Canadian Packaging November 2018

START SPREADING THE NEWS Leading-edge vision system hits the traceability sweet spot for Canada’s leading organic fruit spreads and jams manufacturer Story on page 13

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UPFRONT

MAKING AUTOMATION AS EASY AS ABB

NOVEMBER 2018 VOLUME 71, NO. 11

SENIOR PUBLISHER Stephen Dean • (416) 510-5198 SDean@canadianpackaging.com EDITOR George Guidoni • (416) 510-5227 GGuidoni@canadianpackaging.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Alanna Fairey • (416) 510-5228 afairey@canadianpackaging.com MEDIA DESIGNER Brooke Shaw • (519) 428-3471 bshaw@annexbusinessmedia.com ACCOUNT COORDINATOR Barb Comer • (888) 599-2228 ext 210 bcomer@annexbusinessmedia.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Anita Madden • (416) 442-5600 x3596 AMadden@@annexbusinessmedia.com VICE PRESIDENT Tim Dimopoulos • tdimopoulos@annexbusinessmedia.com PRESIDENT & CEO Mike Fredericks 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.

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N

o two packaging trade shows are ever exactly alike, especially when it comes to the highly dynamic and ever-evolving PACK EXPO series of packaging industry showcases produced by the venerable industry group PMMI-The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

But if there’s one thing you can safely count on, it’s that you will always see more robots on the latest PACK EXPO show f loor than at the previous edition of the event—performing a far more diverse array of tasks than the straight-up carton palletizing or highspeed picking-and-placing of various objects fed into the robotized workcells.

Nothing really says automation without actually saying it as emphatically as a robot going about its business with unerring precision and unwavering dedication, and seeing hundreds of these marvels of industrial automation drawing hordes of show visitors to the exhibitors’ booths is really a sight to behold.

This evolution of robots from their one-time status as packaging oddities and curiosities to packaging necessity did not happen overnight, of course, but it has been greatly accelerated in recent years with the rapid development of new-generation collaborative robots (cobots), whose human-like appearance and movements remove a lot of intimidation from human-machine interaction in the workplace.

Not surprisingly, forward-looking CPG (consumer packaged goods) manufacturers can’t seem to get enough of them these days.

According to PMMI’s timely recent report titled Automation in CPG Companies, cobots are expected to account for 34 per cent of all industrial robotics sales by 2025—representing more than a tenfold jump from their current share of the market.

Although their use in packaging at the moment still lags behind other manufacturing applications, “Of

START SPREADIN THE NEWS G

13 SPREAD THE JOY by George Guidoni

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. ©2018 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

those that are embracing the technology to address workforce and efficiency, an overwhelming 86 per cent report an increase in productivity,” according to the report’s findings.

“Within that 86 per cent, nearly one in five users indicate significantly increased productivity,” PMMI adds. “From an ROI (return-on-investment) point of view, 78 per cent report that whether it be a decrease in labor costs or an increase in output, cobots directly increase their company’s earnings.”

This growing acceptance of cobots in the workplace is driven primarily by rapid advances in AI (artificial intelligence) technology that frees up robots from tightly enclosed and closely-guarded workcell environments to allow them to work in close proximity to their human counterparts.

“From integrated vision capabilities to mimicking human kinematics, to the utilization of simple teach pendants, today’s cobots are equipped to help CPGs fill labor gaps, maximize a smaller footprint and mitigate worker safety and product contamination risks,” says Jack Uhl of the Consumer Products Group for Yaskawa America, Inc.’s Motoman Robotics Division.

In other worlds, it’s no longer a question of why invest in robots, but rather why not? Yes, the times they are changing indeed, one great show at a time.

COVER STORY

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE PER YEAR (INCLUDING ANNUAL BUYERS’ GUIDE): Canada $77.00 per year, USA $135.00 US per year, Outside Canada $153.50 US 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.

Milk or cream?

Leading-edge vision system hits the trace for Canada’s leadin ability g organic fruit spreads and jams sweet spot manufacturer Story on page 13

Leading Canadian organic spreads and jams producer takes product traceability to the next level with new-generation product tracking technologies.

Cover photography by Naomi Hiltz

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS FEATURES

3 UPFRONT By George Guidoni 4 NEWSPACK

Packaging news round-up.

5-6 NOTES & QUOTES

Noteworthy industry briefs.

8-10 FIRST GLANCE

New technologies for packaging applications.

11 ECO-PACK NOW

The latest on packaging sustainability.

12 imPACt

A monthly insight from

PAC, Packaging Consortium 39 EVENTS

Upcoming industry functions.

40 CHECKOUT By Megan Moffat

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INSIDE: PRODUCT ID NOW

• CANNING

19 OFF THE BEATEN PATH By George Guidoni Cottage country craft brewer responds to growing market demand for its premium products with capacity expansion and canning line overhaul.

24 LEADERS OF THE PACK By George Guidoni Montreal label producer growing its footprint via strategic acquisitions and continuous improvement.

28 OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS By Alanna Fairey Producer of premium pet treats raises its product coding game with new case-coding technology.

32 MONKEY BUSINESS By Alanna Fairey Up-and-coming popcorn producer has big plans to put some extra zip into the staid marketplace.

35 FIVE REASONS WHY Knowing when your packaging could use a refresh.

37 FLEXIBLE TRANSFORMATION By François Olivier Betting the farm on flexible packaging.

NOVEMBER 2018 • CANADIAN PACKAGING WWW.CANADIANPACKAGING.COM • 3

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NEWSPACK

PACK EXPO MAKES A POSITIVE STATEMENT ON THE INDUSTRY’S STATE OF HEALTH For a few days last month, Chicago’s majestic McCormick Place Convention Center near the southern edge of the city’s downtown turned into the Mecca of the North American packaging industry—welcoming over 45,000 visitors to the four-day PACK EXPO International 2018 trade show.

Held nearly a full month ahead of its traditional early to mid-November time-frame, the biennial event provided plenty of credibility to the show’s long-established status as North America’s biggest packaging event with a virtually endless display of live operating machinery—spread over 1.25 million square feet of combined exhibit space—filling the air with happy constant hum of highly automated equipment handling a broad assortment of packaging products fed continuously onto its infeed conveyors by many of the show’s 2,500 buoyant exhibitors.

With the U.S. economy currently growing in leaps and bounds, the show’s collective display of upbeat enthusiasm served as a perfect backdrop for the event’s producer PMMI-The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies to deliver a fittingly optimistic assessment of the packaging industry’s current state of health.

In his first-day welcome to the attending media, PMMI vie-president of market development Jorge Izquierdo (picture on left) was all smiles in relating that the U.S. market for packaging grew at a record-setting pace in 2017 to surpass

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the US$10-billion benchmark for the first time in history.

“Eighty per cent of that spending on packaging machinery and supplies came from U.S. manufacturers,” Izquierdo pointed out, adding that the manufacturers surveyed for PMMI’s recent stateof-the-industry report expects the bullish growth to continue for the next five years.

According to PMMI’s recently released Global Tends Impacting the Markets for Packaging Machinery study, current global megatrends of rapid population growth, a thriving middle class, higher consumer spending in the developing world, and heightened concerns over sustainability all point to sustained robust market demand for packaging machinery across Asia Pacific, EMA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and the Americas regions.

Coupled with growing demand for f lexible packaging, primarily pouches, and so-called ‘smart packaging’ add-ons such as QR (quick response) codes and augmented reality, the PMMI report forecasts the global market for packaging machinery to grow from US$36.8 billion in 2016 to US$42.2 billion by 2012—representing CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 2.8 per cent.

By machinery segment, PMMI is predicting the fastest growth for horizontal form/fill/seal (HFFS) machines (3.2 per cent), fill and seal systems (3.1 per cent), and labeling, decorating and coding technologies (3.0 per cent).

As in the past, the food industry sector remains the largest market for packaging machinery manufactures at 40 per cent and the beverage industry the second-largest at 30 per cent, but the pharmaceutical market is expected to be the fastest-growing end market for packaging equipment in that time with a CAGR of 4.1 per cent—driven by strong demand for new serialization solutions to combat the proliferation of fake medicines.

According to PMMI’s director of business intelligence Paula Feldman, a lot of that anticipated growth can also be traced directly to the unfolding boom in e-commerce and online shopping, which will present CPG (consumer packaged goods) manufacturers and brand-owners with a whole new set of packaging challenges to resolve with next-generation packaging technologies.

“There is a lot of growth in the whole logistics market based around the need to package and track the product as it makes its way through this new retail channel,” Feldman stated.

“There is also a keen focus on developing so-called ‘frustration-free’ packaging, minimizing the packaging, right-sizing the box, and thinking of all those other things that will impact consumers directly at home, rather than at a retail outlet,” Feldman reasoned.

“This is really going to be a challenge for the CPG companies, who will need to be fast, efficient, integrated and profitable,” said Feldman, noting that the leading e-commerce colossus Amazon is already urging many of it retail vendors to rethink their current ‘box within a box’ packaging mindset.

With the grocery industry slowly migrating to the e-commerce channels, Feldman says the current e-commerce market in North America, estimated at about US$4 billion, has the potential to grow many time over to reach over $600 billion by 2020, if all the pieces fall into place just right.

“In this environment, the CPGs have to think of their packages as units rather than cases, whereby packaging engineers will have to think about packaging that will have to cross two different channels,” Feldman said.

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NOTES & QUOTES nEndFlex is the new name of a Florida-based packaging machinery manufacturer previously operating under the moniker of Eagle Packaging Machinery LLC as The PopLok tray-forming system is part of the Mont- one of the more poplar machines real-headquartered manufactured by EndFlex.

Paxiom Group.

Specializing in of secondary and end-of-line automated packaging solutions including case-erecting, trayforming, case-packing, and robotic pick-and-place automation, the company remains under its current management structure. “At our core, we have always manufactured f lexible end-of-line solutions [and] the name EndFlex provides focus on what we do best— provide our customers with solutions tailored to their needs of today and tomorrow,” states vice-president Nicholas Taraborelli. “In a crowded marketplace of commodity like products, we will continue to stand out as a supplier that listens, innovates, and delivers on time and on budget.” nGlen Falls, N.Y.-based water-bottler JUST Goods, Inc. has picked the Best Packaging Solution award at the recently-held 15th Global Bottled Water Congress in

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Evian, France, for the company’s popular JUST water brand packed in the Tetra Top carton bottle manufactured by global aseptic packaging product manufacture Tetra Pak. According to the international judging panel the JUST Water brand of water—launched in the U.S. in late 2015 and—sourced from the Glens Falls watershed in the Adirondack Mountains—was selected as a category winner for being a “solid brand with a clear message” and delivering a product that appeals to the consumer in an economic, pragmatic and responsible way. “We are delighted to see JUST Water winning such a prestigious award,” says Charles Brand, executive vice-president of product management and commercial operations at Tetra Pak. “This confirms that carton packaging is very relevant for the water product category, especially for brands that want to do more for the environment without compromising convenience and functionality for the consumer.” Adds JUST Goods chief executive officer Ira Laufer: “We believe a package should protect and deliver its contents with minimal environmental impact, and with the Tetra Top package being made from 82-percent renewable resources, primarily FSC-certified paperboard and bio-based plastic derived from sugar cane, this package allows us to provide our customers a better solution, while fulfilling our global mission of reducing plastic pollution.”

nFeaturing innovative shapes, optimized printing techniques and eye-catching design graphics, the Nivea Body Mousse from Beiersdorf and the Eyeris Fox Can from Ball UK have been selected as winners of the World Aluminium Aerosol Can Award 2018 competition of the International Organisation of Aluminium Aerosol Container Manufacturers (AEROBAL), held recently in Düsseldorf, Germany. Produced by German manufacturer Tubex, the Nivea Body Mousse was elected the competition’s winner in the category for products already on the market—impressing judges with can’s unusual conical shape achieved using socalled ‘spline’ technology to create particularly fine transitions that avoid shadowing on the tube surface.

