Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) says the UK Corrugated Industry’s investment in new, innovative solutions is helping food brand owners gain a competitive edge by transforming their packaging operations, without compromising product quality.
One of the many companies benefitting from this ripple effect is Premier Foods, a leading food manufacturer in the UK, which owns Bisto, Lloyd Grossman Sauces, Hovis and Mr Kipling Cakes. The business has reported impressive cost savings and increased productivity at its Ashford plant following an overhaul of transit and display packaging for its range of Batchelors dried foods.
From employing three separate machines per line to insert single-trip plastic ‘W’ trays filled with between 6-10 packs into corrugated sleeves that were then shrink-wrapped prior to transit, Premier Foods has streamlined the process by installing a specially customised case-packing system and re-designing its corrugated packaging.
This new combination means there is now a single-stage operation across the three production lines, with the added bonus that the new case-packing equipment is able to pack sachets into various different packaging formats as well as four different retail ready pack (RRP) styles – low sided and high sided trays, ledge trays and full wraparounds.
Implementing a corrugated solution has resulted in a 50% increase in throughput of up to 30 cases/min, dependent upon product format, on the fastest of the three lines – with further efficiencies due to a notable reduction in bottle-neck – and big cost savings on secondary packaging materials by eliminating the need for additional plastic transit packaging.
Arriving on-shelf in perfect condition and creating impact once in place is the central tenet of any RRP strategy, but CPI’s Director of Packaging Affairs, Andy Barnetson, says containing costs, without compromising on product quality, is also critical for food brands to establish and maintain market share and commercial visibility in a highly competitive sector.
He added: “Striking this balance successfully can only be achieved on the basis of developing healthy working partnerships throughout the supply chain – in this case, underpinned with confidence in the proven capability of the corrugated sector’s machining and materials packaging to match, and indeed, exceed expectations.”
Corrugated packaging has been serving society for over 130 years and is now responsible for protecting more than 75% of Europe’s goods in transit. While the primary function is transporting goods, the material’s more recent evolution into a key component of retail marketing enables corrugated packaging to provide a more flexible supply chain approach.
Corrugated is not only economical but it also has a superb environmental record – every year, over 80% of the material is recycled, equivalent to an area three times the size of Greater London.
The UK Corrugated Industry is already a pioneering force in sustainable, lightweight, recyclable packaging that does not compromise the integrity of the goods, while innovative developments in engineering have led to new types of structural products such as corrugated pallets, which offer huge economic and other advantages.
This forward thinking has seen the industry evolve into RRP to meet the needs of market leaders such as Premier Foods. It has proved itself time and again to offer the optimum mix of versatility and practicality that is often beyond alternative packaging materials.
