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Biscuits Leclerc bar production lines achieve maximum throughput with world-class packaging systems integration Story on Page 15
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April 2022 Vol. 75, No. 4 canadianpackaging.com
COVER STORY
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15 CLEARING THE BAR
Iconic Quebec manufacturer of cookies and snack bars keeps getting better with age through continuous capital investment in world-class packaging automation.
FEATURES
25 Primal Instincts Canadian newcomer hard at work building a new life with a thriving premium-quality meat processing business in northern Ontario.
32 Elite Performance 25
Legendary Canadian maple syrup producer brings its case-coding capabilities up to par to meet surging global market demand.
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36 Hard at Wok
Enterprising Quebec manufacturer of frozen ready-to-eat solutions installs leading-edge X-Ray inspection technology to meet lofty certification standards.
DEPARTMENTS
COLUMNS
NEWSPACK 6-7 Packaging news round-up.
FROM THE EDITOR 4 George Guidoni How e-commerce can reignite genuine packaging innovation.
NOTES & QUOTES 8-9 Noteworthy industry briefs. FIRST GLANCE 11 New packaging solutions and technologies. ECO-PACK NOW 12 All about packaging sustainability. IMPACT 13 A monthly insight from PAC Global PEOPLE 46 Packaging career moves. EVENTS 47 Upcoming industry functions.
CHECKOUT 56 Elena Langlois Joe Public speaks out on packaging hits and misses. ON THE COVER Premium-quality nutrition bars produced by Biscuits Leclerc in Cornwall, Ont., are gently laid out in even rows inside a Syntegon Packaging Systems automatic product distribution system prior to being transferred to the fully-integrated, state-of-the-art Syntegon flow-wrapping and cartoning lines driving impressive productivity and efficiency gains at the busy manufacturing facility.
40Weigh of the World Custom-designed multiheaded precision weigh scales enable ham producer to bring home the bacon through quick productivity payback.
43 Pasta with Gusto
Gluten-free pasta producer using continuous cooking-cooling process technology to seal market share gains.
ISSN 1481 9287. Canadian Packaging is published 10 times per year by Annex Business Media. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40065710. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department, 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1. No part of the editorial content in this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. © 2022 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of this publication. Printed in Canada. CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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FROM THE EDITOR
Breathtaking growth in e-commerce can reignite packaging innovation
I
US $98.2 BILLION Forecast global value of e-commerce packaging by 2025
f e-commerce did not already exist as a really, really big thing prior to the lifechanging COVID-19 pandemic, it would surely have been invented out of necessity to keep the globalized consumer economy from crumbling into outright chaotic collapse. With the global e-commerce market expected to reach global sales of US$5.55 trillion this year, according to New Yorkbased market research firm eMarketer, the online shopping experience is fast becoming a routine daily task for millions of Canadian households, as routine as loading up the dishwasher or taking out household recyclables. With Canada ranking as the 10th largest e-commerce market in the world—with China and the U.S. runaway leaders—the rapid growth in online shopping has prompted many leading CPG (consumer packaged goods) manufacturers and retailers to reassess their packaging strategies to tap into this massive new customer base. As expected, finding the right balance between quick delivery, superior product protection, effective branding and sustainable packaging was never going to be an easy endeavor—requiring significant financial resources and keen understanding of modern consumer expectations. For all the wonderful things that product packaging does for consumers in the brick-and-mortar retail environment, the importance of good packaging execution cannot be overstated in the context of an online purchase that extends consumers’ interaction not only with the primary packages, but also all the secondary, tertiary and protective packaging that arrives to their doors as part of the deal. Having to dispose of heaps of packaging after unpacking their purchases has understandably created a fair bit of consumer backlash and resentment—channelled across popular social media to poke ridicule at the worst packaging excesses and other shortcomings. But that’s a fair price to pay for what has become a once-in-a-generation opportunity for packaging designers and producers to push the boundaries of creativity and creativity and problem-solving to introduce and commercialize some genuine cutting-edge packaging innovation. According to the highly credible Chicago-based market intelligence firm
PreScouter, “The boom in e-commerce caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have lasting effects on the way consumers shop, and packaging has become a top priority for many e-commerce providers. “As one of the most complex processes within the e-commerce operation, packaging impacts everything from shipping costs to the customer experience. “Previously, manufacturers rarely considered how the packaging would be used or transported,” PreScouter says in its new Innovations in eCommerce Packaging report. “Today, e-commerce packaging industry challenges include optimizing retail packages for home delivery, reducing costs, and avoiding unnecessary packaging.” With the global market value of e-commerce packaging projected to reach US$98.2 billion by 2025, according to PreScouter, packaging companies large and small have plenty of incentives to give their e-commerce packaging the undivided attention and focus it deserves. That means moving beyond the low-hanging fruit of customized graphics and taking a more holistic approach to the entire e-commerce packaging value chain by improving: • Technology. The digitization of the value chain, which was accelerated by the pandemic, created the need to integrate technology into packaging through radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and near-field communications (NFC). • Perishable goods. Direct-to-consumer shipments of perishable products—especially food—with main focus on preserving the product’s shelf-life and freshness. • Logistics. Logistics players need to make adjustments by evaluating current operations to ensure that new types of packages can be processed (conveyor belts, scanners, pick-and-place, etc.) and delivered undamaged to their recipients. • Materials. Simplifying the number of materials per package by using monolayer materials or delamination features for multilayer packaging.
APRIL 2022 | VOLUME 75, NO. 4 Reader Service Print and digital subscription inquires or changes, please contact Anita Madden, Audience Development Manager Tel: (416) 510-5183 Fax: (416) 510-6875 Email: amadden@annexbusinessmedia.com Mail: 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1 Senior Publisher Stephen Dean | (416) 510-5198 SDean@canadianpackaging.com Editor George Guidoni | (416) 510-5227 GGuidoni@canadianpackaging.com Account Coordinator Barb Comer | (888) 599-2228 ext 210 bcomer@annexbusinessmedia.com Media Designer Brooke Shaw | (519) 428-3471 bshaw@annexbusinessmedia.com COO Scott Jamieson SJamieson@annexbusinessmedia.com Annex Business Media 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1; Tel: 416-442-5600.
Canadian Packaging, established 1947, is published 10 times per year except for occasional combined, expanded or premium issues, which count as two subscription issues. PRINTED IN CANADA ISSN 008-4654 (PRINT), ISSN 1929-6592 (ONLINE) PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40065710 SUBSCRIPTION PRICE PER YEAR (INCLUDING ANNUAL BUYERS’ GUIDE: Canada $78.50 per year,USA $179.50 (CDN) per year, Outside Canada $203.50 (CDN) per year, Single Copy Canada $10.00, Outside Canada $27.10. From time to time Canadian Packaging will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. Annex Privacy Officer Privacy@annexbusinessmedia.com Phone: 800-668-2374 DISCLAIMER: No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2022 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. This publication is for informational purposes only. The content and “expert” advice presented are not intended as a substitute for informed professional engineering advice. You should not act on information contained in this publication without seeking specific advice from qualified engineering professionals. Canadian Packaging accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported or advertised in this issue. Canadian Packaging receives unsolicited materials, (including letters to the editor, press releases, promotional items and images) from time to time. Canadian Packaging, its affiliates and assignees may use, reproduce, publish, republish, distribute, store and archive such unsolicited submissions in whole or in part in any form or medium whatsoever, without compensation of any sort. We acknowledge the [financial] support of the Government of Canada
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CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
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NEWSPACK
New digital can printer sets the tone for short-run can labeling
For many Canadian craft brewers and other niche beverage producers for whom short-run production excellence is key to market success, a revolutionary new direct-to-pack
can printing technology is showing huge promise in helping them minimize their labeling costs and associated waste. Installed last month by Solucan at the company’s custom can printing facility in Trois-Rivières, Que., the new Cyclone C4+ digital can decoration system—manufactured in the U.K. by Tonejet—follows up on a highly successful start-up and high performance levels delivered by the first Cyclone digital printer pruchased in 2019. “The market reaction to our Tonejet technology has been phenomenal,” says Solucan president Sebastien Baril. “Customers routinely tell us how affordable and sustainable it is to produce cans in short runs, featuring stunning print quality and fully personalized variable data,” he
extols. “This technology is truly transforming their businesses and driving growth.” According to Tonejet, the Cyclone printers leverages the company’s proprietary to enable direct printing of decorative graphics onto the beverage cans without labels, operating at high speeds without run-length or lead-time restrictions. Unlike competing UV inkjet systems, Tonejet’s equipment prints onto cans from any source without any pre-cleaning or other special treatment being required. Installed primarily to print beverage cans in the popular 16-once (500-ml) size, “The new Tonejet Cyclone C4+ will support huge demand from local craft brewers and beverage producers for 100-percent recyclable direct-printed cans in short runs,” says Baril. “A second machine also means that production can continue on both 12-ounce and 16-ounce cans formats simultaneously.” The new second-generation Cyclone C4+ can printer features the new Tonejet Can Primer digital decoration system—a new bright-white primer—to generate high-contrast images with brighter whites and stand-out colors in a range of can sizes. The new model also utilizes a longer variant of Tonejet’s unique electrostatic printhead, a new user interface, simplified ink refills, and the so-called “active adaptable can handling” to permit rapid changeovers in a variety of can sizes. Says Brail: “The second Tonejet production line has provided everything we were looking for: can format flexibility and the ability to increase our overall capacity.”
New Coca-Cola drink to offers best of both worlds for cola and coffee lovers
Claimed to “Sip like a Coke and finish like a coffee,” the Coca-Cola with Coffee hybrid cola drink has finally arrived to the Canadian retail shelves across the country last month, following a highly successful rollout in the U.S. in early 2021. Launched in two signature flavors—Vanilla and Dark Blend—each 355-ml can of Coca-Cola with Coffee has been infused with Brazilian coffee, containing 49-mg of caffeine. Produced and packaged in Ardagh-made slim-profile aluminum cans at the Coca-Cola Canada Bottling plant in Toronto’s north end, the crossover drink is part of the growing “refreshment coffee” beverage category, according to Coca-Cola, and is not intended to compete with energy drinks. “While this is a caffeinated drink, it does not have the same amount of caffeine one would find in a traditional energy drink,” says Coca-Cola Canada’s director of strategic communications Abby Carroll. Originally launched in Japan in 2019, Coca-Cola with Coffee in now sold in 60 markets around the world, according to the soft-drink giant. “Canada ranks 10th in the world for coffee consumption,” Carroll points out, “making it an ideal market to offer a new way to refresh the consumers’ coffee routines. “Coca-Cola continues to bring innovation to its beloved brands, providing consumers with the increased variety, taste and flavors that they are seeking,” Carroll adds. “We are always listening to our consumers and looking to push the boundaries of innovation through collaboration with global teams, customers and partners with our newest products.” 6 CPK_Plan Automation_April22_CSA.indd 1
2022-03-29 3:41 PM
CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
Organic milk brand goes carbon-neutral with new paperboard drink carton
Leading Ontario organic dairy producer Organic Meadow Limited Partnership has partnered with Norwegian aseptic packaging producer Elopak to launch North America’s first, and only, carbon-neutral milk carton. Since late last year, the Guelph, Ont.-based co-op has transitioned its two-liter organic milk products Elopak’s Pure-Pak Natural Brown Board material made from unbleached FSC-(Forest Stewardship Council)-certified paperboard, easily recognizable by its distinct brown hue. Said to be 18 per cent lighter than traditional milk cartons and generating 27-percent carbonemissions to produce, the Pure-Pak Natural Brown Board is part of the international verified protection
carbon offset programs that enable it to be marketed as a certified CarbonNeutral package, recently been launched in several important European markets. “As Canada’s original organic dairy, Organic Meadow’s history is rooted in sustainability,” says Organic Meadow’s senior vice-president Nancy Korva. “For over 30 years we’ve been on a journey to build a more circular future,” says Korva, “and our new, zero-carbon milk carton brings us one step closer to this goal.” According to Korva, the switch to award-winning certified CarbonNeutral packaging validates the company’s support for responsible forest management, using less material, and decreasing the use of fossil fuels to minimize the product’s carbon footprint. By removing the white layer from the print surface, the Pure-Pak Natural Brown Board package makes the unbleached paper layer—featuring a matt surface finsih to give its the paperboard its distinct natural appearance and authentic feel—clearly visible to consumers. “From the moment we learned
of a carbon neutral packaging option for milk, we were immediately committed to adopting it,” says Organic Meadow’s vice-president of sales and marketing Maurice Bianchi. “We’re extremely proud to be the first dairy in North America to bring this innovative new carton to the Canadian consumers,” Bianchi points out, “and we hope that our actions will inspire many others to join us.”