For its part, the Eyeris Fox Can was chosen as winning entry in the competition’s prototype category for the significantly improved reproduction of photorealistic elements on the can’s surface without digital printing.

Originally developed for Ball Corporation’s beverage business, the Eyeris technology enables 360-degree printing with unprecedented precision and in up to nine colors to reproduce images of faces, human skin and other complex and richly detailed surfaces like those of plants, fruit and f lowers.

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NOTES & QUOTES nFortis Solutions Group has completed the acquisitions of Georgia Printing and Labels, Flowery Branch, Ga.-based full-service printer of labels, packaging, folding carton; and Austin Label Company, manufacturer of custom pressure-sensitive labels used in the wine, spirits and food markets. With the acquisition, Virginia Beach, Va.-based Fortis Solutions now employs over 440 people across 10 manufacturing locations in the U.S., operating as a portfolio company of private equity group Main Post Partners. “We are excited to grow our organization with the acquisitions of these two great companies,” says Fortis Solutions president and chief executive officer John Wynne. “The acquisitions of Premier and Austin fully support our growth strategy of product, end-market and geographic diversification [and] we look forward to

extending our new folding-carton capabilities across the to achieve cost-savings of about $200 million by the end of fiscal 2021 through variFortis footprint.” ous synergies and performance improvenAtlanta, Ga.-headquartered corrugate d packaging ments stemming from the integration of products manufacturer WestRock Company has com- KapStone operations into WestRock’s corpleted the acquisition of KapStone Paper and Pack- rugated business. aging Corporation in a deal that significantly expands OhioWestRock’s presence on the U.S. Wet Coast. “The addi- nCincinnati, f lextion of KapStone enhances our differentiated portfolio of headquartered paper and packaging solutions and will enable us to serve ible packaging product our customers better across our system,” says WestRock’s manufacturer ProAmchief executive officer Steve Voorhees. “We look forward pac has picked up a Gold to delivering on the opportunities that the addition of Award in the 2018 Awards KapStone provides for our team, our customers and our for Packaging Innovastockholders,” says Voorhees, adding WestRock expects tion competition of The Dow Chemical Company for the novel four-sided, tetrahedron-shaped E-Z SnackPak pouch it developed in partnership with PepsiCo Mexico Foods for the Doritos Icognita tortilla chips. The recognition represent the second major award the package has picked up this year, having received the 2018 Star Pack and Packaging Award from The Mexican Association of Packaging (AMEE) last June. “The E-Z SnackPak is a unique format that’s literally changing the shape of f lexible packaging,” says ProAmpac’s chief commercial officer Adam Grose.

According to ProAmpac’s senior innovation engineer Alex Jones, “The E-Z SnackPak replaces traditional pillow pouches using up to 25 per cent less material. It is easily opened to form a serving tray that is shareable and where users can even pour salsa— both of which are popular in the Mexican snacking culture.”

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nB.C. Jindal Group, one of India’s largest business conglomerates, has competed the acquisition of Treofan Europe, a major European manufacturer of BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) films for packaging, labeling and technical applications with three production facilities located in Germany and Italy. “I am looking forward to joining forces, as the combined experience and knowledge of the two teams will further strengthen the group,” says Jindal Films Europe chief executive officer Manfred Kaufmann. “Merging both businesses will allow us to accelerate the group’s growth and to become the most innovative solution provider for recyclable packaging.” nLeading French packaging systems and equipment manufacturer Sidel Group has completed the acquisition of PET Engineering Srl, Italian manufacture of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic containers for the global food-and-beverage and personal-care industries. “With packaging increasingly playing a key role in any marketing mix, we are confident that Sidel’s and PET Engineering’s complementary strengths in packaging design, qualification and blowing process will bring the Sidel Group more business opportunities, while offering customers a diversified choice of partners to materialize their creative requirements,” says Pavel Shevchuk, executive vice-president of services at Sidel Group.

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© 2018 WestRock Company. All rights reserved. WESTROCK and the WestRock logo are trademarks of WestRock Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates.

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FIRST GLANCE

CHICAGO CROWD PLEASERS Innovative technologies command attention to detail at PACK EXPO International 2018 DOUBLING UP FOR TWICE THE FUN Hailed as the world’s first truly collaborative dual-arm robot, the dual-arm YuMi robot from ABB Robotics is designed for working to work collaboratively on the same tasks with humans, while still ensuring the safety of those around it. Originally designed specifically to meet the flexible and agile production needs of the consumer electronics industry, the dual-arm YuMi is equally effective in any any small parts assembly environment—including packaging assembly—thanks to its dual arms, flexible hands, universal parts feeding system, camera-based part location, lead-through programming, and state-of-the-art precise motion control. “YuMi makes collaboration between humans and robots a reality,” said ABB chief executive officer Ulrich Spiesshofer. “It is the result of years of research and development, and it will change the way humans and robots interact.” The YuMi cobot’s inherently safe design employs a lightweight, yet rigid magnesium skeleton covered with a floating plastic casing wrapped in soft padding to absorb impacts, and the robot’s compact, human-like dimensions and human

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movements make their human coworkers feel safe and comfortable around it. If YuMi senses an unexpected impact, such as a collision with a co-worker, it can pause its motion within milliseconds, and the motion can be restarted again as easily as pressing play on a remote control. Moreover, the YuMi robot has no pinch points, so that nothing sensitive can be harmed as the axes open and close. According to ABB, “The YuMi robot is an important element of our ‘Internet of Things, Services and People’ strategy of creating an automated future together.”

ABB Robotics

LABELING FLEXIBILITY AT FULL SPEED AHEAD The new EvoDECO Multi labeler from Sidel Group takes labeling system modularity to the next level with a standardized carousel that can be equipped with up to four different labelling technologies—rollfed, selfadhesive, cold-glue and hot-melt—to allowsmanufacturers to set up the machine for their unique labeling needs. According to Sidel, the highly flexible system easily lets them as they can easily apply several types of labels to different types of containers and packaging materials (PET, HDPE, glass) of varying formats and dimensions (from 0.1-liter to five-liter) on a single machine at speeds from 6,000 up to 81,000 containers per hour, easily switching between various labelling modules with its plug-and-play connections. Allowing for 36 layout configurations and a faster changeover time, the EvoDECO Multi has been designed to deliver at least 98-percent efficiency with non-stop labeling, as well as ensure lower TCO (total cost of ownership) through reduced electrical consumption, lower maintenance time, and optimized glue management. Developed to handle all label types, even ultra-thin labels, with utmost precision, the new EvoDECO Multi labeler features an open, frameless structural design to facilitate open-access cleaning and maintenance, while the new brushless motors integrated into the carousel and the labelling stations remove the need for periodic lubrication.

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For more information, please contact us at +1 905-639-6878 or by email at info.ca@flexlink.com.

flexlink.com

FlexLink is part of Coesia, a group of innovation-based industrial solutions companies operating globally headquartered in Bologna, Italy. www.coesia.com

FIRST GLANCE KLIKING RIGHT INTO PLACE

Featuring sanitary design with IP65 washdown rating, the new Kliklok MEC (Mid-range Endload Cartoner) machine from Bosch Packaging Technology can handle a wide range of packs up to 170 cartons per minute for products as small as 0.75-inch thick single-serve pizza to a four-inch-tall cake while meeting the highest food safety standards, according to the company. “The Kliklok MEC was designed to meet our customers’ needs for future-proof sanitary construction and ease-of-use and maintenance with fast, tool-less changeovers and remarkable machine access,” said product manager Janet Darnley.

“We surveyed our customers on what they wanted and we delivered. One additional feature we added as standard is open-flap detection to avoid opened or partially opened cartons exiting the machine—a quality requirement in our customers’ minds.” Especially well-suited for the frozen foods, refrigerated/ prepared foods, bakery, snack and confectionery industry applications, the Kliklok MEC features a patented rotary carton feeder to erect cartons in the direction of product to facilitate up to 30-percent greater ‘carton-open’ time to allow for the use of carton board with a higher recycling content, delivering end-users tangible savings in material costs, while the machine’s straight-pick motion reduces wear on suction cups and its short rigid bars minimize deflection. To meet the most stringent sanitary standards, the system’s open-channel stainless-steel frame and angled surfaces eliminate the risk of product or debris accumulation, while all the electrical cabinets are mounted overhead for enhance operator and to assist unobstructed operator access, with machine’s full-length doors allowing personnel walk-in access for maintenance and changeovers. According to Bosch Packaging, the tool-less and easily repeatable changeovers on the Kliklok MEC machine can be completed by one operator in 10 to 12 minutes by using the new Bosch HMI 4.0 touchscreen termincal to guide operators through the process step-by-step.

Bosch Packaging Technology

CONTINOUS PRINT QUALITY IMPROVEMENT Designed to provide maximum uptime and error-proof operation, the new Videojet 1580 continuous inkjet (CIJ) printer from Videojet Technologies Inc. utilizes individual printer consumption data to assess and offer advice on improving the way the printer is used to achieve lower total cost of ownership. Using on-screen alerts to provide expert diagnostics, analytics and guides to help users correct printer problems that can adversely impact line productivity, the Videojet 1580 system’s SIMPLICiTY user interface helps to eliminate potential user er-

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rors through an intuitive, tablet-inspired 10-inch touchscreen display, while its advanced printhead features automatic set-up, calibration and adjustment to help facilitate consistent performance with minimal operator intervention. The system’s proprietary Dynamic Calibration feature automatically adjusts to any changes in temperature and viscosity, while the optional built-in reserve tank protects production under normal operating conditions by continuing to run for a minimum of eight hours after the fluid cartridge is empty—providing ample advance notice to replace it. The software’s built-in wizards allow users to customize the interface to help ensure that the operators only see the options they need by programming error-proofing rules help define editable fields, permissible data types, date range restrictions, etc., while the system’s intelligent message creation capabilities leverage user-definable message rules that can automate code content without the need for operator interaction, according to the company.

