average weight regulation in Europe,” added Giese.

“We offer entry level equipment that still offers Ishida benefits like reliability, and with this, we focus on multiheads and checkweighers.”