Tim Hortons to put a lid on plastic packaging waste
Estimated to serve over five million coffee cups a day across all its Canadian locations, the iconic Tim Hortons fast-food chain has recently changed the color of its takeout coffee lids from brown to white at some locations to make the
lids more attractive to recylers, and hence keeping more of them from ending up in landfill. “Based on industry consultations about the future of recycling in Canada, we believe that white recyclable materials have better potential to be reused and repurposed into more new products, helping us close the loop on recycling more of our packaging,” says Paul Yang, senior director of innovation and sustainability for Tim Hortons. According to Yang, the company’s Tims For Good sustainability program has enabled it to divert more than one billion single-use plastic packages from landfill in 2021, while also introducing 100-percent recycled-fiber napkins; launching new recyclable sandwich packaging; and transitioning from plastic to paper drinking straws. “Given our scale at Tim Hortons, every small thing we do or change has the potential to make a big impact,”Yang states. “White lids are another step in our sustainability journey, we are also looking forward to testing plastic-free fiber lids with more customers later this year.”
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NOTES & QUOTES
Cincinnati, Ohio-headquartered packaging machinery manufacturing group ProMach has completed the acquisition of TechniBlend, a prominent supplier of beverage and liquid processing systems based in Waukesha, Wis. Founded in 2008, TechniBlend provides a broad range of of high-tech liquid processing machinery and services across numerous market segments, including food, dairy, chemicals, and household and personal care products. The company’s main area of expertise lies in the beverage processing market, where it supplies a comprehensive range of deaerators, batching and blending equipment, carbonation and nitrogenating systems, can filling and seaming machinery, flash pasteurizers and other critical solutions for beverage production. “The addition of TechniBlend is another strong step towards ProMach becoming the total solutions provider for customers across North America,” says ProMach president and chief executive officer Mark Anderson. “As ProMach continues to expand further upstream on the production lin, customers can start and end their journey with ProMach to commission a successful
line—from processing to packaging.” St. Louis, Mo.-headquartered consumer packaging product group TricorBraun has completed the acquisition of Neville and More, a leading U.K. rigid packaging supplier specializing in glass, plastics and aluminum packaging for many well-known household brands in the healthcare, pharma, personal-care and food-and-beverage markets. “This acquisition enables us to offer expanded services and supply chain options to customers,” says TricorBraun president and chief executive office Court Carruthers. “Neville and More has provided high-quality and innovative packaging solutions for 70 years, and we look forward to investing in its continued growth.” Wayne, Pa.-headquartered packaging products manufacturer Tekni-Plex has acquired the assets and licensed technologies of Fibro Corporation, Tacoma, Wash.-based producer of molded-fiber packaging products. Integrated into Tekni-Plex’s Dolco Packaging business, the acquisition positions Tekni-Plex as the only supplier of egg cartons manufactured from polystyrene, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic and pulp-based
materials. “The Fibro transaction will enable us to create a range of best-in-class sustainable solutions while delivering added customer value,” say Jay Arnold, senior vice-president and general manager for Dolco Packaging. “Our intention is to invest further in this innovative technology platform as we scale up, increase capacity, and expand our product lines to bring superior solutions to the broader fresh foods landscape.” Concord Township, Ohioheadquartered Ranpak Holdings Corp., manufacturer of paper-based packaging solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains, has completed the acquisition of Recycold Cool Solutions BV, Dutch manufacturer of sustainable cool packs made with plant-based, drain-safe gel. “We are thrilled to add Recycold Cool Packs to our portfolio of sustainable Cold Chain packaging solutions,” says Ranpak’s chief executive officer Omar Asali. “This acquisition reflects our focus on growth-oriented new products and our shared vision on eco-friendly solutions that express the values with which we operate Ranpak’s business worldwide.”
Leading German transport and industrial packaging products group Schütz GmbH & Co KGaA has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of GEM Plastics Limited, manufacturer of plastic industrial packaging for use int the chemical, lubricant, food-andbeverage and pharmaceutical industries based in Cavan, Ireland. Founded in 1988, GEM Plastics uses state-of-the-art system technology to produce high-performance plastic containers—including bulk drums and jerrycans—for transport and storage in a broad range of industries, along with customized solutions to meet specific customer requirements. “We are very pleased about this strengthening of the group in these important geographical markets,” says Schütz Group’s chief executive officer Roland Strassburger. “GEM and Schütz fit perfectly together [and] in the future we will be able to offer our local customers the most comprehensive range of products and services in the industrial packaging sector.” Edansville, Ind.-based plastic products manufacturing group Berry Global has entered a collaboration with French-owned TotalEnergies for
IN INSPECTION SYSTEMS Interceptor Metal Detectors improve stainless steel detection capabilities up to 100%, reducing waste and costly false rejects in challenging applications. Optimized for inspecting more difficult “wet” products such as meat, dairy and other conductive products, the Interceptor simultaneously analyzes multiple frequencies over a broad spectrum to clearly distinguish the signal generated by the product from any metal contaminants.
888-220-8737 sales@fortresstechnology.com www.FortressTechnology.com 8
CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
advancing plastics circularity by using chemically recycled plastics to make new plastic food packaging. Under the agreement, TotalEnergies will supply Berry Global with certified “circular polymers” obtained through advanced recycling of post-consumer plastic waste that is otherwise hard to recycle via existing processes, including polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene. Starting in 2023, feedstock from hard-to-recycled plastic waste will be produced in TotalEnergies’ advanced recycling plant to be built on future zero-crude platform in Grandpuits, France. The collaboration is expected to broaden Berry’s access to valuable ISCC PLUS-certified advanced recycled materials to serve its European-based customers. “Customers turn to Berry Global to help enable and execute against their growing sustainability goals,” says Jean-Marc Galvez, president of Berry’s Consumer Packaging International Division. “Through our collaborations with suppliers like TotalEnergies, we aim to provide customers with premier access to these in-demand sustainable resins,” Glvez states. “Combined with Berry’s expertise in designing for circularity and breadth in manufacturing capabilities, this announcement demonstrates commitment to our long-term sustainability strategy, and supporting our customers wherever they are in their journey.” Winnipeg-based flexible packaging product manufacturer Winpak Ltd. has reached a deal with PureCycle Technologies, Inc. for the production of UPR (ultra-pure recycled) polypropylene made from plastic waste. Manufactured via PureCycle’s patented chemical recycling process that separates color, odor and contaminants from plastic waste feedstock, the PureCycled plastic is said to generate 35 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional manufacturing of virgin fossil fuelbased plastic, according to Winpak, while enabling it to boost the PCR (post-consumer recycled) content of its plastic packaging. “Our customers expect that we deliver innovative solutions to help them effectively reduce their environmental impact and fulfill their pledge to create a Circular Economy for packaging made from polypropylene,” says Winpak’s president and chief executive officer Olivier Muggli. “Winpak’s collaboration with PureCycle will enable us to provide brands with truly sustainable packaging solutions containing PCR polypropylene and recyclable products that can stay out of landfills.” CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
FO R F RY E R , B R E A DI N G , A N D B AT T E R C O N V E Y I N G
Austrian-based plastic packaging products manufacturer ALPLA Group had announced a significant expansion of its PET (polyethylene terephtalate) plastic recycling capacity in Germany with the acquisition of recycling company Texplast and all its shares in the PET Recycling Team Wolfen joint-venture company. According to ALPLA, the acquisition will enable it to recycle 75,000 tonnes of PET bottles in Germany annually. “Our goal is the full cycle from bottle to bottle [and] we are stepping up our activities worldwide to meet growing demand for postconsumer recyclate,” says ALPLA’s chief executive officer Philipp Lehner. ” Mactac, a LINTEC Corporation company specializing in production of PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) materials headquartered in Stow, Ohio, has completed a US$2.5-million acquisition of CSI – SoCal, a custom turnkey slitting and distribution center for roll label printers located in Ontario, Ca. According to Mactac, the acquisition is part of a larger US$10million expansion program that will supply Mactac with five world-class slitters its North America network beginning this summer. Avery Dennison Corporation, globally operating supplier of labeling and packaging materials headquartered in Glendale, Ca., has completed the acquisition of Rietveld, a prominent full-service provider of embellishment solutions and advanced printing methods for leading sportswear brands and team sports in Europe. Headquartered in Zoeterwoude, The Netherlands, Rietveld employs approximately 70 people at facilities in Holland and Turkey, generating annual revenues of about US$8 million. According to Avery Dennison, the Rietveld business will be integrated into the Apparel Solution unit of the company’s RBIS (Retail Branding and Information Solutions) division. “Rietveld is an excellent strategic fit for RBIS that will expand our position in high-value segments,” says Michael Barton, vice-president and general manager of RBIS Apparel Solutions. “Rietveld’s innovative products and capabilities will enable us to unlock a new level of growth and deliver value for all of our stakeholders.” April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
9
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REDUCE
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TOTE/BASKET MANAGEMENT FOR YOUR PACKAGING LINES
Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs), also known as “totes” or “baskets,” are made to accommodate the transfer of a wide range of products and primary packaging types. RPCs not only reduce carbon emissions, waste, and natural resource consumption, they offer improved product protection versus cardboard alternatives.
An automated system increases reliability and throughput, reduces long-term costs, and provides ergonomic improvements that enhance workplace safety. Contact Harpak-ULMA Packaging today! HARPAK-ULMA.COM 800-813-6644
Durable plastic containers are easy to clean, hygienic, resist water and chemicals, and are consistently sized. They have been shown to reduce product damage by up to 96% while lowering costs by as much as 27% through more efficient, reusable distribution processes. They are a perfect, environmentally-friendly addition to your packaging operation.
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FIRST GLANCE
FIRST AND FORMOST Designed to reduce the amount of packaging used for retail packs of ground meat products, the new Formost Fuji Ground Meat System— distributed by Abbey Equipment Solutions—eliminates the need for metal clips, foam, plastic, and/or cardboard trays to provide an attractive, cost-effective, and space-saving package with up to 70-percent packaging weight reduction. Offering a multitude of shipping, storage and shelf-space advantages, the Formost Fuji Ground Meat System ensurs that the paper or absorbent pad remains under the ground meat, while it is gently transferred to the conveyor and into the flow-wrapper. The new ground meat wrap produced by this system has excellent seal strength for product protection and maintaining package integrity, while creating a smaller and more consumer-friendly package that allows consumers to remove the contents without having to handle them. Abbey Equipment Solutions THE SOFT TOUCH
Featuring four gripping fingers and a vacuum cavity allowing it to hold objects up to 100-mm in width, Piab’s new piSOFTGRIP 100-4 vacuum gripper was designed
specifically for automated handling of all sorts of fresh, unpackaged and delicate food items without the risk of crushing them. Made in detectable silicone approved for direct contact with food, the piSOFTGRIP vacuum grippers are designed to provide a cost-effective and robust solution for sensitive and fragile objects, with their small footprint making them ideal for multiple applications in space-limitedmachine settings. Simple to control and install as a suction cup, the piSOFTGRIP gtippers do not require any specific programming—just a simple vacuum level adjustment to ensure the right gripping force for gentle and safe handling of delicate objects. Piab DETECT TO PROTECT Designed specifically for the detection of contaminants in small, individually packaged products at high speeds, the new X34C X-ray inspection system from METLER-TOLEDO Product Inspection features a compact footprint of just 700-mm in length, including an integrated reject mechanism, to enable easy installation into production lines where space is at a premium. Offering ultra-fast operation at speeds of up to 120 meters per minute, the X34C makes it possible to keep product inspection rate of speed aligned with many high-speed flow-wrapping machines and pack sealers used in the confectionery sector for packaging individual products, including snacks, cereal bars and small bakery packets.
dates, barcodes, etc. The labels are then dispensed onto the top of the pack, before being wrapped accurately around the pack like a banderole at speeds of up to 120 packs per minute. Featuring a hygienic design, the L 312 labeler can be easily integrated into turnkey production lines, or used as a stand-alone solution with manual product infeed. Multivac Canada Inc.
Designed to ensure precise performance with the optimized focal distance of the 0.4-mm diode detector and 100 W optimum power generator to maximize detection of small contaminants and reduce the ‘False Reject’ rate, the X34C comes with easy-to-use operating software, including ContamPlus, with automated product set-up to reduce the need for extensive operator training. METTLER TOLEDO Inc.