Videojet Technologies Inc.

LENDING A HELPING HAND The innovative new HANDJET EBS-260 industrial inkjet printer from EBS Ink-Jet Systems is a fully portable, compact handheld inkjet printer equipped with an electromagnetic valvebased printhead, a battery and wireless control to provide users with a lightweight 1.5-kilogram printing solution for endusers requiring the freedom of marking, coding and labeling of their products at any place and at any time of their choosing. as the major criterion of choice. Offering all the basic capabilities of typical inkjet printers, the HANDJET EBS-260 printer uses non-contact printing technology to make durable and legible prints on a variety of types of smooth, porous and also uneven surfaces of irregular shapes such as pipes, barrels, bags, boxes, construction materials and elastic objects.

EBS Ink-Jet Systems

DRIVEN BY AUTOMATION INNOVATION Designed to reduce machine footprint and control cabinet space requirements, the new space-saving AMP8000 distributed servo drive system from Beckhoff Automation integrates a servo drive directly into a servomotor to relocating the power electronics directly into the machine, with its ultra-requiring the control cabinet to compact design a control cabinet only needs to house a single coupling module in module in order to supply power to multiple servo drives with a single cable. Available in two flange sizes, the AMP8000 distributed servo drive system uses EtherCAT P technology to provide EtherCAT signals and power over one cable to control up to five distributed AMP8000 servo drives to enable implementation of even complex motion systems within a remarkably small footprint.

Beckhoff Automation

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2018

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ECO-PACK NOW

DANONE PLEDGES REAL ACTION ON CIRCULAR ECONOMY Leading French multinational food products manufacturer Danone has announces a series of new commitments and actions to ensure its packaging will become 100-percent circular as part of the company’s efforts to accelerate the global transition towards a circular economy of packaging.

Announced in late October, the company’s comprehensive action plan is based on three main initiatives that include: • Improve product design and develop alternative product delivery and reuse models; • Develop effective, efficient and inclusive systems for increased collection and recycling of used packaging; • Preserve natural resources by reintegrating recycled materials into the company’s product packaging and developing the use of renewable materials.

“We believe the time is now to step up and accelerate, embrace our responsibility, and work with others to engage a radical shift that will help free the world from packaging waste,” says Danone’s chairman and chief executive officer Emmanuel Faber.

“We will be acting both at global and local level to ensure circularity of packaging becomes the new norm by announcing a series of investments and commitments that, I believe, will have a concrete impact.

“These will be amplified as we collaborate with industrypeers, governments, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations, startups and the finance sector to harness new technologies and invest in new solutions.”

According to Faber, Danone plans to ensure that all of its packaging is designed to be 100-percent recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025, with special emphasis on eliminating the use of problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging.

While the company claims that 86 per cent of its packaging is already recyclable, reusable or compostable— with its popular evian brand bottled water sold in 100-percent recyclable containers—it plans to phase out the use of shrinkwrap film for beverage multipacks by switching to speciallydesigned adhesive-and-tape handles.

Moreover, Danone says it plans to introduce alternatives to plastic packaging or single-use packaging in all of its water markets by 2025, while also helping to develop alternative solutions to plastic straws.

Acknowledging the need for more effective packaging collection and

recycling infrastructure to make packaging more circular, Danone us also pledging to go beyond the collection targets set by regulators, such as the minim 90-precent collection target to be set for EU (European Union) countries for 2025.

“To achieve this, we will we will support the most effective publicly organized collection and recycling systems, including EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) and deposit-return scheme systems, when relevant,” the company points out in its Danone Danone Canada employs about 500 people at its head-office and Packaging Policy action plan, which is posted online at central dairy products facility in Boucherville, Que., producing popular www.danone.com/content/dam/danone-corp/ 91529_SunChem-Renewable_CP (Canadian Packaging) T: 7.875” x 10.75” x 11” Probiotic L: 7” x 10”and Oikos Organic yogurts. national brand suchB:as8.125” Activia

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COVER STORY

NATURAL PRESERVATION Countryside manufacturer of organic fruit jams and preserves refines its product traceability competencies with leading-edge vision system for optimal field-to-plate product transparency

BY GEORGE GUIDONI, EDITOR PHOTOS BY NAOMI HILTZ

L

ife is not always a bowl of cherries for companies competing in the hotly contested market for fruit spreads, jams and preserves these days.

But for hard-working enterprises like Crofter’s Food Ltd. in Parry Sound, Ont., reaping sweet rewards of steadfast commitment to healthy nutrition and all-natural organic product formulation is a fitting tribute to the nearly 30 years of continuous product innovation and process improvement at the fruit and berry processing business operating amidst full natural splendour of the UNESCO-listed Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve archipelago in Northern Ontario.

Founded in 1989 by company president Gerhard Latka, a native of Bavaria with a bear-like stature and a heart of gold he practically wears on his sleeve, the family-owned company processes and packages a diverse variety of fruit spreads, conserves, and jellies made from apricots, blackberries, oranges, concord grapes, four fruits, mangoes, cherries, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries and wild blueberries in reduced-sugar recipes that today’s health-conscious consumers can’t seem to get enough of.

With a firm commitment to organic farming and the use of all-natural ingredients right from the outset, “we were one of the very early organic producers of any sort of organic products around,” Latka recalls.

“Making organic product when organic wasn’t even yet a thing in consumers’ minds made it difficult to find enough farmers to meet our production needs in the beginning,” Latka recounts, “but that changed over time as more consumers became knowledgeable about organic foods.

“We were finally able to achieve 100-percent organic production about seven years ago,” he beams, “which was a very important milestone for us.”

Another important milestone in the company’s history was the 2016 startup of a brand new greenfield manufacturing facility just outside of Parry Sound in Seguin, Ont., which cost over $19 million to build and equip with state-of-the-art processing and pack-

Crofter’s Food Ltd. founder Gerhard Latka shows off a freshly-filled 16.5-ounce glass jar of Crofter’s Premium Spread Seedless Raspberry next to the METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision vision system, which is the latest of several METTLER TOLEDO technologies deployed along the new high-speed packaging line housed at the company’s $19-million second manufacturing facility just outside of Parry Sound in Seguin, Ont.

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COVER STORY

A close-up of the black-and-white checkered QR (quick response) code generated on the back of each product label by the Domino D620i model laser coder (inset) manufactured by Domino Printing Sciences, which can generate virtually unlimited lines of text in just about any size, font or orientation.

aging systems that have enabled Crofter’s to solidify its market-leading credentials in the natural products segment of the industry.

“We now produce over 170 different SKUs (stock-keeping units) at the new facility and our original smaller plant in downtown Parry Sound,” Latka relates, explaining the multitude of process improvements and production efficiencies enabled by the new plant, which currently employs 56 full-time people working in single 10-hour shifts, five-days-a-week.

“Making this big investment into our new plant provided us with a rare onetime opportunity to make sure that we do everything right from the get-go,” Latka told Canadian Packaging during a recent visit to the lively Seguin facility that can package up to 150,000 jars of product per shift, depending on product and container sizes.

“We have invested a lot of money into top-quality, automated production and packaging equipment to optimize line efficiencies and to increase line speeds,” says Latka, relating details of massive multiphase expansion that more than tripled the company’s production capacity, while enabling it to process larger-sized jars for important new Club Store retail customers.

Starting with the addition of new warehousing and freezer space on the site, the Seguin facility was expanded to 75,000-square-feet in 2013 to accommodate the influx of new processing systems for cooking, filling, pasteurization and cooling, as well as high-performance labeling, case-packing and palletizing equipment.

After adding an on-site zero-wastewater treatment facility and more packaging line upgrades such as robotic order-picking, inline checkweighing and laser-based product coding technology shortly after, the company continued its modernization overhaul by fully automating its heating, cooling and other building systems to make them more energy-efficient.

This went hand-in-hand with implementing a new enterprise-wide SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) software system for real-time monitoring, gathering and processing of all the production data generated by the plant’s operations.

“The end goal was always to make this factory a truly ‘smart’ plant,” says Latka, clearly pleased with the results of SCADA implementation so far.

“It gathers all the important production data in our plants—including process temperatures, filler speeds and counts, labeler performance, palletizer throughputs, machine faults, missing caps and so on—and we can use that data to optimize operator performance and enhance the management of all our critical control points,” Latka explains.

With the new data collection capabilities in place, Latka saw a unique opportunity to optimize the new plant’s unique new product traceability system, developed

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The unique orientation of the Domino D620i laser coder was required to enable precise positioning of the QR code within the preprinted black box on the back label.

in-house, relying on the use of two-dimensional QR (quick response) barcodes to provide both its retail customers and consumers with a wealth or product information on the back label of every single jar coming off the plant’s packaging line.

“We have very widespread distribution throughout North America,” Latka relates, “and a lot of these retailers have very strict requirements for food safety and traceability.

“With traceability being key for us, we track every lot number of the product coming in and going through our processing system,” says Latka, citing recent installation of a leading-edge CI-Vision V2630 vision system, supplied to the plant by product inspection specialists METTLER TOLEDO Canada Inc. “That traceability extends right through to the jar itself, the case in which that jar is packed, the store-shelf where the product is placed, and all the way to the consumer, whereby they can scan the QR code to provide information on wheth-

The Seguin plant makes extensive use of the signature-blue SEW-Eurodrive electric motors to provide optimal power distribution and control along the plant’s network of food-grade conveyors transferring product from the filler on to end-of-line packaging.

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2018

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COVER STORY er the product may be affected by any sort of a product recall.”

Says Latka: “Anyone with a smartphone can scan the QR code and be directed straight to our web page to check out the status of the product, whether it’s affected by any recall or not, while also provide additional product information, like where were the apricots in their jar came from, for example.

“This is all pretty leading-edge stuff for the food industry right now,” Latka points out. “At the moment, this level of product traceability can only be found in the pharmaceuticals and electronics industries.”

Developed in-house, the plant’s unique QR traceability systems is based on high-speed application of a permanent QR code that is burnt into a designated black box printed on the back of product labels, which are applied onto filled glass jars of product by the inline Langguth labeling system at line speeds of 250 containers per minute.

Looking like a checkered white-on-black square, the QR code is burned into the pre-printed black box by a strategically-positioned Domino D620i model laser coder that emits a powerful laser beam onto the black box’s top surface to burn off the top black layer in 60 milliseconds (0.06 of a second) flat—right during the brief “dwell time” before the container is rotated inside the Langguth labeler to apply the rest of the label.

Manufactured by Domino Printing Sciences, the model D620i coder employs a powerful 60-Watt laser and a high-speed I-Tech scanhead to generate a unlimited lines of text in virtually any size, font and orientation, but for Latka’s needs, the main issue was to ensure precise positioning of the laser head to produce a good quality QR code within those critical 60 milliseconds.

“With the label itself applied to the jar in 250 milliseconds, it was critical to get the laser do its thing in the 60 milliseconds stop/dwell time when the Langguth labeler temporarily stops and sends a signal to the Domino laser to make the code.

“Everything has to be very precise at these speeds,” says Latka, extending credit to Domino’s local support team for sticking through the whole process of finetuning the laser’s timing.

“The first laser we used turned out to be not strong or powerful enough to burn the QR code in the required 60 milliseconds,” he recalls, “but full credit to Domino people for fully standing behind their product until the end by upgrading us to the D620i model.

“Being able to produce a QR code in 60 milliseconds is a spectacular achievement that required a lot of thinking and testing,” Latka extols, “and our people worked hard with the Domino technical staff to make it happen.

“Each unique QR code serves as the name of the jar and provides consumers with the lot number for that jar, so that every consumer who wants more information can use the smartphone to scan it and find out exactly what batch this product was made in,” Latka enthuses.

While this alone would be enough for many other food producers, Latka decided to raise this traceability competence to the proverbial next level with installation of a leading-edge vision system to verify the readability of the QR codes, as well as confirm that each label perfectly matches the product for which it was intended.

Developed by METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision, part of the Swiss-headquartered parent company’s product inspection business, the model V2630 vision system installed on the plant’s Langguth model E-65 rotary 16-station inline labeler uses three cameras to execute various quality control checks on each and every passing label right after the QR code has been applied by the Domino laser.

“The cameras used by the CI-Vision system are quite amazing,” Latka extols. “It can show us a twisted label, a missing label, a damaged label, verify the UPC code, the shape of the jar, the color of the product, the cap code being properly applied in full … just about anything that we can teach the system to detect for us.”

According to Latka, the installation of the vision system has been of great benefit to the line operators, who were previously tasked with ensuring that the right labels always went onto the right product.

“The problem was that our bilingual Canadian product labels look very similar to the U.S.-bound English-only labels in terms of decoration and graphics on the labels,” Latka says, “which could easily result in labeling mix-ups.

“We simply can’t have a Canadian-labeled jam ending up in California, which would definitely result in a costly recall,” Latka says.

“With the new line being so fast, we decided that it was time to take this burden off the operators and not have them always working behind the eight-ball.

“That’s a prescription for chaos,” Latka asserts, “and chaos is very costly in our business.

“Now we just teach the cameras what a proper label should like and off they go—taking a shot of every label on every jar and comparing them against our selection.”

The high-speed rollfed inline Langguth model E-65 rotary 16-station labeler at the Crofter’s Food plant in Seguin,Ont., can apply decorative product labels onto the various-sized glass containers at speed of up to 250 labels per minute, while also preprinting the strategicallypositioned black box on the back of each label to provide a printing surface for the Domino D620i laster coder to burn in a QR code right after labeling.

A close-up of one of the high-speed cameras deployed by the METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision model V2630 vision system taking continuous pictures of the passing jar of product to verify correct label placement and perform other quality control checks as required.

Mounted on custom-designed swiveling brackets assembled by the Crofter’s Food in-house staff, the METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision model V2630 vision systems help ensure optimal quality control performance and barcode verification on the plant’s packaging line at speeds of up to 250 jars per minute.

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COVER STORY Davor Djukic, national sales manager for product inspection products at METTLER TOLEDO Canada Inc. in Mississauga, Ont., concurs.

“The beauty of these vision systems is that there are virtually no speed limitations,” Djukic says,“or the types of inspection tasks they can be taught to perform.

“It can inspect the position of the label, the readability of the barcode, the best-before date, print quality on the label or the cap, the integrity of the cap, the presence of the cap, etc.,” Djukic explains.

“While the METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision system here at Crofter’s uses three cameras, it can be easily expanded to six.

This provides ‘future proofing’ and the ability to add critical control points upstream and/or downstream on the line

as requirments evolve—all managed from a single HMI (human-machine interface) terminal, which would provide full coverage for every jar from the top, bottom and each of the four sides.

“Moreover, these vision systems can be integrated with METTLER TOLEDO’s own ProdX data collection system, so that the plant management can have real-time access to what is exactly happening on the line at any given moment.”

This extra data collection capability is an especially attractive feature for Latka, who says the company already makes good use of the “tremendous” amount of data generated by the METTLER TOLEDO Hi-Speed inline checkweigher system installed on the new line about a year ago.

“The new METTLER TOLEDO checkweigher makes

The inline METTLER TOLEDO Hi-Speed checkweigher provides highly accurate verification of the fill weight of each passing jar of product, while generating an enormous amount of useful production data that Crofter’s Food can use to fine-tune its packaging line operations.

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sure that every single unit going down the conveying line for shipment gets weighed to determine the exact fill weight that will meet both Canadian and U.S. guidelines for what constitutes proper fill weight,” Latka says.

“By checking every unit so thoroughly, the checkweigher also generates a tremendous amount of data that we can use to optimize our average fills upstream in the production process.”

In addition to the METTLER TOLEDO checkweigher and vision systems, the Seguin plant also deploys a METTLER TOLEDO Safeline metal detection system to inspect the bulk product before it makes its way to the filling stations to ensure optimal food safety and quality control at that critical stage.

“We also have a METTLER TOLEDO metal detector at the original smaller facility, which has held up extremely well under very stressful high-speed, high-moisture conditions for many years to help us maintain our high product quality and protect our brand reputation.

“We buy our key raw ingredients worldwide so we have to be ready for anything,” says Latka, explaining that all the data related to incoming product is also entered into the plant’s product management system and, ultimately, transferred to final QR code appearing in the product label.

As for the CI-Vision cameras installation, “We are really grateful to METTLER TOLEDO and Shawpak (METTLER TOLEDO’s nationwide sales agent for product inspection equipment) for what was really a flawless execution.

“It’s always difficult to integrate new

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COVER STORY

A close-up view of the QR codes being generated inline on the back of product labels (see black squares to the left and to the right of the light-emitting sensor) within a 60-millisecond (0.06-second) time frame, with all fumes generated by the laser etching process immediately captured by the strategically-positioned fume extraction system.

Installed at the Crofter’s Food plant by Shawpak Systems of Oakville, Ont., the ITEC-Food Technology sanitation station provides personnel with comprehensive sole cleaning and controlled hand disinfection for safe product handling.

The images of pictures taken by the METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision V2630 vision system are clearly displayed on the system’s touchscreen HMI (human machine interface) in real time to alert line operators of any irregularities in respect to label placement, cap sealing integrity, and many other quality checks performed by the system along the selected critical control points on the high-speed packaging line.

equipment into an existing technology like the Languuth labeler, but METTLER TOLEDO engineers did a great job of integrating the vision systems right where it made the most sense to place them,” says Latka, also extending credit to his own staff for making the perfectly fitting brackets to facilitate precise mounting of the cameras.

“It was a real joy to see our own people executing all the prep work so well, that when the METTLER TOLEDO technical staff arrived on-site, everything was all done and dusted in just one day,” he beams.

“As it happens, there are new nutrition labeling requirements to be introduced soon in both the U.S. and Canada that will makes us design new labels for our products,” Latka relates, “and as we do that we plan to have all of our Crofter’s brands to carry our QR codes on the new labels.”

Latka estimates the company produces about 60 of

its current SKUs under its own flagship Crofter’s Premium Spread, Crofter’s Just Fruit Spread and Crofter’s Superfruit Spread brands—each one carrying USDA organic and Non-GMO Project certifications validating the products’ purity—and says he looks forward to converting the company’s entire branded portfolio to the QR traceability system.

“We opted to do this on the Crofter’s brand first in order to prove the benefits of this technology to our private-label customers and see if they would like to adopt it themselves,” Latka says.

“I believe that doing this underlines our company’s commitment to seriously addressing the issues of Please see Mettler Toledo’s CI Vision V2630 system in operation at the Crofter’s Food packaging line on Canadian Packaging TV at www.canadianpackaging.com

food safety and traceability to satisfy the ever-growing requirements of our retail customers across North America,” says Latka.

“Moreover, it also validates our company’s corporate culture and philosophy built on continuous improvement,” Latka concludes. “And because there is only so much continuous improvement we can achieve on our own, at some point further continuous improvement can only be attained by implementating new technology from our trusted technology partners like METTLER TOLEDO and Domino.”

SUPPLIERS Mettler Toledo Canada Inc. Domino Printing Sciences Langguth America SEW-Eurodrive Co. of Canada Ltd. Shawpak Systems Ltd.

NOVEMBER 2018 • CANADIAN PACKAGING WWW.CANADIANPACKAGING.COM • 17

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CANNING

OFF THE BEATEN PATH Iconic cottage country craft beer producer rises its game to the next level of brewing and packaging excellence with leading-edge canning line automation

BY GEORGE GUIDONI, EDITOR PHOTOS BY NAOMI HILTZ

L

ife may be a journey, according to ancient wisdom, but as one of Ontario’s most popular craft beer labels suggests, it would be a pretty boring ride without a few adventurous and memorable detours along the way.

Produced by the privately-owned craft brewer Muskoka Brewery deep in the heart of the province’s famed Muskoka cottage country in Bracebridge, Ont., the aptly-named Detour brand of India Session Ale perfectly captures the spirit of the company’s ongoing quest to reward Ontario’s beer drinkers with unique new beer experiences that will enrich their appreciation of the art-and-science of craft brewing with premium-quality, all-natural beer products suitable for any social occasion or moments of laid-back recreational leisure.

Started up in 1996, the company has never been shy about leveraging the popular images of the Muskoka region as an ultimate cottage getaway to differentiate its products on the shelves of LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) and The Beer Store outlets—with the iconic Muskoka deck chair always a key graphic element of its playful, light-hearted product packaging and branding.

Making the most of its highly dedicated staff and solid branding and packaging competencies, Muskoka has build up a solid year-round product portfolio also comprising the Muskoka Craft Lager, Cream Ale, Shinnicked Stout, Mad Tom IPA and its higheralcohol content counterpart Twice as Mad—complemented by a diverse variety of seasonal limited-time offerings launched throughout the year.

Along the way, the popular brewer became a highly-respected local community leader, sponsoring and engaging in a vide variety of local social causes, while notably becoming the first microbrewer in Ontario to make a public pledge to pay a “Living Wage’ to all of its employees, now numbering well over 100 full-time staff.

In a region where regular full-time employment is fairly scarce after the peak cottage and tourism season dies down by late fall, such gestures go a long way to building enduring brand loyalty among the local population and, in fact, throughout the province’s craft been industry and beyond.

“We’ve been around long enough to have taken part in the great growth we’ve seen in the craft beer industry, and we continue to outpace a tightening market.

“In fact, this year will be one of our biggest volume growth years ever,” says Muskoka Brewery president Todd Lewin, who heads the company alongside majority owner Bob MacDonald, a big Muskoka Cream Ale fan who first invested into the brewery back in 2008.