LOW PROFILE
Designed to fit into the tightest spaces, the new AquaGard LP (Low Profile) sanitary conveyor from Dorner Mfg Corp features a low-profile stainless-steel frame with compact 1.25-inch-diameter end-roller pulleys—enabling the conveyor to fit in tight spaces in and around other machinery, while safely operating in close proximity to employees. Ideal for dry or wipe-down applications within the packaging, pharmaceutical, confectionary, bakery and other packaged food industries, the conveyor’s pulleys facilitate highly efficient transfer of small- to mediumsized products on and off the conveyor. The conveyor’s reliable V-guided belting ensures precise belt and product tracking, while the enclosed tensioning system keeps the belt at proper tension to provide smooth snag-free cleaning. Engineered to high sanitary standards, AquaGard LP has earned the global Baking Industry Sanitary Standards Committee (BISSC) certification. Dorner Mfg Corp
WEIGH TO GO! Designed for application of product lables onto the retail packs of high-quality meat, fish and other products sold on the basis of their weight, the new model L 312 model full-wrap labeler from Multivac Marking & Inspection offers a flexible and highly efficient solution for weighing the product, calculating the price, printing the information on the label, and attaching the full-wrap label onto the retail-ready packs at high speeds. Well-suited for high-speed packaging of random-weight products, the labeler’s on-board high-accuracy weighing system determines the precise weight of the pack and transfers the calculated product price to the labeler, where the integrated thermal-transfer printer prints all the relevant information—including sample weight, price, best-before
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Walmart to use carbon offsets to reduce its last mile footprint
L
eading Canadian retailer Walmart Canada Corp. has announced plans to substantially reduce the environmental footprint of its burgeoning e-commerce operations through carbon-neutral last mile delivery for all online purchases sold and shipped by Walmart across Canada, including groceries. Funded entirely by Walmart, the program will offset an estimated 25,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide, the equivalent of taking over 5,000 cars off the road, in its first year. According to the Mississauga, Ont.-headquartered company, funding carbon offsets for last-mile delivery of e-commerce purchases, including online grocery, will allow Walmart Canada to make immediate impact, while working with its third-party carriers to reduce their emissions as well. Widely claimed to be an important policy tool to improve sustainability performance, carbon offsets allow companies and consumers to fund projects that reduce the effects of climate change, compensating for the emissions created from actions like transportation. Walmart had engaged the services of sustainable technology company EcoCart to calculate and validate the emissions created from online orders, and to purchase carbon offset credits from high-quality projects in the exact dollar amount required to reduce or avoid those emissions. According to Walmart, the project portfolio includes initiatives that protect forests, enable composting and waste diversion, aid with refrigerant management, and turn biomass into fuel. These Walmart-supported projects will also ensure they benefit the communities as part of their scope with key economic and environmental elements such as providing jobs, education opportunities, or protecting endangered species and biodiversity. “Funding carbon offsets for last mile delivery in our e-commerce operations is an opportunity for Walmart to make an impact today, as we work towards becoming a regenerative company and eliminating emissions across our business,” says Walmart Canada’s senior vice-president for e-commerce Laurent Duray. “Minimizing the environmental impact of the last mile has been top-of-mind, as customer behavior has shifted towards increased reliance on our fast, easy and convenient delivery options for grocery and online orders.” 12
CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
Walmart Canada says it aims to make its entire fleet used for home delivery of online purchases comprised of alternative-powered vehicles by 2028 as part of its larger efforts to reduce the company’s overall transportation footprint.
As Duray explains, the program is incremental to Walmart’s global ambition to achieve zero emissions by 2040 without the use of offsets for Scope 1 emissions, direct emissions from company-owned or controlled sources, and the Scope 2 indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling. Says Duray: “The projects Walmart’s offsets will support are aligned with the company’s journey to becoming a regenerative company by supporting a portfolio of Canadian-based initiatives that work to either actively remove carbon from the atmosphere or prevent future carbon from being emitted.” Along with calculating and validating Walmart’s last-mile emissions, as well as and sourcing and vetting high-quality carbon offset projects, San Francisco, Ca.based EcoCart will also be providing quarterly impact and emissions reporting for Walmart Canada, which expects the program to cut estimated 25,000 tonnes of Scope 3 emissions, those generated in the reporting company’s value chain, annually. The estimated carbon reduction is an equivalent of taking 5,000 cars off the road, according to Walmart Canada, or saving a million trees. “EcoCart is proud to collaborate with Walmart Canada as they become the first major retailer in Canada to offer a carbon-neutral last-mile delivery,” says EcoCart’s chief operating officer Peter Twomey. “It’s so exciting to see industry leaders like Walmart work toward a more sustain-
able future that benefits everyone.” As Twomey points out, EcoCart’s quarterly impact and emissions reporting will enable Walmart Canada the retailer to track estimated emissions and establish benchmarks for its third-party carrier partners. “By funding offsets on behalf of their customers for last-mile delivery, Walmart is making a positive impact on our collective efforts to regenerate the environment,” Twomey states. Operating over 400 retail locations across Canada to serve over 1.5 million consumers per day, Walmart Canada’s flagship online store Walmart.ca is visited by more than 1.5 million customers daily, according to the company. In addition the last mile delivery initiative, Walmart Canada is also planning to accelerate implementation of its Project Gigaton global initiative, introduced in 2019, that encourages the company’s suppliers to reduce their emissions from the global supply chain. So far, 590 of Walmart Canada’s suppliers have made Project Gigaton commitments across six pillars, which include: • Energy; • Waste; • Packaging; • Transportation; • Nature; • Product use and design. Moreover, the company has also announced plans to have its entire fleet to operate alternatively-powered vehicles by 2028, having recently placed an order for some 130 electric-powered Tesla semitrucks. CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
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COVER STORY
Emilie Allen, V-P, Projects & Logistics, Biscuits Leclerc, in front of the fully-automatic model TTM2 high-speed top-load cartoning system built by Syntegon and installed at the Cornwall facility by packaging systems integrators Charles Downer & Co. Ltd.
CLEARING THE BAR Renowned Canadian cookies and bars producer hits the productivity sweet-spot at breathtaking speeds with installation of leading-edge packaging automation technologies By George Guidoni, Editor Photos by Pierre Longtin
CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
A
s companies in virtually every manufacturing industry continue to struggle with hiring enough people to get their operations back to pre-COVID-19 production levels, many of them are turning to automation technologies to future-proof themselves against such disruptions going forward. Among the leading Canadian bakedgoods producers, few have done so to date with the level of technological and operational excellence, along with remarkable foresight and acumen, as the legendary cookies and sweet-snacks producer Biscuits Leclerc Ltd. Headquartered just outside of Quebec City in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que., the family-owned com-
pany has naturally seen and addressed a multitude of other epic challenges throughout its long and illustrious history, which traces back all the way to 1905. To say that the company has managed to overcome them all in good shape would be a huge understatement for a thriving business that nowadays annually produces over four billion snack and nutrition bars, more that 2.7 million kilograms of crackers, and about 21 million kilograms of cookies—adding up to an expansive product portfolio comprising more than 1,000 SKUs (stock-keeping units). As impressive as that sounds, Leclerc’s production levels are poised to soar much higher still following the company’s recent acquisition of a massive 790,000-square-foot facility in Brockville, Ont., which it plans to equip with April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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COVER STORY
Equipped with an integrated HPS (high-performance slicer) unit, the Syntegon HRM flow-wrappers at the Cornwall plant typically run at throughput speeds of up to 800 products per minute per wrapper.
The packaging of nutrition bars produced at the Cornwall facility begins inside the fully-automated Sigpack HGDDE feeder station, where the patented Syntegon automated product distribution system aligns all the bars in perfect rows to enable flawless high-speed flow-wrapping of individual bars at next stage of the seamless production process.
The Sigpack HRM is equipped with dual rollstock film reels in a tightly synchronized configuration the enables on-the-fly film changeovers without any interruption to production.
Syntegon HRM flow-wrapper incorporates robust inline Domino laser coding technology apply permanent best-before dates and other variable product information onto the individual flow-packs. 16
CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
leading-edge automated packaging lines supplied by renowned global packaging machinery manufacturer Syntegon Packaging Systems AG. For Leclerc’s vice-president of projects and logistics Emilie Allen, the choice of its preferred machinery manufacturer was largely a no-brainer, based on the resounding success and operational improvements that Syntegon systems have enabled at Leclerc’s 160,000-square-foot production facility in Cornwall, Ont., the company’ eighth production site, started up in the spring of 2019. Employing about 100 people on a two-shift daily schedule, with plans to expand to three-shift 24/6 production by the end of this year, the Cornwall plant is a dazzling showcase of high-speed, high-performance, fully-automatic packaging machinery running like clockwork, day-in and day-out, with bare minimum of human intervention and supervision. “With the high pressure on labor markets right now, Leclerc Group has continually invested in its facilities with state-of-the-art production equipment,” says Allen, crediting Syntegon’s exclusive Canadian distributor Charles Downer & Co. Ltd. of Richmond Hill, Ont., for doing all the heavy lifting on
the installation and commissioning of turnkey Syntegon packaging lines expertly laid out throughout the Cornwall plant’s packaging are—ensuring continuous high-speed production of high-quality granola and fruit-and-grain bars. “Continuous improvement is a priority at Leclerc at all levels,” Allen states. “We have found Syntegon machinery to be easy to operate and easy to train new employees. “It enables simple and fast changeovers,” she adds, “along with stable operation and easy cleaning and maintenance.” With competition in the baked-goods industry always fierce, it is important for Leclerc to maintain “the highest level of automation possible,” according to Allen. “We need to be able to provide a wide range of different products,” she says, “so the machines need to be flexible enough to handle many different formats and recipes. “The level of automation we achieved with Syntegon equipment allows us to stay productive despite all disruptions.” As Allen explains, “We are a leader in the food industry—recognized for the quality and variety of our products. “We are always attentive to the market CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
trends, and our R&D (research-and-development) department works day after day to develop innovative products that meet the needs of our consumers,” she adds. “We have deservingly won various industry awards for the quality of our customer service.” Boasting several key certifications for product quality and purity—including BRC (Brand Reputation through Compliance) accreditation for food safety, OK Kosher certification, RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) certification and Peanut-free designation—the Cornwall facility is the most automated of all eight operating manufacturing plants Leclerc currently owns in Canada and the U.S., according to Allen. “We are certified to the highest BRC standard level,” Allen states, “which means we are providing the highest level of food quality and product integrity you can find on the market.” Supplying a diverse range of reputable customers in the North American retail, foodservice, institutional and private-label markets, Leclerc is not a newcomer to Syntegon technology, having had installed its first Sigpack brand automatic packaging machine at one of its Quebec locations years ago, and continuing to undertake similar projects ever since. But the remarkably high levels of operational excellence and productivity achieved with Syntegon machinery in CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
After exiting the HRM wrapper, the bars are turned 90 degrees and gently transferred with the overhead PFI linear drive infeed into the TTM2 cartoner, where pick-andplace robotic grippers place individual bars into their exact spots inside the folding cartons passing underneath.
April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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COVER STORY
the last couple of years at Cornwall has prompted Leclerc to move quickly to install similar Syntegon systems at some of its other plants as well. Such genuine endorsement is naturally music to the ears of Jeff Downer, long-time president of the family-owned Charles Downer Co. Ltd. packaging automation integrator and distributor founded by his father Charles. As Jeff Downer recalls, the massive influx of Syntegon machinery at the Cornwall plant began in earnest in 2020, when plant management noticed a significant difference in the performance levels between the first Syntegon line it installed there that year and the original packaging line from a competing machinery manufacturer. Before long, Leclerc was calling on Jeff Downer again to help install more Syntegon equipment in Cornwall, on a far greater scale, to raise the plant’s productivity and efficiency levels to new heights of world-class operational excellence. The sheer size and scale of all the Syntegon machinery assembled and integrated at the Cornwall plant is a testa(Left) ment to the Leclerc family’s long-endurDesigned for ing commitment to automation as a key continuous strategy to growing the company, which operation, the it has done with aplomb over the years Syntegon TTM2 through a series of well-executed expancartoner incorporsions and strategic acquisitions. ates multiple Staubli Along with building an expansive redelta robots to tail national brand portfolio comprising handle all the carton perennial bestsellers such as Celebraforming, loading and tion cookies, Go Pure fruit-and-oat sealing of the bars and Choco Max granola bars, Lemultipack folding clerc is making optimal use of its cartons with new-generation Syntegon technology to exceptional serve a growing list of private-label precision and brand customers across North America. repeatability in one Souring its raw ingredients from single pass, running nearly 400 suppliers, the plant’s bar at the Cornwall plant production process begins in the proat speeds of up to cessing area of the plant, where the raw 120 boxes per ingredients go through all the required minute. ingredients handling, dough preparation, dough feeding, dough processing, baking (for cooked products), cooling and cutting stages. From there, the freshly made bars are directed into the packaging area, where six expertly integrated Syntegon packaging lines take over all the wrapping, box filling and box closing/sealing steps, and directing the filled and coded cartons on to the case-packing and palletizing stations to prepare the product for shipment. Installed in several phases throughout 2020, the three turnkey Syntegon lines at the Cornwall plant primarily consist of: • Fully-automated distribution systems used to align rows of bars and create gaps in the product flow, prior to cross-feeding the bars onto the packaging leg; • Integrated 3D scanning stations for 18
CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
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COVER STORY
“Continuous improvement is a priority at Leclerc at all levels. We have found Syntegon machinery to be easy to operate and easy to train new employees.”