That investment helped finance the brewer’s move

Muskoka Brewing’s production manager Brett Stevenson poses in front of the Krones Craftmate 24-head volumetric rotary filler installed as part of a brand new, fully-automatic turnkey Krones canning line at the brewer’s production facility in Bracebridge, Ont., which has undergone a series of substantial capital upgrades to boost its output capacity.

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CANNING

A heavy-duty electric motor from SEW-Eurodrive (inset) provides optimal power distribution and control for the operations of a fully-automatic depalletizer used to unload the layers of aluminum cans supplied to the Bracebridge plant by Crown Beverage Packaging.

Manufactured by ASCO Numatics, the FlexiBlok FRL Series air filter-regulator installed above the rotary can rinsing system (inset) uses compressed air to ensure highly effective removal of water, dust, debris and other contaminants for the cans prior to filling.

into a much bigger 39,000-square-foot plant on the Muskoka Beach Road in 2012—spurring accelerated production and employment growth that ultimately prompted the company to significantly expand the building to 81,000-square-feet.

Equipped with state-of-the-art brewhouse and brand new automatic kegging and canning lines, the new Bracebridge facility literally breathed new life into the company’s ambitious quest to join the very elite ranks of North American craft beer producers.

“For us, what keeps our momentum strong is that we are really rooted in our mission to become Canada’s most trusted and iconic beer brand,” says Lewin, “and our strive towards this mission every day by ensuring we are staying true to our roots in quality and freshness.

“Our dedication to freshness upholds our products’ quality,” Lewin proclaims.

“Every can and bottle we produce is labeled as ‘Freshest By’ a certain date within four to six months.

“This means our customers and retailers can make sure they’re enjoying Muskoka creations at their best,” he states.

According to Lewin and the plant’s director of operations Brett Stevenson, much of the impetus to expand the new facility was driven by the strong and irreversible shift from bottled beer to canned beer right across the province of Ontario and beyond—prompting significant capital investment in additional brewhouse capacity and a new canning line.

“The whole push to invest in this new equipment stems from the growing demand for cans, as bottles take a backseat in the beer industry,” Lewin explains.

“The beer is more protected from light and other elements in a can; there’s the cost-saving incentive to buy larger servings in tall cans for consumers; and it’s a

much safer container to ship the product.”

Housing an on-site QC (quality control) lab, staffed by two full-time lab technicians to perform microbiological tests on all incoming ingredients and to test all finished product, alongside some new product development work, the revamped facility is a fitting embodiment of the company’s proactive mindset and industry leadership aspirations.

“We have really made a statement to be a quality leader,” Stevenson told Canadian Packaging on a recent visit to the lively Bracebridge plant, fronted by an on-site beer shop that also sells remarkably broad and varied selection of branded company merchandise ranging from apparel to glassware and fashion accessories.

“By having this capability we are not only supporting our own interests but also the broader craft brewing community by raising the bar for product quality

From Left: Muskoka Brewery president Todd Lewin (right) and company owner Bob MacDonald strike a cheerful pose at the storefront of the company’s production facility in Bracebridge, Ont.

A close-up of the 24-head rotary volumetric Craftmate filler from Krones AG dispensing the company’s flagship Detour beer brand into the Tall Boy-style aluminum cans manufactured by Crown Beverage Packaging.

The Krones Synco conveyors feature signature-blue NGE 2250 flush-grid belting, manufactured by Regal Beloit, designed as an effective solution for ensuring gentle and friction-free movement of cans and bottles at high speeds.

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CANNING

Muskoka Brewing’s Canning line operator makes on-the-fly adjustments to the Carftmate filler’s operation using the userfriendly Krones touchscreen operator panel positioned right to the side of the 24-head volumetric filler, featuring four built-in seaming heads for quick inline capping of the precision-filled cans.

Powered by an SEW-Eurodrive electric motor (foreground), a plastic-belted product transfer conveyor directs the freshlyfilled cans of Muskoka Brewing’s bestselling Detour ISA beer brand into the high-speed can-warmer tunnel manufactured by Lagrotta Packaging Group Inc.

The Muskoka Brewing canning line employs a high-speed small-character CIJ (continuous inkjet coder) system from Videojet Technologies to apply the two-line ‘Fresh By’ date code (inset) to the bottom of each can before the cans are inverted back to their upright positions and transferred into the Krones Craftmate filler for filling and capping.

in this sector,” Stevenson states.

“In fact, we are currently working on becoming the first craft brewer to achieve food plant level accreditation, which is one of our gals for 2019,” Stevenson adds, saying that Ontario’s fairly recent decision to allow beer stores at major grocery retailers will ultimately subject craft brewers to a closer degree of scrutiny for food safety and other compliance issues by the retail customers.

“We want to be ahead of the game when the moment arrives,” he says, “hence we choose to walk the talk, as it were, to make sure our commitment to quality stays levels above the current industry average.”

Housing a highly-automated four-vessel 70-hectoliter brewhouse manufactured by DME Brewing Solutions of Charlottetown, P.E.I., along with four 50-hectoliter and 28 140-hectoliter capacity fermenting tanks, the Muskoka Brewery plant has capacity to produce just over 11,000 hectoliters of beer month, according to Stevenson.

“We have six full-time brewers working alongside our fully-accredited brewmaster Curtis Bentley, who has really challenged us on product quality and product styles to raise our game, as well as address many brewhouse efficiency issue to make sure our yields are as high as they can be.”

“We typically try to finish three full tanks of beer a day, always keeping the tanks rotating on a continuous basis.

“We don’t like to leave beer in a tank longer than required,” says Stevenson, adding most beer product spend about there weeks in a fermenting tank before being ready for packaging.

“We are also one of the few craft brewers to have a fermenting cellar panel that lets us see how each beer is performing in the cellar,” Stevenson points out.

“We can thus adjust the cooling temperature, the scolding temperature, the crash-cooling temperature to optimize the aging process,” he adds, “while also charring some performance metrics and targets that we ant to see that beer reach during the process.”

Once the beer is ready for packaging, it is transferred through a lenticular filter to remove any unnecessary solids and on to the Flottweg centrifuge—a series of spinning disks housed inside stainless-steel piping—to achieve optimal product clarity without sacrificing the product’s aroma, according to Stevenson “This centrifuge was really a game changer for us,” he extols.“It made immediate impact on how the beer tasted—for the better, of course.”

After spending a few hours in a newly-installed inline carbonation unit, the beers is finally ready to be transferred to either the older semi-automated bottling line, installed about five years ago, or the brand new automatic Craftmate canning line from leading global beverage line equipment manufacturer Krones AG. According to Stevenson, about 20 per cent of the plant’s output is earmarked for the 20-liter and 58.6-liter metal kegs shipped to the company’s hospitality industry customers, which is expertly handled by the plant’s brand new, state-of-the-art KHS Immokeg CombiKeg eight-stage keg processing system manufactured in Germany by KHS GmbH. Compared to our previous manual kegging system, this has enabled us to double our kegging throughput, Stevenson notes, “while reducing the manual labor input by half.

“It’s basically a ‘keg-a-minute’ system,” he says,

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CANNING

The PROblue 7 hot-melt adhesive applicator from Nordson Corporation rests on top of the Switchback trayformer and case-packer used to pack the finished cans for shipment.

A close-up view of the Adamark Air Knife Drying System, distributed by R.E. Morrison, used to remove condensation from the freshly-filled glass bottles of beer.

“while also praising the system’s high-accuracy volumetric filling process for putting an end to the costly and frequent keg overfilling with the old manual system.

As for the remainder of production, what used to be a roughly 50-50 split between cans and bottles up to a couple of years ago has been rapidly refocused on can production in step with shifting consumer demand, so that it now account for nearly 90 per cent of the packaged product.

Occupying the largest part of the building’s recent floorspace expansion, which also doubled the freezer capacity and added 9,000-square-feet of warehousing space, the plant’s canning line operation is set aside to accommodate the fully-automatic automatic, turnkey Craftmate canning line delivered by Krones.

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Toronto-based Atlantic Packaging Products supplies Muskoka Brewery with the preprinted corrugated trays used to ship the brewer’s canned products to retail customers.

ibility to process a broad range of can sizes and formats, the 24-head volumetric Craftmate filler with a fully-integrated four-head cappers; a compact valve manifold with product tank and a control cabinet with an integrated pneumatic control system; an operator-friendly-touchscreen control terminal; an inclined table-top with a fully-enclosed cabinet with integrated pneumatic control systems for the valve manifold; and an integrated CIP (Clean-in-Place) station connected directly to the brewhouse tanks and vessels.

“We worked close with Krones engineers to ensure that we would end up with a fully-automatic canning line that would take care of all our current and future production needs,” says Stevenson, noting that the plant’s previous two-filler canning line could only achieve maximum throughput of 89 cans per minute at best.

“There were also some product variability issues between the two fillers,” he recalls, “and it also require a lot of manual work to keep in running at optimal speed levels.

“It was forcing us to run 24 hours a day, five days a week,” Stevenson says, “which was simply not very efficient.”

Installing the new Craftmate canning line resulted in stunning immediate improvements in all areas of canning production, according to Stevenson.

“Being able to produce at speeds of 225 to 250 cans a minute has enabled us to scale back to a one-shift operation, while taking care of all the production needs to keep our volume growth on the right level,” he beams.

“Our management identified our former canning operations as a highly important area for new strategic capital investment,” Stevenson says, “and installing this high-performance Krones Craftmate line here is an important point of pride for our people, as well as strong statement of intent to the industry at large.”

Having spent 12 years with a major food producer using a broad array of highly automated packaging machinery and systems before joining Muskoka Brewery about two years ago, “My prime objective coming here was to make sure that our forklift drivers are the busiest guys in the plant,” Stevenson confides.

“The new canning line has done just that.”

With Krones supplying most of the key pieces of the canning line equipment— from the depalletizer and transfer/accumulation conveyor through the CheckMat fill-level inspection system and can warmer—Stevenson and his team of in-house engineers worked to take care of the remaining end-of-line packaging requirements, including installation of a low-level Unipak depalletizer.

“The whole project took about a year to complete from concept to startup,” Stevenson states, “and it’s fair to say that it was time well spent.”

Says Stevenson: “We are not putting in automation to replace people, because it is the people who have made the craft beer business what it is today, but it is important to have a certain level of automation that can support the company’s growth into the future.

“By doing so, we can actually provide our people with more interesting work tasks than spending a whole day manually pushing cans down the conveyor line,” Stevenson concludes.

“It’s a platform for making better use of our labor resources and in-house talent, which ultimately helps us run a better beer business all-around.”

For more information: www.asco.com/brewing

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LABELING

From Left: Labelink vice-president of operations Victor Tortis, vice-president of sales Jean-Marc Borel, and president Stephen Bouchard dicussing a new project for one of the company’s clients.

LEADERS OF THE PACK

Montreal label producer blossoming into an industry powerhouse through assertive acquisition strategy and firm focus on customer service excellence

BY GEORGE GUIDONI, EDITOR PHOTOS BY PIERRE LONGTIN

I

f bottom-line results and market share growth are a true measure of progressive corporate leadership, then Stephen Bouchard may well be the proverbial lion among men in today’s highly fragmented North American label manufacturing industry.