quality control and defect rejection, followed by a contact-less infeed system supplying the bars into the flow-wrappers; • High-speed Sigpack HRM horizontal flow-wrapping machine to group, distribute the bars into sort, pick up and insert the free-flowing bars into the flow-wrap film up to Emilie Allen displays maximum speeds of 1,500 packs Leclerc Biscuits’ per minute; bestselling brands. • The model Sigpack TTM2 integrated top-load cartoner that forms, loads and closes/seals the cartons used to pack the finished flowwrapped products coming off the Sigpack HRM flow-wrapper, with maximum throughput rates of up to 200 cartons per minute. Designed to ensure maximum flexibility and throughput in flow-wrap packaging applications, the state-of-the-art Sigpack HRM horizontal flow-wrapper makes quick work of packing the bars, 20 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
arranged individually or in groups, inside the flow-pack material at film speeds of up to 150 m/min. Moreover, the HRM processes many different types of films, including recyclable mono-material, and—when equipped with the Syntegon’s paperON-Form retrofit kit—even paper. Modules to apply product codes and other required variable product information with inkjet, thermal-transfer or laser product coders can be added as required, while the on-board HPS high-performance splicer provides automatic and reliable splicing at high speeds without stopping the line. The highly versatile HRM is equally adept at producing loose or tight-fitting flow-packs, with or without gusset folding, with longitudinally- or crosscrimped end fins, with straight, zig-zag or clip cut-off. According to Syntegon, the servo-controlled machine’s modular conCANADIANPACKAGING.COM
(Above) A schematic representation of the Syntegon equipment layout at the Cornwall plant. struction is ideally suited to three-shift operation, with strict separation of product or packaging material handling drive elements meeting the highest hygiene standards in the industry. Available in left-hand or right-hand orientation, the machine’s ergonomic design ensures easy access to all machine parts to facilitate comfortable operation, fast conversion to new sizes and shapes. Surrounded by protective guarding to ensure safety and noise protection, the machine is operated via a large touchscreen HMI (human-machine interface) that allows the setting of product-specific parameters and, in case of error, displays a method for troubleshooting. For its part, the Sigpack TTM2 integrated top-load cartoner is also a masterclass of engineering, design and operational excellence that seamlessly integrating multiple key secondary packaging functionalities in one turnkey
solution loaded with performance-enhancing features and capabilities. Requiring just one operator to run and to change over the machine, the Sigpack TTM2 is an integrated top-load cartoner providing reliable forming, loading and closing of cartons at speeds of up to 120 cartons per minute per machine, utilizing a patented tool-less changeover process with vertical restart. The precise carton forming process and the innovative carton transport ensure full carton control throughout the entire process. Like all cartoners in Syntegon’s industry-leading TTM platform, the TTM2 is characterized by its high pack style flexibility that enables it to handle many different box designs and materials—including open and hooded trays, tri-seal closure and tuck-in lid boxes, shelf-ready display cartons and many more. The highly flexible top-loading concept allows for superior secondary pack-
(Above right snd bottom left) The high-precision Robatech adhesive applicatiing system integrated into the TTM2 top load cartoner.
aging of single products, small batches, or up to very large count numbers on the same machine, while also offering many different outfeed options. The powerful combination of end-toend turnkey operation and virtually limitless flexibility has provided the Cornwall facility with a formidable competitive edge in the hotly contested market segment for nutritional bars, says Jeff Downer. “In addition to producing some worldclass national retail brands, Leclerc is also very active in the private label space, where it’s all about producing high-quality products at a lower cost than what brand-owners could do themselves,” Downer explains. “Considering that most producers pay roughly the same price for the ingredients, labor and other production inputs, it really comes down to running your production lines as efficiently as possible, with as few people as possible, to achieve the cost reductions you need at every stage of the process to offer customers a competitive price-point,” Downer elaborates. “Combining Leclerc’s world-class products with the world-class manufacturing capabilities of Syntegon packaging equipment is a win-win collaboration that I am very proud to be a part of,” says Downer, complimenting Leclerc for its proactive approach to investing in leading-edge packaging automation on a continuous basis. “Our best customers are educated customers,” Downer says, “and Leclerc is very well-educated in packaging automation. “They have bought many Syntegon systems from us before, and they all proved to be good investments.”
CONTINUES ON PAGE 24 CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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2022 FCC Food Industry Report Growth amid inflationary pressures The annual FCC Food Report reviews last year’s economic environment and highlights opportunities and risks for Canadian food manufacturers for 2022. This includes an annual sales forecast, grocery sales performance, and a new gross margin index.
Industries featured in the report are: • • • • • •
Grain and oilseed milling Sugar and confectionery products Fruit, vegetable and specialty food Dairy products Meat products Seafood preparation
Figure 1: Gross margins grew in 2021 but remain below historical levels 102
1. Industry gross margins bounced back in 2021 but remain below historical levels Gross margins as a percentage of sales in food manufacturing increased in 2021 YoY but remain below historical levels and below 2019 (Figure 1). Manufacturers have struggled to fully pass on higher labour and material costs for almost a decade. But margins improved slightly in 2021. At the individual industry level, results widely differ, which we dive into in the report.
95.1
95.0 93.6
92
88
Three key observations from this year’s report:
95.1
94
Beverage manufacturers, we didn’t forget about you. We will be releasing a separate beverage report later this year.
be strong.
95.4
96
90
Several external factors impacted Canadian food industries in 2021, which have resulted in higher input costs, amplified labour shortages and upended food consumption patterns. In early 2021, there was hope that the pandemic could soon be behind us; however, new variants provoked more disruptions, restrictions and uncertainty. Despite these challenges, food manufacturers’ performance proved to
99.4
98
• Bakery and tortilla products
Takeaways
100.0
100
93.1
90.2
86 84
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Source: Statistics Canada, FCC Economics
2. Food manufacturing sector to outperform the overall economy Food manufacturing sales increased 14.8% YoY to $125 billion in 2021 (Table 1). This is the strongest YoY sales growth in recorded history (starting in 1992). Increased foodservice volumes and higher selling prices offset volume declines at grocery stores. Food manufacturing sales are projected to increase 7.4% in 2022, driven by: • Historically strong disposable income and accumulated savings in 2021 • Food prices remaining elevated • Robust export markets with food exports representing an estimated 36.8% of overall sales
Figure 2: Most manufactured food consumed in Canada is made
Table 1: Manufacturing sales and exports grew in 2021 All figures in million $ Food manufacturing sales
2021
YoY% change
2020
YoY% change
125,226
14.8
109,104
2.1
46,063
16.9
39,417
5.1
in Canada Imports percent of domestic consumption 100 90
Food exports
Seafood
80 Food imports
31,828
3.4
30,786
Sugar/confection
5.5 70
Food trade balance
14,234
64.9
8,631
3.7
Grocery & specialty food retail sales
116,650
0.4
116,134
10.9
Restaurant retail sales
26,609
23.6
21,525
-37.2
40
Fast food retail sales
33,397
15.6
28,902
-14.3
30
3,921
19.1
3,292
-47.8
20
180,342
6.2
169,853
-5.4
Fruit/vegetable and speciality
60 50
Grain and oilseed milling Other
Specialty food service sales Total estimated food retail sales Source: Statistics Canada
3. Consumption of Canadian manufactured food climbed in 2021 The total share of domestically manufactured food consumed in Canada increased an estimated 1.9% after declining for two straight years. The combination of “buy local” trends and domestic investments boosted Canadian sales. The share of imports relative to consumption as opposed to the share of exports relative to manufacturing sales within an industry provides information about the domestic versus foreign emphasis of manufacturers (Figure 2). Sales within the dairy manufacturing industry almost entirely occur within Canada. Under 10% of the value of dairy manufacturing sales are exported, and under 10% of Canadian consumption is of imported products. On the other end of the spectrum, seafood is more of a global industry. Over 90% of the sales value were exported, and the percentage of imported product consumed was also over 90%. Overall, there’s a lot of two-way trade in the Canadian food industry. For example, nearly 50% of sales in fruit, vegetable and specialty food manufacturing is exported while an equivalent share of domestic consumption is imported.
Food Bakeries Meat Dairy
10 0
0
10
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Exports percentage of manufacturing sales
90
100
The bottom line Economic conditions are evolving rapidly. The labour market continues to be a challenge, and inflationary pressures continue to climb. War in Eastern Europe and economic sanctions also pose a risk to global economic growth, creating food shortages in many countries that depend on commodities from this region, potentially causing a food crisis for millions. Stronger disposable income and higher savings in 2021 will support 2022 domestic food consumption growth, although inflation is diminishing many households’ purchasing power. Margin growth will depend on several factors, the biggest being the COVID pandemic’s evolution and how businesses adapt to interest rates increases and input costs. Kyle Burak, FCC Senior Economist
COVER STORY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 For her part, Leclerc’s Allen says she appreciates the high level of professional customer service consistently provided by Charles Downer’s highly knowledgeable technical and support staff through all stages of the Syntegon equipment installation, integration and commissioning, with more to come at the company’s massive new plant in Brockville. “For us, it is really important to have Jeff Downer involved in our automation projects,” says Allen, pointing out that Leclerc and Charles Downers had already collaborated on many projects even before Syntegon was rebranded from its earlier Bosch Packaging Technology banner. “Being a large company based far away in Europe, it is very important to have the right person here who can reach the right department and communicate our concerns with the right people on the other side,” she explains. “Jeff has been great in supporting us every time by expediting all our questions, quotes and support capabilities to make sure all our Syntegon machinery always runs smoothly and efficiently,” Allen acknowledges. “Our latest machine installation, commissioning and training was handled very well by the Syntegon technician who came on-site to do it,” she relates. “It is very important for us to have a technical resource nearby to help us make whatever adjustments we need to intro24 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
(Above) Performing a multitude of tasks in seamless turnkey operation, Syntegon machinery helps the Cornwall plant save valuable space on the production floor through compact, streamlined and ergonomic machine design. (Above from left) Named after his grandfather and company founder, Charles Downer works as sales representative for Charles Downer & Co. Ltd., headed by the company’s president and his father Jeff Downer.
duce a new product or packaging format.” Moreover, Allen points out that having so many different packaging capabilities incorporated in all-in-one turnkey systems, assembled by a single manufacturer, also provides valuable space savings on the production floor with a more streamlined and compact footprint. “With everything being integrated within the machine, we do not need separate conveyors or other auxiliary equipment taking up square footage,” she says. “The flexibility of the Syntegon machines is very important to us,” Allen reiterates. “We don’t not want to buy a new machine every time we have a new product to launch, so being able to change the size of a box, box shape or a box count just by changing a little tooling, quickly
and safely, is very convenient.” Says Allen, “With the difficult recruitment challenges today making it hard to find enough people to fill all the plant jobs, it is important for manufacturers to achieve the highest levels of automation possible. “For us, the Syntegon machines at our Cornwall facility provide the highest levels of flexibility, speed, precision and safety available in the marketplace today,” she concludes, “and we look forward to installing more Syntegon technologies at our new facility in Brockville and other Leclerc plants.”
SUPPLIERS Charles Downer & Co. Ltd. Syntegon Packaging Systems AG
Please see a video of Syntegon Packaging Systems secondary packaging machinery in action at the Biscuits Leclerc production facility in Cornwall, Ont., on Canadian Packaging TV at: www.canadianpackaging.com CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS
(From left) Canada Meat Group founder and president Oleksandr Zahrebelnyi; vice-president of business development Dmitry Korotkih; and vice-president of finance Ievgen Zaitsev.
THE PRIMAL INSTINCTS Vast industry experience and relentless focus on high product quality help upstart meat processor lay down a solid foundation for future growth By Andrew Snook Photos by Patrick Gilbert
CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
W
hen Oleksandr Zahrebelnyi made the decision to move to Canada from Ukraine just over three years ago to start up Canada Meat Group (CMG), there was no way for him to foresee some of the major hurdles that lay ahead for him. Fortunately, the company’s president and founder had a well laid-out plan and the necessary work experience to make his venture a success. “We used to have a meat processing plant and slaughterhouse in Ukraine. Three years ago, we decided to relocate our business because we understood at that moment the difference in quality of
Canadian beef,” he says. Many of the products Zahrebelnyi was producing in his home country were also halal-certified, and he saw Canadian beef as a good opportunity to build on this business. “It was very important to source to high-quality beef for our customers,” he says. Zahrebelnyi took his time and did some research, travelling to Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario to look for an ideal place to build his new meat processing plant. He ended up making North Bay, Ont., his new base of operations after meeting with a representative from the city’s office of economic development. “He helped us find land in an industrial park, and that was a start,” Zahrebelnyi recalls. April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS
The Supervac automatic vacuum chamber packaging machine installed at the Canada Meat Group meat processing plant in by Reiser Canada is one of several high-performance packaging systems supplied to the upgraded facility by Reiser to raise the operation’s productivity and efficiency levels for the packaging of primal cuts.
26 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
Shovels hit the ground soon afterwards in September 2018, and in March of 2020, Canada Meat Group’s 16,000-square-foot plant was fully operational. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic had just been declared. “One week after COVID started, we got our license for our federally registered plant, and we were under the challenging decision to open the production when everything around us was closed,” Zahrebelnyi says. After a couple of weeks of thinking it over, he and his partners made the decision to start up operations at the plant. This was a particularly difficult decision because Zahrebelnyi had expected to be able to hire and bring over experienced workers from the Ukraine that he had previously worked with, but because of the pandemic that was no longer possible. “So, we started with hiring some people locally,” he recalls, “and that process was very difficult. It was very challenging for all our team members. “At the same time, we did a very good job and now we’ve built—and are building still—a strong, experienced team which now produces now the best quality of Canadian beef,” says Zahrebelnyi, adding the plant currently employs about 20 full-time people. Zahrebelnyi says the labor situation isn’t too bad for finding people who want to work in North Bay, but finding people with experience is very challenging. He says the biggest disadvantage is having to train them, but at the same time, if you’re patient and have a great team to welcome new team members to help them find their place in the company, you will still find success. With the plant’s de-boning operations able to process up to 40 heads of cattle per day, the facility is equipped with a powerful blast freezer that can freeze up to 20,000 kilograms of product daily to complement its wide variety of fresh primal cuts and other meat products. CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
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PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS
(From top) CMG president Oleksandr Zahrebelnyi programming the manual-load Holac Sect 230 portion cutting machine installed by Reiser Canada. The Vemag Robot 500 vacuum filler with PC 878 portion controls. Canada Meat Group’s senior management team posing alongside the state-of-the-art Variovac Optimus thermoform packaging system installed at the North Bay facility last year by Reiser Canada.
28 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
The plant has three different production lines, a deboning process and a frozen process, which Zahrebelnyi says is standard for the industry when you create products from the entire carcass of a cattle. Zahrebelnyi says one of the hot-button issues for the industry today when it comes to meat products is the awareness level of the consumer when it comes to the origins of your products. “How you make your product, how you care for your product, from farm to table, people are thinking more and more now about where these products were produced,” he says. Canadian consumers are very interested in supporting the local economy and buying locally produced products, Zahrebelnyi says, adding that Canada Meat Group offers a “locally and vertically-integrated company with an open and clear story of our products’ production. “We explain where the product was produced and where the raw materials are sourced from,” he adds. Maintaining a strict HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) protocol, the company is federally certified to comply with all the pertinent Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations and halal certifications. The company’s most popular products include ground beef, burgers, steaks and boxed meats. In total, Canada Meat Group produce more than 50 products between its fresh primal cuts and frozen product offerings. That said, Zahrebelnyi and his team are always researching opportunities to offer new products to their customers. “Every day we are working on product development, and figuring out how to best handle those new products at the production site,” Zahrebelnyi explains. When it comes to improving production efficiencies at the plant and finding opportunities to grow the business, optimizing packaging operations has certainly been a priority for Canada Meat Group. The company has invested significantly in its packaging operations since starting up. For its packaging needs, the company has turned to the highly reputable food packaging experts at Reiser (Canada) Ltd. in Burlington, Ont. The relationship between Canada Meat Group and Reiser began a couple of years earlier at the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) meat industry trade show in Atlanta, Ga. As a follow-up to the show, Zahrebelnyi made contact with Reiser’s Canadian sales representative Jeff Kennedy. “Oleksandr was looking for general information at the time. I took a trip up to North Bay and took one of our beef CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
specialists. “We had a general conversation, put together some pricing … and then it all sat for a while,” Kennedy recalls. “Oleksandr was just opening up his plant and he was busy with a lot of other things,” he relates. “These value-added items were certainly of interest to him, but it wasn’t an immediate need. Bringing in the bulk beef and portioning it into primals, that was the focus of the plant at the time—to get it started.” Nevertheless, in 2020, Reiser began supplying Canada Meat Group with various packaging solutions to help the business establish itself. “The first piece we sold him was a Supervac GK-403B line, so this was the next step up for him,” Kennedy says. “He was using a simple double-chamber vacuum pack but wanted the shrink tank to have a more attractive-looking package,” he says, “along with some higher throughput.” The Supervac brand of automatic belt vacuum chamber packaging machines feature a double bi-active high-pressure sealing system, where heat and pressure are applied from above and below the packaging material to produce two superior seals. According to Reiser, the innovative sealing system is designed to eliminate leaks, rework and returns. These machines are designed to handle the production requirements of two or more double-chamber packaging machines, reducing labor costs and increasing productivity. Moreover, the Supervac requires only a single operator to load, run and style the packages. Since that time, Kennedy says Reiser has been there to support Zahrebelnyi in any way it can. “He now relies on Reiser and me for the processing machinery, as well as for things that don’t even involve Reiser directly, like inspection equipment, labeling equipment and fat analyzing. “Anything that he’s looking for he calls me first, even if he knows we don’t sell it, because he knows I’m going to help him out,” Kennedy states. “That’s just the way we work.” After improving efficiencies in their primal packaging business with the Supervac machine, Canada Meat Group decided that the next step would be to get into the burger and ground beef brick market For this initiative, Reiser was again able to supply a packaging solution that met their needs. “We knew that selling him a Vemag Robot500 would do those types of things for him,” Kennedy says. The ground beef and burger business started out well, and Canada Meat Group started attracting interest from retail customers, along with inquiries about co-packing opportunities. CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
(From Top. The high-sensitivity Sesotec metal detector is used to inspect all packaged products for possible metal contamination prior to the final packaging stages. Machine operator making sure each cavity of the Variovac Optimus thermoformer is properly filled and fitted prior to producing perfect four-piece vacuum packs of freshly-made hamburger patties.
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PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS
That triggered another packaging opportunity for the company—namely the Reiser Variovac Optimus thermoform packaging system. Zahrebelnyi says he decided to go with the Variovac Optimus thermoforming machine because of Reiser’s reputation for quality and excellent service, and also because some of his company’s partners had experience with the machine. “This was one of the main decisions for us, which was made with a lot of analysis. We decided this was the best option for us,” he says. The Variovac Optimus thermoformer features a solid steel frame design and a wash down design built for meeting the highest of hygiene standards. The unit is also equipped with an intuitive operating system with a seven-inch touchscreen display, the ability to program and save up to 40 individualized machine recipes, and multiple language options. The unit was installed at the end of 2021 and was able to provide Canada Meat Group the ability to produce a strong retail package. “The equipment from Reiser was very important for us to open the new line,” Zahrebelnyi says. With the Variovac Optimus thermoformer, Canada Meat Group can enhance and diversify its burger production with the addition of home-made style burgers and patties. “We’re trying to be as flexible as pos-
to father to son through three or four generations ... it is a similar situation in retail.” Zahrebelnyi says as a new player in the market, it is sometimes impossible to get the opportunity to meet with larger corporations, especially grocery store chains. At the same time, he says that by being patient, and being able to show why your company stands out from the competition by offering truly unique specialty items, you can still be successful. Kennedy says he and Reiser have a great relationship with Zahrebelnyi and believe that Canada Meat Group has a very bright future ahead. “He may not be my biggest customer, but he’s one of my favourite customers because he’s got so much drive to get things done,” Kennedy states. “He sees things in a Big Picture way, always willing to take risk and jump into sible to fill the voids that already exist in The Variovac things with both feet,” Kennedy says. the market… not just make products Optimus thermo“The future looks bright for him,” Kenthat almost every other meat processor form packaging nedy adds. “There’s no doubt in my mind is selling,” Zahrebelnyi says. he’s going to continue to build his busisystem delivered “We’re a federally licensed plant with by Reiser is ness and move forward. almost all certifications for white and controlled by an “He’s very industrious.” red meat, any kind of products from beef on-board sevThe company just recently added a to veal and poultry, all with or without en-inch touchnew Bizerba model GLM-E 50 labeler halal certification.” with scale to further enhance its packscreen HMI The company also recently obtained (human-machine aging offerings. its organic certification, which Zahrebel- interface) running a “We can now print labels with weight, nyi says will open doors to some user-friendly price and all the information required, it’s co-packing opportunities. fully automated,” Zahrebelnyi says. intuitive operating “We were able to work with him on system for easy As far as future investments go, he that and build and specify a machine not machine programsays the company is looking at enhanjust for what he needed to package today, ming and fast cing its burger production line. but also what might be coming down the recipe change“We’re now thinking to add some road,” Kennedy says, adding that he has overs. additional conveyors to the burger line great respect for the way Zahrebelnyi to increase the speed,” he says, noting manages his business. that the company has been working hard “I admire him a lot, because even if he on offering innovative packaging soludoesn’t have the business [for a new tions for retail stores. machine], he will go out and buy the “We’re working on a ground beef equipment, and then find the business packaging solution to keep it fresh up to to pay for that equipment… he’s quite 21 days. Most on the market are five to the entrepreneur.” 14 days …so we’re trying to get more Zahrebelnyi says it can be extremely flexibility for our customers.” difficult as a new producer to get a foot in “With inflation causing prices to rise the door with some of the major players. on many different products, including “It’s tough. This industry looks like it’s grocery items, having a long shelf-life very big, but at the same time, it’s very can certainly convert into cost savings. tight,” he says, adding that many of the “Every small point where you can save competing companies have long-standone cent, two cents or a couple of dollars, ing relationships with customers that in the end, you can save a couple of stretch over multiple generations. thousand over a year, and it helps a lot.” “You can see a plant that already exists Zahrebelnyi says Canada Meat Group that’s 30-, 40-, 50- or 60-years-old, with is fully equipped and prepared to take on its business is moving from grandfather new partnerships. “We have a federally licensed and fully certified meat processing plant,” he states. “If any meat producer needs some help, we are just one call away. “They can just call us,” he concludes, “and we can help them produce and pack any kind of meat products they want.”
“Every day we are working on product development, and figuring out how to best handle those new products at the production site.” 30 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
SUPPLIERS Reiser (Canada) Ltd. Bizerba Canada Inc. CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
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Citadelle Maple Syrup Producers’ Co-op plant manager Jimmy Fortier cheerfully displays the different packaging formats used by the company to package its premium-quality product at a high-volume production facility in Plessisville, Que.