As president of fast-growing Montreal-headquartered labeling and flexible packaging converter Labelink, the high-energy native of Montreal has already executed more successful buyouts and acquisitions in the last 14 years than many other captains of industry pull off in their entire careers.

Based on his solid track record of growth and a confidently buoyant outlook for the future, it’s fair to say that Bouchard is really just getting started in his quest to make Labelink one of the industry’s pre-eminent players and innovators.

According to Bouchard, the company’s assertive growth strategy can be traced right back to 2004, when he and two colleagues working at a Quebec-based commercial printer pulled their resources to purchase Labelink Products Inc., a small family-owned Toronto manufacturer of pressure-sensitive labels that was essentially just getting by on a day-to-day basis without much ambition to grow outside of its established comfort zone and a fairly narrow client base.

“The company was operating out of a tiny 2,500-square-foot facility employing seven people—including myself and the two other partners,” recalls Bouchard.

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LABELING “It was a very modest start,” says Bouchard,“but I was always attracted to the label industry because for the most part it’s almost a recession-proof business.

“Good economy or bad, people always need to eat and look after themselves with healthcare products, so there is always an underlying demand for labels for those products.

“It is also a very creative industry to be in,” Bouchard told Canadian Packaging in a recent interview.

“At the same time, we noticed that it was in many ways still a very old-school type of business dominated by a lot of mom-and-pop type shops that may have been good at printing labels, but lacked the necessary management skills to grow their business further in a meaningful way.

“We saw an opportunity in that,” says Bouchard, who currently owns a 45-per cent share in Labelink, with co-founder Bill McDougall owning 10 per cent and Toronto-based investment fund Parkview Capital Partners owning the remaining shares.

“They are the all-important ‘silent partner’ who made some of our bigger acquisitions possible,” Bouchard relates.

After acquiring Montreal-based label converter RTM in 2006 and weathering the Great Recession economic downturn later in the decade, Labelink got back into the acquisition game in a big way—acquiring Toronto-based Image Label in 2011 and Labelad, also of Toronto, in the following year.

After a successful integration of the assets into the growing Labelink family, the company acquired Montreal-based Flexo Label in 2016, accompanied by the opening of its first satellite production facility in Quebec City.

This past summer, Labelink completed its biggest and most far-reaching deal to date with the purchase of well-established shrinksleeve labeling specialists Safety Seal Plastic Inc. of Guelph, Ont., along with its U.S. subsidiary Safety Seal Plastic LLC, based in Fredericksburg,Va. Bouchard says this latest acquisition has allowed Labelink to achieve an important strategic objective of expanding into the U.S. market and make further headway in realizing his vision of creating a well-integrated network of highly specialized “satellite” plants to produce labeling and flexible packaging products for a vastly expanded client base across North America.

Nowadays serving clients in the food-and-beverage, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, health-andbeauty, cosmetic, chemical and industrial sectors, the five-plant enterprise offer more than 100 different stock products that range from thermaltransfer labels to shrinksleeves, flexible packaging, including finished stand-up pouches, and RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.

“We are now the largest narrow-web printer in Quebec and one of the top five in Canada,” Bouchard points out, citing strong annual revenue growth that is fast approaching the $50-million benchmark.

“We now have a combined workforce of about 170 employees, 20 printing presses and five plants to provide our clients with superior customer service and outstanding high-quality products,” says Bouchard, clearly excited about

the many new business opportunities opened up through Safety Seal acquisition.

“We were already printing shrinksleeves at our other facilities,” he reveals, “but we were never really an expert in the shrinksleeve segment—it was just a small part of our overall pressuresensitive label business.

“Having Safety Seal’s shrinksleeving expertise as part of our portfolio is already yielding a major positive impact on our business,” he extols.

“Our business model is based on providing customers with ‘excellence-plus,’ which is to say that we want to be leading experts in providing our customers with unbeatable service from our strategically-located satellite plants,”

Bouchard explains.

“We realized some time ago that you can’t be an expert at everything,” notes Bouchard, saying that trying to be all things to all people had detrimental affect on overall levels of product and service quality.

“The Safety Seal acquisition has allowed us to create a true center of excellence in shrinksleeves,” he says, “which will make a real difference for our customers.

“It really is the most strategically important move we have made to date.

“Being average at everything and excellent at nothing is not what we have in mind to grow our business going forward,” he states.“Customers want excellence, and it’s important for us to meet those expectations.

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LABELING

The new open-concept customer service and sales department at Labelink’s Montreal headquarters provides the company’s highly dedicated office staff with a more pleasant and efficient workplace environment.

“With Safety Seal’s customer base and technical expertise in hand, we can do that much more effectively than ever before,” says Bouchard, saying the growth in the shrinksleeve labeling market is notably outpacing growth in other self-adhesive segments.

“We are approaching about $15 million in sales for our shrinksleeve business,” he says, “or about a third of our business.”

“There is also an attractive sustainability benefit in shrinksleeves because there are no adhesives or liners used in the shrinksleeve labeling process,” Bouchard adds.

As Bouchard relates, the company has a very proactive mindset when it comes to capital investment, saying it is currently awaiting arrival of several new printing presses in the near future.

In the meantime, it is constantly working to optimize the performance of its existing arsenal of narrow-web flexographic presses, primarily the Mark Andy and Bobst brand systems, and the new-generation HP Indigo digital printing press technologies.

While the company can produce labels for just about any mainstream consumer market, “We are particularly pleased to be serving the pharmaceutical industry,” Bouchard points out.

“It’s a market that requires a very rigorous product process and discipline,” he explains, “and we are certified to the highest standards required for pharmaceutical processing.

“We are in fact one of very few printers in Canada that can serve this market,” adds Bouchard, citing widespread use of Labelink-made labels on a diverse range of products such as vitamins and nutraceuticals, nutritional supplements and many over-the-counter products.

Bouchard says the company’s technical prowess perfectly complements its progressive corporate culture based on five core values of collaboration, commitment, fun, passion and pride.

As the company’s official mission statement proclaims, “We want to be recognized in the industry as the most effective packaging components printer, offering a premium product and difficult-to-match flexibility.”

Says Bouchard: “We are pursing our satellite plant strategy as part of our ultimate goal to become the ‘convenience stores’ for packaging components.

“Entering the U.S. market had taught us a few

Prepress specialist Nancy Lanoix (left) and Labelink president Stephen Bouchard working on a 3D file at the company’s state-of-the-art prepress department.

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LABELING things about how doing business in the U.S. is different there from Canada, with its various interprovincial barriers,” he says, “so we are are keen to expand our presence there by building up a network of brokers to reach out to our established and perspective customers across a broader geographic reach.

“It’s looking very promising already.”

Because recent technological advances in the printing press industry have essentially put most of the leading printers on a level playing filed in terms of product quality and process efficiency, maintaining a competitive advantage for companies like Labelink in the future will be determined on the service side of the business, according to Bouchard.

“What makes us different in the narrow-web world is our use of ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems to help our customers manage their business better,” he states.

“A customer who has 1,000 SKUs (stock-keeping units) may be placing 4,000 to 5,000 orders for labels each year,” Bouchard explains, “so having a proper procurement systems in place becomes very important.

“It’s a bit of a paradox that while the labels themselves are not that expensive, they are the item that causes our customers the most issues, due to the fact that there are so many of them and with so many variations,” he says.

“That’s why we are investing a lot of capital and time in developing our ERP systems, company-wide, in order to facilitate intelligent procurement for our customers,” Bouchard sates.

“That’s where I believe we can add the most value—managing the flow of multiple orders coming in, the ease with which you can place your orders, and scheduling your production accordingly to achieve maximum efficiency.

“It’s all about bringing procurement intelligence to our customers,” he states.

Going forward, Bouchard says he expects to see many new exciting developments to unfold in the industry as product labels continue to become more interactive with the consumers via QR (quick response) codes, RFID interlays and other ‘smart packaging’ components.

“We believe that there is plenty of room for brining more intelligence to labels to connect consumers closer to the product,” Bouchard states, noting that Labelink is currently the sole Canadian manufacturer of RFID labels.

While RFID labeling may not have lived up to the earlier hype that hailed it as a natural successor to barcoding, “There are some important niche markets, like medical device industry for example, where RFID provides a very effective means of product tracking,” Bouchard states.

All in all, Bouchard feels that Labelink is in very good position to capitalize on any new trends yet to unfold in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) and other key markets.

“We have been operating as a lean manufacturing enterprise for many years,” he says, “so continuous improvement is fully embedded in our corporate culture.

“We have never stopped trying to get better by further automating our business processes and building stronger relationships with our customers,” he adds.

“We have improved the revenue flow for every company we have acquired to date,” Bouchard concludes, “so we have plenty of good reason to feel confident about the future.”

Labeling president Stephen Bouchard (inset) says the company employs state-of-the-art pressroom technologies, such as the Concept 201 C flexo plate-making machine, manufactured by Glunz & Jensen A/S in Denmark, tended to by prepress operator Stephane Cardinal.

Press operator Franck Mini keeping a watchful eye on a run of label bing processed on a Bobst UV narrow-web printing press at the company’s Montreal facility.

Press operator Frederic Couture checking out the print quality of labels coming off the Labelink facility’s HP 6000 series digital label printing press.

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PRODUCT ID NOW

From Left: Buddy’s Kitchen vice-president of operations and product innovation Maurizio Barbieri holding up a pack of his company’s premium dog treats alongside Squid Ink Manufacturing’s eastern sales manager Jay Sinclair and David Frenette of Dependable Marking Systems, which is the authorized distributor of Squid Ink’s product coding systems in Canada.

OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS

A high-speed inkjet case-coding system serves up a real productivity treat for innovative Ontario contract manufacturer of premium private-label dog snacks

BY ALANNA FAIREY, ASSISTANT EDITOR PHOTOS BY NAOMI HILTZ

B

eing a man’s designated best friend carries a lot of responsibility. But it’s also a job that comes with plenty of rewards for the millions of pet dogs faithfully serving their human owners with unmatched loyalty and affection across our vast land.

And with the quickest way to the dog’s heart often running through the pooch’s stomach, companies like the Aurora, Ont.-based Buddy’s Kitchen play a big part in enabling Canadian dog-owners and their beloved canines to forge everlasting bonds of genuine friendship and priceless companionship.

Founded in 2011, the family-owned company is a fast-growing manufacturer of

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all-natural, premium-quality private-label pet snacks and treats produced for some of the leading retailers and pet-food brands all over the world.

The company’s products can be found in most channels where Canadians buy their pet food—from pet product specialists Global Pet Foods and PetValu to mainstream grocery chains like Walmart and Loblaws—along with various veterinarian channels.

Billing itself as an innovation hub for high-quality and nutritious pet food products, the company’s growth to date can be conservatively described as exceptionally fast-paced.