ELITE PERFORMANCE Rugged industrial inkjet printing system fully earning its keep for the venerable leading maple syrup producer By Pierre Deschamps Photos by Pierre Longtin
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n the world of packaging, the importance of shipping cases and crates often tends to be underestimated or overlooked. Without them, however, few products would ever make the journey to their wholesale or retail customers, or to consumers making their purchase directly from an e-commerce site. To have these bulk containers properly shipped, stored and received, it is imperative to have their contents be clearly identified on one side. As one of the world’s leading producers of maple syrup serving wholesale, retail, foodservice and industrial markets on a global scale, the venerable Citadelle Maple Syrup Producers’ Cooperative knows that properly marking its transit packaging with all the required product codes and other variable product informa-
tion is an integral part of its daily operations, which must run like clockwork to serve its diverse customer base. To do so, the company is making extensive use of rugged industrial inkjet case coding systems manufactured by FoxJet, an ITW (Illinois Tool Works) company based in St. Charles, Mo. Supplied and installed by product identification specialists DMS Marking & Coding of Longueuil, Que., the FoxJet printing technology quickly became an integral part of the Citadelle plant’s endof-line packaging operations by providing a simple, efficient and economical solution. “We supplied the first FoxJet printer to Citadelle a few years ago,” says DMS representative Gérald Charbonneau, describing installation of the initial FoxJet Marksman ELITE system at the plant. “The performance of that equipment CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
(Top) Plant manager Jimmy Fortier holding up a corrugated shipping case, supplied by leading Quebec boxmaker Mitchel-Lincoln, featuring the high-resolution barcode and other required variable product information expertly applied by the MarksmanELITE industrial inkjet case-coding system (bottom left) manufactured by FoxJet. (Left) A stainless-steel Storcan product transfer coneyor directing filled bottles of maple syrup towards the case-packing station downstream. has earned us a request to supply a second and, most recently in 2021, a third one.” Such confidence is testament to the system’s many technological attributes and capabilities, according to Charbonneau. “It’s easy to use, it requires little maintenance, and the drying time of less than a quarter of a second is an important asset in a plant like Citadelle, where the pace of work is very high,” he says. The FoxJet Marksman ELITE is a flexible stand-alone industrial controller that is capable of operating two production lines simultaneously, according to FoxJet, and up to four printheads. Featuring a 17-inch touchscreen with built in on-screen keyboard, the Marksman ELITE controls four Trident ProSeries printheads to print industrial compliant barcodes, graphics, and/or alphanumeric characters on porous maCANADIANPACKAGING.COM
terials and cases at exceptionally high speeds. The 768e printinheads used at Citadelle can produce a complex graphic impressions with a printing height of up to four inches, with 300-dpi horizontal resolution. Housing all the interior cable connections inside, the unit’s rugged stainless-steel casing provides maximum reliability in harsh environments, while the system’s Boxwriter ELITE editor software facilitates fast changeovers and programming with a user-friendly graphical interface that easily guides operators through the required menu functions. Being able to withstand everything that the plant’s busy production process throws its way is one of the system’s biggest attributes at the Citadelle plant, where about 275 full-time employees handle “up to 35 million pounds of maple
syrup every year,” according to Citadelle’s director of corporate affairs Rick Lavergne. As Lavergne explains, that huge total is collected from nearly 1,500 Quebec-based maple syrup harvesters over serval months leading up to September. For the most part, the bulk raw syrup is shipped in over 85,000 barrels—weighing 430 pounds each filled—which Lavergne says “must be carefully disinfected before being returned to producers for their next year’s harvest.” Founded in 1925, the Citadelle co-op is a proud Quebec corporate institution that has truly shone on the world stage over the years—nowadays exporting to 47 countries around the world. A winner of multiple prestigious international awards—including the 2018 Canadian Export Business Award of the Agri-Food Export Group—the Plessisville-based co-op is also keen to retain its April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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PRODUCT ID NOW
(Left) Designed to print high-contrast, high-quality barcodes on porous surfaces, the ProSeries 384e printheads allow allows manufacturers to produce scannable and verifiable barcodes high speeds of up to two inches in height, along with up to 21 lines of text.
chain. “Our transportation costs that have been multiplied by fivefold,” Lavergne confides. On the bright side, the global demand for maples syrup shows no signs of slowing down, Lavergne points out. “Year after year, the appetite for maple products is not fading,” says Lavergne, claiming that the company’s sales actually grew during the pandemic. “In fact, 2020 was our best year in terms of sales,” says Lavergne, citing a pandemic-related shift in the consumers’ buying habits. “Because more people were working from home, they started cooking more than before,” he explains, “and when they wanted to sweeten their recipes, they dominance on home soil as well. Says Lavergne: “We are the only place often switched from refined sugar to where the metal tin can is still used to maple syrup.” As Lavergne points out, there are plenty market maple syrup, which is a long-standof nutritional and health-and-wellness ing tradition in Quebec.” For all the other global markets where reasons underpinning this switch. As the popular Quebec-based Comit ships maple syrup, the cooperative uses glass bottles of many different sizes, which plètement Poireau foodie website excaused some concern during the plains, “Nutritionally, white sugar conCOVID-19 pandemic due to disruption in tains only sucrose and no nutrients “Maple syrup, on the other hand, is one the company’s glass container supply 34 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
(Above right) An overhead product transfer conveyor manufactured by FlexLink gently moving the filled maple syrup containers towards the facility’s end-of-line packaging area. (Bottom left) Stacks of highstrength corrugated shipping trays supplied to the Plessisville plant by Mitchel-Lincoln to ensure safe and secure product shipment and customer delivery.
of the lowest-calorie sweeteners and has fewer calories than an equal serving of honey or table syrup. “In addition, maple syrup is a food with a high aromatic complexity. It contains more than 250 aromatic compounds, including vanilla, sponge bars, marshmallows, chocolate, cinnamon, flowers, etc.” Processed in four different varieties— gold, amber, dark and very dark—Citadelle’s maple syrup is shipped in a broad range of formats, as dictated by customer requirments. For the food processing market, the co-op uses about a uses a dozen formats— including cans, buckets, boxes or barrels— ranging from 1.89-liter to 1,000 liters in volume. For the catering service, Citadelle packs maple syrup in a dozen sizes, ranging from 30-ml single-serve sachets up to the nine-kilogram containers—using bottles, cans, bucket and boxes. For retail sale, Citadelle also offers a wide range of packaging in several formats, including the Smartsak flexible pouch with a drop-proof dispensing spout, signature glass bottles with a patented anti-drip pouring cap-drop, and a variety of standard and custom-made bottles. For a company turning 100 years in just over a couple of years, the future never looked sweeter than now.
SUPPLIERS FoxJet DMS Marking & Coding Mitchel-Lincoln Please see a video of the FoxJet industrial case-coding equipment in action at the Citadelle maple syrup plant in Plessisville, Que., on Canadian Packaging TV at www.canadianpackaging.com CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
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Deliwok 2000 Inc. founder and owner Roger Lévesque has seen his company grow continuously over the last 25 years by developing its expertise in the production of Asian-style appetizer rolls and other innovative finger foods made with high-quality chicken meat.
HARD AT WOK Cutting-edge X-Ray product inspection technology a big boost for quality control and food safety for Quebec producer of beloved Asian appetizers By Pierre Deschamps Photos by Sophie Lavoie
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rowth and investment side breaded chicken and Latin-inspired go hand-in-hand in the fare such as quesadillas and churros. Located in the Henri-Girard indusfiercely competitive food industry, with trial park in Chicoutimi, the main admincompanies large and istrative and commercial center of the small perennially Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, Delilocked in battle for wok has come a long way since it commarket share in just menced operations in 1997. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this about every category out there—from cheese and yogurt to year, the company claims to be the largest producer of imperial rolls and the deli meats and ready-to-eat offerings. While such competition rewards con- second-largest supplier of egg rolls in the sumers with an abundance of choice province, according to the company’s when they go grocery shipping, it also founder and owner Roger Lévesque. “We are Number One in Quebec in the puts enormous pressure on successful food manufacturing startups to keep ex- manufacturing of imperial rolls, with panding and modernizing their oper- about 60-percent market share,” he says, “and Number Two in the manufacturing ations at a relentless pace. More often than not, this means auto- of egg rolls, with a 30-percent share of the mating many production processes and market.” With about 90 per cent of its output methods previously performed manually, which is what an enterprising Que- capacity dedicated to production of pribec-based food producer Deliwok 2000 vate-label products for retail and brand Inc. did a couple of years ago to build on customers like Costco, Thaïzone, Yuzu its success in the market for frozen Asian- and Aki, among others, Deliwok relies style appetizers like spring rolls, along- primarily on local suppliers for the lion’s CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
Installed by PLAN Automation, the Eagle Pro 240 X-Ray system at the Chicoutimi facility is used to inspect every individual piece of product for possible contamination or other serious defects before the products are transferred for packaging downstream.
share of ingredients used in its products—notably poultry meat and cheese— contributing to the local economy. Employing about 45 full-time people, Deliwok carried out a major capital investment upgrade at its Chicoutimi plant in 2019 as part of a larger business strategy aimed at expanding its export markets outside of Quebec. Estimated at about $4.6 million in total, the investment included a 4,800-square-foot expansion of the production facility and, more importantly, installation of various state-of-the-art robotics and other high-speed automatic equipment that significantly increased Deliwok’s productivity. “We had to do something,” Lévesque recalls. “Our imperial rolls were 100-percent hand-made, and our production process was saturated. “At the time, we were just able to meet the demand of our customers, who were ordering more and more of our products,” he relates. “The equipment we acquired at that ime really changed our way of doing things,” Lévesque relates, “while allowing us to reduce a very large number of manual tasks that seriously limited our
ability to increase our production rates.” The influx of automated machinery has enabled Deliwok to install a new production line that can process up to 7,000 imperial rolls per hour in constant 20-minute cycles from making the rolls, cooking them in the ovens, and then freezing the product at -23°C. All in all, the plant currently prodces about five million imperial rolls and three
“The equipment we acquired at that time really changed our way of doing things, while allowing us to reduce a very large number of manual tasks that seriously limited our ability to increase our production rates.” CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
million egg rolls per year on this line, which also boasts a VC999 packaging machine and four Reiser portioners, with capacity to accommodate annual production volumes up to 15 million imperial rolls and eight million egg rolls. According to Lévesque, the spare capacity provides the flexibility the company needs in coming years to grow its business by 15 per cent annually. While Deliwok’s 10,000-square-foot plant has been certified for HACCP (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points) compliance for several years, the management has recently embarked on working to achieve the international GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) certification to open up new market opportunities. Unfortunately, “the COVID pandemic has slowed down,” Lévesque acknowledges, quickly pointing out that the company has nevertheless made the necessary capital investment it needs to complete the certification process. Notably, this investment included recent acquisition of an of an Eagle Pro 240 X-ray inspection system from PLAN Automation, a leading Canadian packaging systems integrator and exclusive April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
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An appetizing sampling of some of the more popular frozen high-end appetizers and finger foods produced by Deliwok 2000 Inc. in Chicoutimi, Que., for a growing list of private-label customers. Canadian distributor for the full range of X-Ray inspection systems manufactured by the Tampa, Fla.-based Eagle Product Inspection. Designed specifically for high-speed inspection of flow-wrap lines, blister-packs and many other kinds of small packaged products, the state-of-the-art system provides reliable detection and rejection of a broad range of contaminants—including glass shards, metal frag-
ments, mineral stone, some plastic and rubber compounds, and calcified bone— to ensure optimal quality control on busy production lines. According to Eagle, the compact high-performance X-ray inspection system is designed for easy cleaning in washdown environments, including fresh, chilled or frozen packaged meat and poultry production lines, dairy products or other food applications where daily
equipment disinfection is mandatory. “It had become necessary for us to have proper equipment that guarantees the safety of our products,” states Lévesque. “The guarantee of safety that it offers us is essential in the markets we serve,” he says, complimenting PLAN Automation for its outstanding service capabilities and fast response. “PLAN Automation gave us exemplary service,” Lévesque says, citing service excellence as prime reason why Deliwok chose to go with Eagle X-Ray technology. “Because of our production volumes, we had to be assured that we would be able to get help quickly,” Lévesque points out. “When we did have a problem, PLAN Automation sent us a technician who solved everything in no time,” says Lévesque, adding the Eagle Pro 240 X-ray system has already proved to be an excellent investment. “The operation of the system is truly remarkable,” he extols. “We are so satisfied with our acquisition that we are seriously considering acquiring a second X-Ray detector from PLAN Automation.”
SUPPLIERS Eagle Product Inspection PLAN Automation
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2022-03-25 7:43 AM
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WEIGH OF THE WORLD Ham processor achieves optimal precision with the next-generation multihead weighing technology
or one long-standing MULTIPOND customer, a renowned German manufacturer of meat and sausage products, quality, craftsmanship and innovation have alwasy been the three core pillars of a sound business philosopy driving the family-owned company’s growth for three generations. As a leading supplier of pre-cut ham cubes, used as meal ingredients or topping acorss a broad range of popular meat dishes and recipes, the company has long made extensive use of multiple-head weigh scales manufactured by MULTIPOND Wägetechnik GmbH, a family-owned German manufacturer of industrial weighing equipment for over 70 years. With the increased focus on food safety in recent years around the world, it was always in the cards that the two companies would remain in close touch. “In recent years, there has been heightened consumer awareness about product safety, quality and hygiene,” says the ham processor’s technical manager, explaining the company’s recent purchase of MULTIPOND’s new MP-30-1000400-J model multiheaded weigh scale for precision wighing of the diced ham chunks. According to both companies, the plant’s limiting height of only 4.5 meters was the greatest challenge for this project, making it imperative to account for every single millimeter in the planning stages. In fact, after installation the gap between the upper end of the system and the ceiling ended up bing just a few millimeters. “This was a very special equipment construction project,” recall the technical manager. “ From our previous experience, it was clear that only MULTIPOND would be able to do this.” In operation, the diced ham is transported onto the platform via an inclined
F
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Made in Germany by MULTIPOND, new J Generation model MP-30-1000-4oo-J multihead weigher is a fully-automatic 30-bucket system enabling leading ham processor to achieve output rates of 12 cycles of 18 packs per minute. belt conveyor, supplied by Gröneweg, while another feed conveyor transports the diced ham onto the MUTIPOND weigher. According to Mutipond, the new J Generation multihead weigher is of the company’s latest machinery range developed specifically for use in food production areas with extremely high hygiene requirements.
“The weigher’s hygienic design was, without doubt, another big reason for our decision to go with MULTIPOND,” the technical manager notes. “MULTIPOND is always a good step ahead of the industry here as a whole.” Once the diced ham has arrived on the weigher, it is first conveyed to the pre-feed hoppers by radially positioned feed trays, and then directed to the CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
The MULTIPOND multihead Generation J weigher’s patented Rise and Fall product distribution system ensures smooth product transfer and highly precise portioning of diced ham into the cavities of the plant’s thermoform packaging machine, to be packed and sealed in 125-gram flexible packages.
weigh hoppers underneath. Using the partial portions, a computer determines the combination that comes closest tohitting the 125-gram target weight for the individual portion. All product contact parts are precisely adjusted to the production requirements and the properties of the diced ham in order to guarantee a smooth product flow. The weigher is controlled and operated using a convenient color touchscreen monitor, while the fully automated calibration of the proprietary load cells ensures the highest accuracy and availability through the integrated calibration in each weighing cell. According to MULTIPOND, it is theonly manufacturer of multihead weighers worldwide with the unique ability to automatically calibrate itself while running. The 30-head weigher is equipped with a three-way outlet, with a motor-driven timing hopper installed under each of the outlets to transfer the ham portions to the downstream transfer system. The gimbal-mounted transfer system is equipped with a special Gröneweg-made reject mechanism designed specifically for this application—acting as an the interface between the weigher and packaging machine. The system’s swivel hoppers distribute the weighed portions into the 6x3 format hopper, after which the patented “Rise and Fall” 6x3 format distribution unit ensures that the portions are transferred correctly into the trays of the downstream thermoforming machine, and that the sealing seams remain dry throut the filling process. The entire system was designed for an output of 12 cycles of 18 packages per minute, with the target weights of the final packages ranging from 75 to 125 grams. The mean value achieved, a decisive criterion for the give-away, corresponds exactly to the target weight, with the standard deviation for 125-gram of target weight being about 1.3-gram. The hygienic design of the weigher is the basis for fast and simple cleaning, and all J Generation multihead weighers have protection class IP 69 as standard. Natrally, the weigher undergo a complete wet-clean process daily, during which the enitire weigher is placed under water. April 2022 · CANADIANPACKAGING
The quick and tool-free removal of product contact parts effectively reduces the system’s downtime for cleaning and maintenance work to an absolute minimum, while a Gröneweg wash wall, also installed on the platform, further simplifies the cleaning processr. “Drawing on its long-standing experience of weighing the most difficult products, MULTIPOND was at our side offering a wealth of knowledge,” notes the ham producer’s technical manager. “Our extremely positive experience with MULTIPOND in the past was yet another key decision factor for our selection. “This weigher is now the fifth multihead weigher from MULTIPOND at our plant.
“All MULTIPOND systems at the plant run almost fault-free and are completely reliable,”he adds, citing “excellent on-site service” as another decisive plus point for MULTIPOND. Employs over 250 people worldwide, MULTIPOND services a diverse global client base in both food and non-food sectors, with each installed system tailored to the customer’s exact requirements. According to MULTIPOND, “We consciously commit to a high level of vertical integration and production. Customer focus has become our corporate maxim.” All of MULTIPOND’s sales and project planning and service are handled by the headquarters in Germany and one of four company subsidiaries operating in France, Holland, U.K. and the US. In Canada, the company’s products are distributed by Abbey Equipment Solutions of Burlington, Ont.
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THE BUFFER ZONE Mixed-case palletizing has often been difficult, if not impossible, to automate. Traditionally, this labor-intensive operation requires material handlers to store the cases for an order until there are enough cases to build the pallet. Recently, many organizations have began the process of automating the storage and sequencing of their goods to make human packers more efficient, but such material handling equipment is expensive and has a large footprint. But with robots getting smarter all the time, making previously challenging applications like mixed-case palletizing possible is easier than ever thought possible. With Mujin-powered palletizers, the robot can buffer and re-sequence cases without the need for
upstream material handling equipment. These palletizers eliminate the manual operation and automate without huge operational and infrastructure changes. “Robots are becoming more intelligent, and new applications such as mixed-case palletizing are now possible,” says Mujin co-founder Ross Diankov. “With Mujin solutions, all warehouses need to do is send the boxes directly to the robots, and they’ll re-sequence them before placing them on the pallet. That’s it. The process is significantly easier, more reliable and much less costly.” With each application, Mujin’s flagship product, the MujinController, controls robots from top robotic arm vendors Fanuc, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Yaskawa Motoman using advanced sensing and real-time motion planning. The MujinController guides the movement of any robot arm via machine intelligence, a new and advanced category of artificial intelligence (AI), which Diankov says automatically manages potential downtime scenarios
through perception and autonomous decision-making, without the need for human intervention. Mujin
THE LUCKY SEVEN Strong, fast and simple, the new lightweight KR1018 industrial collaborative robot from Kassow Robots is strong enough strong enough to perform machine tending with heavy metal and plastic parts, and nimble enough to carry out a broad range of pick-and-place tasks at high payloads. With 18-kilogram payload and 1,000-mm reach, the seven-axis robot provides a cost-effective solution for machine tending, material handling and related industrial applications to complete precise and industrial tasks requiring superior strength. According to Kassow, the
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easy-to-use interface and plug-and-play concept of the seven-axis cobot make it accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) without robot engineers. “The KR1018 is a very strong, compact cobot with a weight of only 34 kilograms, ideal for performing various jobs at industrial companies,” says Dieter Pletscher, the head of global sales at Kassow Robots. “SMEs without their own robotics specialists can achieve complex automation and programming cost-effectively and independently with the KR1018.” As Pletscher explains, the KR1018 is well-suited for industrial applications like machine tending, assembly, quality assurance, palletizing, and pick-and-place packaging tasks. Its unique seventh axis, or “wrist joint,” and the safety-compliant design inherent to the cobot class of automated material handling solutions allow for human–robot collaboration. At just 34 kg, the KR1018 is easy to relocate to perform tasks in different areas of a facility. According to Kassow, the seventh axis gives KR1018 a small footprint (160x160-mm), increased manoeuvrability, and an increased range of motion to perform such tasks as the loading and unloading of heavy parts for the metalworking industry, or heavy lifting in the food-production sector. The seventh axis also enables continuous dispensing, welding and material removal applications, regardless of access angle, without the need to reorient the arm. Kassow Robots
FASTER CYCLES Designed for high-speed production of plastic lids and container packaging, the new six-axis robotic case-packer from Muller Technology incorporates an industrial six-axis robot to deliver highly efficient cycle times of up to 64 cavities every six seconds for lids, and five-second cycle times for containers, according to the company. The six-axis case packer delivers even greater productivity than Muller’s recently launched collaborative robot (cobot) case-packer, says Taras Konowal, Muller’s director of sales and marketing for North America. “The unit is one of our most productive systems for high-volume packaging lines, offering higher cavitation for the manufacture of blowmolded bottles and thermoformed packaging,” says Konowal. With fast changeovers for different size configurations, the new case-packer can operate as stand-alone, or be integrated into Muller’s new fully automated M-Line system for even greater flexibility in the production of injection-molded packaging products. Muller Technology Colorado 42 CANADIANPACKAGING · April 2022
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PASTA WITH GUSTO Manufacturer of gluten-free pasta ramps up its manufacturing capabilities with continuous-process cooking and cooling line equipment to maximize production output By Jim McMahon ocated in Madison, Wis., Tribe 9 Foods (Tribe 9) is a highly innovative specialty foods company dedicated to creating delicious, nourishing and functional food. Over the last four years, the company has built industry-wide reputation for producing truly exceptional fresh and cooked, traditional and gluten-free pastas for retail, foodservice, contract manufacturing and private label customers throughout the U.S. Through its signature Taste Republic brand, Tribe 9 manufactures an extensive selection of gluten-free pastas including : fresh gluten-free spinach fettuccine; fourcheese tortellini and lasagna sheets for retail; and heat-and-serve ziti, penne, shells and macaroni for foodservice customers. Always prioritizing product quality, Tribe 9 produces gluten-free pasta with a true al dente texture that, coupled with the finest all-natural ingredients, results in the freshest all-natural pasta possible, as evidenced by the growing market share that Taste Republic has earned among gluten-free brands. “Today our fresh pasta is sold to grocery stores and restaurants across the nation,” says Peter Robertson, vice president of foodservice and past guru atTribe 9 Foods. “We believe fresh pasta can be gluten-free and still have the same amazing taste and texture as traditional pasta,” Robertson states. “That’s the standard each of our products has to meet before ever making its way to our customers’ plates.” In 2019, Tribe 9 built a new manufac-
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turing facility to further support growth in Taste Republic’s co-manufacturing, private label and foodservice businesses. Capabilities at this new facility included extrusion, IQF (individually quick-frozen), form-fill-seal and flow-wrap packaging, nut butter milling, and gluten-free flour blending. “Although the facility was designed for small batches, it is still state-of-the-art,” says Robertson. “It includes the capability to produce gluten-free foods; fill individual and industry/bulk containers from consumer packages to 1,200-pound totes; extrude and fill pastas; and using the IQF freezing method, giving us diverse and unique competencies. “In the new plant we expanded our singular gluten-free, fresh product line to three lines,” Robertson continues. “We also added a line for our gluten-free filled-pasta process for ravioli and tortellini, and a second large IQF freezer for the quick-frozen pasta line. “All in all, we added five new production lines when we moved into this building.” As Robertson relates, having all these technologies integrated in one modern facilities has enabled Tribe 9 to enjoy complete control over manufacturing process and safety protocols, as well as product quality. One of the key new technologies introduced to the plant was a continuous process for cooking and cooling pasta. In 2017, Tribe 9 implemented a continuous-process pasta cooking and cooling system using a rotary-drum process to support its gluten-free pasta line.
Tribe 9 vice-president of foodservice and pasta guru Peter Robertson researching gluten-free ravioli recipes at the company’s R&D kitchen.
This system slowly moves the pasta through an enclosed perforated drum— submerging the product in water—using an auger or screw to control the dwell times. The pasta is hydrated and cooked to the same degree throughout the movement in the drum from entry to exit. It is then transferred into a cooling system, using a similar continuous process, and conveyed to the IQF freezer. “Once we had this system installed we quickly maxed out its capability,” explains Robertson. “We also saw the downfalls of working with this particular continuous-process system. “It was very difficult to clean because so many of the parts had to come off. “We realized the time savings that could be had, and reduced labor hours, with a more automated clean-in-place (CIP) system.” With sanitation and clean-up times being critical factors for food processors, speeding up the sanitation process with faster changeovers not only reduce labor hours, Robertson points out, “but also provide the flexibility to run a variety of different products daily on the same line. “To handle our heightened volume needs of cooked gluten-free pasta, we added another line, and this time we opted for a cooker and cooler with a very complete CIP capability,” says Robertson, describing recent installation of the CleanFlow continuous-process systems. Manufactured by Lyco Manufacturing (Lyco), the Clean-Flow continuous-processing system was developed for cooking and cooling pasta, vegetables and potatoes, and designed specifically to meet the urgent needs for food safety, quick change-overs and faster clean-up time for food processors. Utilizing separate, but connected machines for cooking and cooling, the CleanFlow design permits pasta to be entered
The Clean-Flow past cooker, manufactured by Lyco, installed at the Tribe 9 Foods pasta production facility in Madison, Wis. CANADIANPACKAGING.COM
into the cooker, and then slowly moved through the cooking zone. The system’s precision-made screw auger resides in a stationary wedge-wire screen, encapsulates the screw from the 3:00 to 9:00 o’clock position. The tolerance between the screw and the screen is very close, less than one-half a grain of rice. As Lyco’s area sales manager Travis Vergenz explains, “The water agitation system, called Hydro-Flow ,is injected through the screen which keeps the pasta off from the floor of the screen, where it is maintained in total suspension. “It distributes the product loading across the width of the machine more evenly, uniformly treating each pasta particle,” Vergenz relates. “Additionally, a gentle mechanical stirring action is applied on the pasta as it progresses through the machine.” The pasta is cooked to the same degree throughout its movement from entry to exit, with the screw controlling dwell times, ensuring uniform first-in/first-out processing. This totally-enclosed, continuous-flow process ensures consistent quality of the pasta, whereby each food particle smoothly moves through the process with no breaks or variations in time, sequence or temperature. “AtTribe 9, the pasta runs through the 40-inch-diameter by seven-footlong cooking Clean-Flow system, then is immediately put through another 30-inch-diameter by sevenfoot-long Clean-Flow cooling system to stop the cooking process,” Vergenz continues. “The cooling system is identical to the Clean-Flow cooking system in
The continuous-process pasta cooking and cooling line at the Tribe 9 Foods plant. process steps and functionality, including Hydro-Flow and the gentle mechanical stirring action.” After the Clean-Flow cooler chills the pasta temperature down to 40°F (4°C), the food particles exit the cooler onto a shaker table, distributing the products onto a stainless-steel belt, and then conveyed straight into the freezer. After passing the continuous-freezing IQF process in a liquid nitrogen tunnel, the particles of frozen pasta exiting the freezer they are quickly packaged inside totes and put into deep-freeze storage, pending distribution. The system’s pre-programmed PLCs (programmable logic controllers) ensure a highly-controlled process and recipe management for precise automated control of cook and cool functions, including time and temperature. This results in uniform heating and cooling, says Robertson, along with totally consistent end product.