Quickly outgrowing the production capacity of the company’s very first 5,000-square-foot facility, Buddy’s Kitchen moved literally up the street in 2015

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2018

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PRODUCT ID NOW

The 38,000-square-foot production facility in Aurora, Ont., employs 30 full-time staff working on a one-shift, five-days-aweek schedule throughout most of the year to produce all-natural pet snacks for the company’s many private-label customers.

into a new next-generation 22,000-square-foot factory nearby, which was further expanded in March 2018 to accommodate the operation’s growing business.

“That brings us to approximately 38,000-squarefeet of production space,” says the company’s jovially upbeat vice-president of operations and product innovation Maurizio Barbieri, who naturally happens to be a very happy and caring dog-owner himself.

“You could says we’re in the pet humanization business,” Barbieri told Canadian Packaging during a recent visit to the lively 30-employee facility working on one-shift, five-days-a-week schedule throughout most of the year, occasionally adding a second shift to cope with seasonal demand upticks during the cottage and holiday seasons.

“A pet is truly a member of your family,” Barbieri proclaims. “Mom and dad, the pet parents, when they’re buying products they’re looking at the labels closely—they want to know what’s inside this bag.

“So we always strive to produce a clean and natural label,” Barbieri says, “so that even though we are a snack company, we sell a healthy snack.”

While the Canadian market accounts for the largest portion of the company’s output, Buddy’s Kitchen has also managed to cultivate a growing customer base in the U.S—its biggest export market—as well as Australia and, most recently, Japan, while also obtaining all the required certifications for exporting to the European Union (EU) countries.

Audited as a designated craft food facility, the Buddy’s Kitchen plant has also earned the internationally recognized is GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) certification for food safety and the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) accreditation for its sustainable procurement practices.

“If you’re going to be serious about offering a true healthy product, you have to have the letters behind you,” Barbieri asserts.

“We attach a lot of importance to the transparency of our production process, including the high hygiene standards, the full product traceability, and the openness of our facility.”

As a proud and knowledgeable dog owner who is well aware of the domesticated dogs’ relatively short life-span, Barbieri says he has great empathy for

other dog-owners trying the extend their pets’ lives through better eating habits and a lifestyle that can help overcome or prevent the onset of cancer, diabetes, obesity and other afflictions.

That’s why Buddy’s Kitchen focuses exclusively on making all-natural products, Barbieri says, noting that about 85 per cent of the company’s raw ingredients—including buckwheat and barley—are locally-sourced from farmers and processors in the surrounding York Region.

Barbieri says the requirement for transparency in ingredients and product labeling is of paramount importance to Buddy’s Kitchen and the new generation of Canadian pet-owners.

“Today’s millennials want to see things for themselves—they don’t want to be told things,” Barbieri states. “So we have to be transparent.

“They want clean ingredients, they want to be able to understand the ingredients, and they want to know where they come from,” says Barbieri, citing the company’s “hands-on approach for how we produce our products.

“We don’t just make a mix, push a button, and expect perfect treats to come out the end,” he states.

“I don’t know how to do that, I won’t do that,” says Barbieri, noting that all of the plant’s employees are trained to use all their senses in assessing the quality of the product being made at any particular time.

“We like to touch, feel and smell the product that we’re producing,” he states.

This hands-on approach goes beyond making the treat.

As Barbieri relates, many of the company’s clients pay regular visits to the facility to brainstorm ideas and discuss what they are looking for in a product, with Barbieri and his staff often providing useful advice on marketing the product and industry intelligence.

“We listen to our clients and we develop the brand story with our clients,” Barbieri says.

“We don’t just take the order and say, ‘Good luck, we’ll see you when we finish your 10,000 pounds of treats.’

“We really and truly look at our customers as part-

To ensure optimal food safety compliance for its products, the Buddy’s Kitchen plant uses a model IQ2 metal detector from Loma Systems to ensure reliable detection of tiny metal contaminants that may have sneaked inside the finished packages.

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PRODUCT ID NOW

The Eastey case-sealing machine is used to seal corrugated shipping boxes with a strip of high-strength packing tape before conveying them to the Squid Ink Co-Pilot 500 high-resolution printing system for quick application of all required product codes and data.

Designed for user-friendly operation, the CoPilot 500 high-resolution printing system from Squid Ink features an icon-driven color touchscreen interface for intuitive selection of all the right commands to generate proper text and barcodes on all shipping cases.

Manufactured by Squid Ink, the CoPilot 500 hi-resolution printing system replaces manual application of pressure-sensitive labels to corrugated shipping containers, and prints the required product information and codes directly onto the corrugated boxes.

Buddy’s Kitchen and their customers require barcoding and product traceability in their manufacturing process. Here, a line operator uses a smartphone to verify the accuracy of the barcodes printed by Squid Ink’s CoPilot 500 high resolution printing system.

ners,” Barbieri points out.

“We constantly engage with them to make sure that when their product goes out to market, it’s beyond what they expected.”

While the pet food industry is dominated by big players such as Nestlé Purina, Smucker’s and General Foods, with vastly bigger resources and deeper pockets, Barbieri insists that there is plenty of room in the market for smaller players like Buddy’s Kitchen, who are agile enough to leverage speed-to-market as an important competitive advantage.

“We have to go up against all the big boys in town,” he remarks, “but as a privatelabel manufacturer, we can support the marketing companies that we work with.

“Buddy’s Kitchen is an innovation hub; we’re just not a co-packer,” he says.

“The world doesn’t need another dog treat.

“More is not better—better is better.”

Barbieri says the company employs a similar mindset when sourcing its production and packaging machinery and supplies.

The same philosophy applies to the equipment that they outsource—stressing the importance of local service support.

“Service is probably the most important part of the entire deal,” Barbieri states.

“Yes, the machine has to do what it’s asked to do, but we need to be able to pick up the phone and get service right away when we need it.”

The Buddy’s Kitchen plant houses a total of four production lines—equipped with extruders, wire cutters, and meat saws—while using an assortment of automatic filling machines and vertical form-fill-sealing (VFFS) machinery to package the finished product into resealable pouches.

“The machines don’t break down a heck of a lot as a rule,” Barbieri says.

“We have a capable maintenance crew to take care of little things, but if the

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PRODUCT ID NOW problem goes beyond them, then it’s time to call our partners’ service departments.”

Some of those key partners include Tempo Plastics Limited, the company’s ‘go-to’ supplier of flexible packaging pouches based in Innissfill, Ont.; JDA Progress Industries Ltd., Woodbridge, Ont.-based manufacture of automatic filling and packaging machinery; and Oshawa, Ont.-based Dependable Marking Systems, the authorized Canadian distributor of the full range of product coding and marking systems produced by Squid Ink Manufacturing, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn.

As Barbieri recalls, he was quickly sold on installing Squid Ink technology to take care of his plant’s product traceability requirements soon after being introduced to the company and completing a successful test run of Squid Ink’s CoPilot 500 hi-resolution printing system.

Developed to replace manual application of pressure-sensitive labels to corrugated shipping containers, the CoPilot 500 prints all the required product information and codes directly onto the corrugated boxes—significantly speeding up the whole process.

“With our CoPilot 500 printing system, customers can print reliable codes right onto their boxes,” says Jay Sinclair, Squid Ink’s director of sales for the eastern region.

“Our customers typically have multiple SKUs (stock-keeping units) to deal with, so it’s very important for them to be able to change their coded messages quickly.

“Product traceability is very important to both our customers and their customers these days,” Sinclair relates, “so having an efficient system to print dates and time of production information in highly legible formats is a necessity.”

Prior to implementing the CoPilot 500 system, Barbieri and his staff used to hand-stamp the labels by hand in what was a highly inefficient and time-consuming manual operation.

But since installing the CoPilot 500 printer into the plant’s end-of-line-packaging area about five months ago, all those concerns have been put to rest, according to Barbieri.

“It has helped us to speed up our production process,” he extols, “and our retailer customers are appreciative of the clear legible product codes and all the versatility that we now have with our product coding and printing capabilities,” Barbieri extols.

As Sinclair points out, the CoPilot 500 has an intuitive icon-driven color touchscreen interface, similar to those found on smartphones, to provide extremely user-friendly means for operators to input the required product information such as the month and the day of production, the best-before date and the product codes, with full control of the barcode quality.

Says Sinclair: “The beauty about barcoding with high-res printing is we have full control over the bars: the width of the bars, the space in between the bars, and the height of the bars, so that we can manipulate the barcode to get good readability,” says Sinclair.

“If we don’t get a good read, we go back and we manipulate the barcode until we do get a good read.

“Product coding requirements are always changing,” Sinclair notes, “and barcoding and traceability are going to become even more important in the years to come.

“And you can be sure that we will evolve with whatever the marketplace throws our way,” Sinclair states.

“We have been growing in the packaging and manufacturing space for over 25 years now, and we have no intention of slowing down.”

It’s a similar growth-oriented narrative for Buddy’s Kitchen, with Barbieri clearly enthused by his company’s promising potential to achieve even higher levels of growth in the future.

“Operating in Aurora puts us right in the middle of the highway accessibility, a great labor force pool, and gen-

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PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS

MONKEY BUSINESS Top Canadian gourmet popcorn producer aiming to change the snack industry one kernel at a time

Chief executive officer Joseph Zeppilli proudly displays medium-sized bags of the classic original flavor of Bad Monkey Popcorn, in the corrugated retail ready packaging supplied by Montreal-based Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging.

BY ALANNA FAIREY, ASSISTANT EDITOR PHOTOS BY PIERRE LONGTIN

S

ome might scorn at the idea of running a business with their family, but for the four Zeppilli brothers and co-founders of Bad Monkey Popcorn Inc., a gourmet popcorn company headquartered in SaintLaurent, Montreal, getting a chance to reinvent Canada’s relatively unseasoned popcorn industry was too good and opportunity to let it pass by.

Getting the company’s curious moniker from their mother, who would occasionally call them her “bad monkeys” when they were growing up, the closeknit brother hoods operates their business out of a 10,000-square-foot facility employing 20 people on one daily shift, primarily in the mornings.

“My brothers and I noticed nothing really changed in the popcorn industry in a really long time,” Joseph Zeppilli, chief executive officer and the second-oldest of the four siblings, told Canadian Packaging in a recent interview.

“We wanted to not just reinvent popcorn because it’s been around forever, but we just wanted to make it cool and fresh and fun again.”

As Zeppilli explains, his oldest bother Fabio handles the contracts for the business, while younger brothers Luciano and Matteo are the company’s photogra-

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PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS pher and chef, respectively.

Soon after founding the company in 2014, the brothers started to grew their client base primarily through concession business operators at the many prestigious festivals and cultural events held throughout Canada each year—including the Grand Prix, TIFF, Cirque du Soleil, Just For Laughs, and Jazz Fest.

Along the way, the company also gained much-needed national recognition when the brothers appeared on the popular Dragon’s Den television program on the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corporation) network in 2016.