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Handling 2,400 pounds of cooked gluten-free pasta per hour, two shifts daily, the new line produces a consistent product of less than one-percent defect rate, while reducing clean-up and changeover times to less than 40 minutes. “We are finding it increasingly difficult to procure qualified machine operators,” Robertson notes, “so designing systems that are more intuitive to operate makes a significant impact on improving our machine and line uptime, product quality and overall plant performance. “Clean-Flow is definitely such an intuitive system.” The innovative combination Clean-Flow cook-and-cool system at Tribe 9 processes approximately 60,000 pounds of gluten-free pasta weekly, with more than 99 per cent of the fragile pasta remaining undamaged the rigorous process. According to Lyco, Clean-Flow is designed to reduce clean-up from hours to minutes, because the screw
is totally exposed for cleaning. During clean-up the wedge-wire screen is released from its fixed position, and is continually rotated 360° around the screw, alternately exposing the interior and exterior of the screen to CIP manifolds located in the cover of the machine. The screw can be rotated at the same time as the screen, again exposing all surfaces to the cleansing water sprays. With this capability, the CIP can clean more than 98 per cent of the machine surface areas without manual intervention. “A critical reason why we decided to go with Clean-Flow was because of the reduced time to clean the system,” Robertson points out. “Although The Clean-Flow line for cooked gluten-free pasta is our biggest processing line, its is now the easiest to clean. “We run the line two shifts daily, five days per week,” he says, “and the CIP system, from start to finish, including filling and heating the water, is about 40 minutes,” he extols. “What we save in cleaning time and labor is just amazing.” Adds Robertson: “We are currently adding another 23,000 square feet of space to aid our production potential, and we are poised to minimally double our sales volume with our current facilities. “It is innovative processing systems, like Clean-Flow, which are critical to Tribe 9 Foods maintaining its successful positioning in the market as a premiere alternative pasta maker.”
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Rittal Systems Ltd., Mississauga, Ont.-based subsidiary of leading German power distribution and back-up systems manufacturer Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, has announced the appointment of current Rittal North America executive vice-president Andreas Ruzic to an additional senior management position as chief executive officer of the company’s Rittal USA business unit in Schaumburg, Ill. Montreal-headquartered distilled spirits and wine products group Moët Hennessy Canada, part of the Frenchowned global luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, has appointed Nick Robinson as managing director.
corporate affiliate WAGO Corporation has appointed Michelle Brown as new product manager for the company’s PCB Interconnect line of terminal blocks and pluggable connectors. Mentor, Ohio-headquartered Avery Dennison Corporation’s Label and Packaging Materials division, headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, has appointed Tina Hart as vice-president of sales, and Bill Podojil as vice-president of sales excellence and enablement for the company’s North American business.
distributor of plastics extrusion and converting machinery, has appointed Kyle Haley as the new aftermarket sales manager for the upper mid-west territory—including the wester n Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan—and Ken Vargas (bottom picture) as the aftermarket regional sales manager for a territory comprising the U.S. states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, as well as all of Mexico.
division; • Anne Hardee, vice-president of human resources; • Ger r y Four nier, vice-president of operations; • Greg Silva, vice-president of finance. Romeoville, Ill.-based BW Integrated Systems has appointed Karl Odegaard as vice-president of operations.
Durst Image Technology U.S., LLC, Rochester, N.Y.-based supplier of wide-format inkjet digital press technologies and imaging systems manufactured by its Italian parent company Durst Phototechnik AG, has appointed Phil Hamson as national sales manager for Canada.
German motion plastics manuf acturer igus GmbH has announced Meech International , for mation of the management leadership U.K.-headquartered manufacture or static team for the company’s Burlington, Ont.-headcontrol and web cleaning igus North America quartered industrial solutions for packaging, subsidiary in Proviconnection components and devices distributor converting, food production and dence, R.I., comprising: Glendale Heights, Ill.-based All WAGO Canada, Inc. has other industrial applications, has • Tom Miller, vice-presiappointed Jeremy Martel appointed Adam Battrick as chief dent of the igus dry-tech Printing Resources Inc. (APR), supas regional sales manager operating officer. division; plier of printing equipment and for the Montreal North supplies for flexographic printing • Jo e Ciringione, territory, while its Ger- Davis-Standard, LLC, Pawcatuck, applications, has appointed Mike vice-president of the mantown, Wis.-based Conn.-based manufacturer and Williams as vice-president of sales. igus e-chain systems 22_0540_CN_Packaging_APR_CN Mod: March 4, 2022 2:12 PM Print: 03/18/22 page 1 v2.5
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EVENTS
APRIL 20-22 Montreal: SIAL Canada, global food industry technologies showcase and conference by Comexposium. At Palais des congrès de Montréal. www.sialcanada.com
MAY 25-29 Birmingham, England: Packaging Innovations & Empack 2020, packaging materials and technologies exhibitions by Easyfairs. At the National Exhibition Centre. www.packagingbirmingham.com
JUNE 21-24 Munich, Germany: Automatica 2022, international exhibition for smart automation and robotics by Messe München. At Messe München fairgrounds. www.automatica-munich.com
APRIL 26-29 Cologne, Germany: Anuga FoodTec 2022, global trade fair and conference for the international food and beverage industry, by Koelnemesse GmbH. At Koelnemesse fairgrounds. www.anugafoodtec.com
MAY 30 - JUNE 2 Hannover, Germany: Hannover Messe 2022, global manufacturing technologies fair by Deutsche Messe. At Hannover Fairground. www.hannovermesse.de
JUNE 28 – JULY 1 Shanghai, China: Labelexpo Asia 2022, international labeling materials and technologies showcase and coference by Tarsus Group. At the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC). www.labelexpo-asia.com
MAY 3-6 Milan, Italy: IPACK-IMA 2022, global packaging and processing technologies exhibition and conference by Ucima Group. At Fiera Milano. www.ipackima.it MAY 10-11 Boston, Ma.: Robotics Summit and Expo, industrial and commercial robotic systems exhibition and conference by WTWH Media. www.roboticssummit.com
JUNE 6-9 Detroit, Mich.: Automate Show 2022, industrial automation technologies exhibition and conference by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). AT Huntington Place Convention Center. www.automateshow.com JUNE 14-17 Mexico City: EXPO PACK Mexico, packaging and processing technologies exhibition by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. At Expo Santa Fe México. www.expopackmexico.mx
SEPT. 12-16 Munich, Germany: Drinctec, global trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industries by Messe München. At Messe München fairgrounds. www.drinktec.com SEPT. 19-21 Toronto: 2022 Canadian Stewardship Conference, by PAC Global. At the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. www.canadianstewardship.com
SEPT. 28-30 Toronto: MeatEx Canada, international meat industry exhibition by Farasoo Holding Corporation. At the Enercare Centre. www.meatexcanada.com OCT. 11-19 Düsseldorf, Germany: K 2022, global plastics and rubber industries technology showcase by Messe Düsseldorf. At the Düsseldorf Exhibition Center. www.mdna.com OCT. 23-26 Chicago: PACK EXPO International, packaging and processing technologies exhibition by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. At McCormick Place. www.packexpo.com OCT. 25-26 Niagara Falls, Ont.: OCBC22: Ontario Craft Brewers Conference & Suppliers Marketplace, annual conference and trade show of Ontario Craft Brewers. At the Niagara Falls Convention Centre. www.ocbconference.com
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mid the doom-and-gloom business stories stemming from COVID-19 forcing us into isolation and limiting our contact with others, it is nice to see a company innovating in the foodservice space by adapting familiar technology in new ways. While stopping by the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus recently, I noticed a vending machine in a high-traffic corridor. Instead of the usual snack treats of chocolate bars, chips, cookies, pop and sugary drinks, this machine was stocked with fresh, healthy, ready-to-eat meals. Operated Toronto-based start-up Daily Blends, the modernized cashless vending machine accepts tap and chip-and-pin payment and student meal-plan cards to provides delicious ready-to-eat dishes meals that are packaged in clear PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic round jars with wide-mouth white screw top lids—with both components 100-percent recyclable. The wide-mouth opening makes it easy to enjoy the meal directly from the container—using the biodegradable forks from a dispenser located next to the machine. The Daily Blends hand-crafted dishes are perfectly portioned with three different sizes of containers, using 250-ml size for Overnight Chia Pudding; 500-ml for Jerk Chicken with Rice and Beans; and one-liter for Mexican Bean Quinoa Salad. Each lidded container is topped off with a tamper-evident paper seal strip running through the center of the lid and onto the container walls underneath, with product information clearly displayed on the strip in bold black type. To confirm freshness, a best-before sticker is applied near the transparent film-printed brand logo label on the front of the jar, with the well-lit machine making it easy for students to confirm the product’s freshness. It’s all a far cry from my college days of lining up in the cafeteria for an order of fries with gravy, and often regretting rot he rest of the day. I enjoy seeing my staple products shake thing up from time to time with special commemorative packaging, as with the limited edition for Lunar New Year Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution distributed by Montreal-based Kiehl’s
(Top) The Daily Blends vending machine and pre-packed food containers filled with fresh hand-crafted salad mixes. (Bottom from left) The Lunar New Year special-edition packaging for the Clearly Corrective skin-care formula; different-sized cans of Collective Project and XMG brands of new cannabis-infused beverages.
Canada. of Montreal. Developed through a creative collaboration n with Chinese artist Mojo Wang, the red upright folding carton—is festively decorated made from FSC-certified sources, features on the front panel the celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year with an endearing tiger caricature illustration, surrounded by lanterns and balloons, embracing a golden koi fish and flanked by tiger-face dragons— all symbols of good luck fortune .The back panel of the lush carton has an equally lively illustration of the Lunar New Year being celebrated New York City’s China Town, the actual birthplace of this popular skin-care brand. The festive design is replicated inside with the extra-large 100-ml cylindrical clear glass bottle, with the builtin white glass dropper subtly decorated with white lines reminiscent of tiger stripe. Being born under the astrological sign of the Tiger, I find this packaging to be a delightful and highly creative feast for the eyes. The national rollout of Cannabis 2.0, the
second phase of legalizing marijuana in products such as edibles, topical ointments and beverages, has been a boom for many businesses, big and small, despite the strongly-worded regulations set out in the Government of Canada’s packaging and labeling guide for cannabis products. Based in the west-end Toronto suburb of Etobicoke, Truss Beverage Company is a joint-venture company—owned by brewing giant between MolsonCoors Canada and licensed cannabis producer HEXO Corp.—dedicated to development and production of cannabis-infused beverages. While the strict regulations don’t really offer much room for truly creative branding opportunities for now, the company’s XMG brand is doing the best it can to make a lasting consumer connection. The brand name itself a playful nod to the 10-mg of total THC ingredient contained in the 236 ml cans, shrinksleeved in solid rich fuchsia to denote the tropical fruit flavor of the beverage. With the regulation-required standardized cannabis symbol placed near the product name, the bright color helps break up the sanitary monotony of the yellow cannabis health warning message dominating the bottom portion of the container. The top of the container features the requisite child-resistant plastic can lock, secured with a tamper-proof excise with the standard “Duty paid in Canada” declaration. Not to be outdone, Tecumseh, Ont.-based Peak Processing Solutions has teamed up with Ontario craft brewer Collective Arts to market the Collective Project brand of cannabis-infused beverages containing ing a more moderate dose of five grams of THC. The sleek 355-ml slim-profile can is wrapped in a self-adhesive turquoise paper label to provide clean product disclosure and ingredients use to make the drink, a pleasant blend of mango, pineapple and coconut flavors. Personally, I find unified packaging design across the category to be quite appealing, and I appreciate the creativity of the package designers to differentiate products through deft logo design and color choices, without running afoul of existing rules and regulations governing this exciting new market.
ELENA LANGLOIS is a freelance writer and social media influencer living in Toronto.
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