By the second year in operation, Bad Monkey Popcorn had entered the retail market and quickly started taking that channel by storm by attracting Top Tier retail customers such as Metro, Sobeys and Loblaws.

Now sold across Canada, the popcorn is vegan, gluten-free, peanut-free and kosher. With popcorn already being a gluten-free and healthy snack, Zeppilli quickly discovered that most of their clientele were primarily health-conscious women, who also wanted to adhere to their children’s nut-free school policies.

“A lot of women are buying the snacks for their children who have nut allergies or the women these days are a little more health conscious so they’re gluten-free or there’s no dairy,” Zeppilli says.

“So we do all of these certifications for our customer base, which is primarily women.

“For us, we work with too many kids to not be peanut free.”

The tantalizing flavors include classic original, caramel crème brûlée, chocolate and sea salt, as well as their limited edition Baby Girl, so named because of the distinctive cotton candy and pink cherry coating.

Blood may be thicker than water, but when it comes to business, Zeppilli and his brothers acknowledge that as soon as they walk through the door, they are no longer brothers. Instead, they are business partners.While they fight like brothers do, knowing their respective roles in the business has helped them to see that there is a herarchy within the business.

“If we didn’t look like each other, most people wouldn’t know that we’re brothers because we all look alike, but we don’t really act like it at work,” Zeppilli explains.

“I’m CEO, so they have to listen or when my brother who is a chef is telling me about flavors, I have to take a back seat and listen to him, or my photographer brother telling me what looks good with art.

“My other brother does all of the contracts so we have very good distinct roles and I think that’s what keeps us from fighting. We know our roles and we know our positions and we always go with what’s more logical.”

The eye-grabbing monkey design on the packaging is credited to younger brother Luciano, who is not only a photographer, but also an artist. Impressed with the results from his younger brother, Zeppilli recognized that packaging is important in Bad Monkey’s business strategy and growth.

“You could have a great product, but if it doesn’t look good nobody’s going to try it,” Zeppilli explains.

“We don’t have the name yet like Kellogg’s or Lay’s that people would be like, ‘I’ll try this.’ The packaging has to be appealing. I think it plays a very important role and then after the customers try it if they like it, you have to keep in mind that packaging is something that is not going to go away.

“It’s only going to get better so we’re excited to see new machines, we’re excited to see new processors and travel to trade shows and I’m excited to see what’s coming out these days because they’re getting more and more efficient.”

Although they are doing well in their Montreal location, Bad Monkey is still a small fish in a big pond. Due to their power and size, Bad Monkey’s biggest competitors in the industry are snack food powerhouses Lay’s, Orville Redenbacher and Kellogg’s. Zeppilli notes that Bad Monkey is not quite yet at the same level as these businesses, because of their machines and equipment.

“We’re basically trying to catch up in the sense of getting more machines and better machines and more efficient,” Zeppilli explains. “That’s really the goal, just to be more efficient.”

Zeppilli was introduced to Montreal-based automation company Tangible Innovation, who supplied them with their packaging machines. Wanting to support local businesses, Zeppilli was impressed by the process of the Packaging Machine P115-01 and the fact that it had been customized to their needs. Bad Monkey has been partnered with Tangible Innovation for two years. While they have tried and tested a plethora of different bagging companies, Bad Monkey does not have a steady supplier and are currently shopping around for one.

The facility currently packaes the product in small, medium and large sizes. The small is for the vending machines, and convenience stores; the medium size is used for popcorn bags shipped to grocery stores; and the large ‘familiy-sized’ bags are distributed to a variety of different locations, including bars, hotels, restaurants, and

Installed by leading Montreal-based automation powerhouse Tangible Innovation, the Packaging Machine P115-01 assists in bagging and labelling the different flavors of popcorn prior to distribution.

Line workers at the Bad Monkey facility put the freshly popped and cooled popcorn into one of the models of Packaging Machine P115-01, whereby the machines are separated based on the product’s salty or sweet flavors.

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PACKAGING FOR FRESHNESS

While searching for a steady bag supplier currently, the popcorn is bagged in their recyclable Stand up pouch, K-style bottom with small-edge seal bags, which come in a variety of different sizes to fit the customers’ specific needs.

Cirque du Soleil.

Bad Monkey currently has two machines from Tangible Innovation, with one being used to make the salty flavor popcorn, while the other is used to make the sweeter flavors. Zeppilli is currently looking for a third machine.

“We’d like to buy from Tangible Solutions as well, but with this third machine we need is not so custom,” Zeppilli explains.

“It’s an expandable pouch, it’s a form-fill pouch so it’s very standard in the industry. Maybe we won’t work with him for this one, but definitely for other ones.”

Before shipping the popcorn off, the kernels are first popped in a popper and then are laid out on a cooling table. Once cooled, the popcorn is then taken to the Packaging Machine P115-01. Inside the machine, the popcorn is bagged from the recyclable bags. After the popcorn is bagged, it is then tagged, wrapped and then shipped out to customers.

“Probably in the business what’s been most challenging is the packaging, and machinery just because we’re new to the business,” Zeppilli says.

“One thing I’ve learned in business is never to rush into anything so a lot of the time we make decisions and they can take very long, but it’s for a purpose.

“We ordered bags quickly and then they had the wrong UPC code on them, so we learned that they

hard way.”

While Canada is known for its blistering cold Canadian winters, the humid summers have proven to be a problem for the popcorn manufacturing industry. This past summer had hit record-breaking heat waves that affected the freshness of the popcorn once it was bagged and sealed. Consciously paying more for higher quality bags, kernels and staff salary, Zeppilli was devasted by the spoiled popcorn and sought to find a solution for the future..

“We noticed during just a few peak days of the humidity that our popcorn had gone out and it wasn’t as fresh as I liked it so that for me killed me slowly on the inside because we put so much effort,” Zeppilli explains.

“When the product comes out not how we designed it, it just gets me really upset, but you can’t dwell on that and you have to move forward.”

Since that heat wave, Zeppilli and his team put in the steps to control the heat during those muggy summer months, by having a humidity room on site.

Bad Monkey is not only recognized for the healthconscious approach they take towards snacking, but they have also made a name for themselves for their philanthropic endeavours. In collaboration with École secondaire Évangéline, Bad Monkey has an autism program, where seven kids per year come to

In collaboration with École secondaire Évangéline, Bad Monkey has an autism program, whereby seven kids come to the facility each year to take on tasks such as putting expiry dates on the bags, or helping to keep the facility clean and organized.

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Humid weather affects the overall freshness of the popped product, which is why it is essential for the facility to have a humidity room on-site to ensure that only freshest possible products hit the shelves.

the facility and they take on tasks.These tasks include putting expiry dates on the bags or organizing the facility.

“We donate a lot. We’re involved in a lot of charities and that’s something that’s important to us as well, it’s not just making a product.

“That’s why we started this business because we wanted to give back to the community and everyone says that, but we actually do that.”

While still new to the market, Bad Monkey is just getting started. Once they are able to acquire more automated machines and expand their warehouse, it is Zeppilli’s hope that they will eventually be able to manufacture more than just popcorn, and add pretzels and candy to their line of products, similar to how Kellogg’s is not just associated with one particular niche snack.

“We think, breathe and sleep popcorn,” Zeppilli says.

“But I don’t want to just be known as popcorn. I want to be known for other snacks, so that’s what our plan is, we’re looking long-term, and I’m not looking just for short-term.We’re looking for the long-term in our business.”

SUPPLIERS Tangible Innovation Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging

While popcorn is their trademark product, Zeppilli and his team would eventually like to expand their product range by starting to manufacture other popular snacks and treats such as pretzels and candy.

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PACKAGING DESIGN

FIVE REASONS WHY Knowing when the time is right to consider a package redesign

A

brand manager may consider redesigning the brand’s current packaging for many reasons: to improve protection, brand perception, speed of assembly, cost containment, revenue, and customer experience.

Brands often face new packaging challenges during each stage of the product lifecycle.

Whenever a brand manager sees key product metrics plateau or decline, it’s important to consider whether a packaging redesign would help reignite consumer interest.

Here are five key signs that it may be time for a packaging redesign.

1. RELEVANCE Maintaining relevant branding and messaging is becoming much more difficult than it used to be.

“Brands need to be refreshed, changed, modified and revamped on a much more regular basis,” explains Jay Tapp, retail packaging specialist with leading packaging supplies and services provider Veritiv Corporation.

“If you haven’t revamped your brand in five years or longer, there’s a good chance you may be losing synchronicity with the merchandising channels,” Tapp advises, “because they’re changing so quickly and new channels are emerging all the time.”

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PACKAGING DESIGN 2. COMPETITION Existing competitors are constantly innovating, and new competitors are emerging every day.

“It’s not only about traditional competitors, but also about disruptive technology,” Tapp says. “Consider at-home meal delivery kits, which have grown in popularity thanks to new cold chain packaging options.”

3. RETAILER DEMANDS Retailers are trying to stay relevant, avoid losing market share to e-commerce, and maintain packaging compliance with all the different retail outlet requirements.

As a result, retailers are demanding increased pace of change from their wholesalers, according to Tapp.

“The traditional retailers want to create an experience that is intriguing enough to get consumers to shop in person instead of going online,” Tapp explains.

“This thought process is driving an increased need for retail-ready and shelf-ready packaging.”

4. SEASONALITY As Tapp explains, “Retailers are always looking forward to the next key buying day and trying to create new seasonal opportunities beyond Christmas, such as the Super Bowl in the U.S. and Singles Day in China.”

Launching new packaging in time to take advantage of holidays and seasonal shopping can give brands a much needed boost for the entire year, according to Tapp.

Working with a packaging partner with in-house design, testing, and a national distribution network can also help ensure successful deployment.

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If a company is seeing declines in product, category, or channel sales, a packaging redesign is one strategy that could reverse this trend.

As brands begin discussing a redesign, Jim Ollmann, packaging design director with Veritiv, recommends considering the total cost of the packaging.

“Step back from focusing on the individual product,” Ollmann suggests.

“Think about all the elements that contribute to the total cost, such as inventory, carrying costs, assembly costs, cube utilization, sustainability, and so on,” says Ollmann.

“That way, you can develop a total cost solution that delivers optimal packaging efficiency, while also contributing to higher sales.”

While redesigning packaging can help alleviate these challenges in the short term, it’s equally important to consider the long-term effects of disruptive technology and product distribution channel changes.

By working with an experienced team of packaging designers who can address specific problems while looking at the big picture—and bringing those designers into the process early— your brand can develop a cohesive total packaging solution that can help generate growth in the near term, while sustaining it in the future.

This article first appeared in the Packaging Unwrapped in-house magazine of Veritiv Corporation, a leading distributor of packaging, printing and facility supplies headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.

Find out more at thermofisher.com/Sentinel-CP © 2018 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific and its subsidiaries unless otherwise specified.

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FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

FLEXIBLE TRANSFORMATION Why flexible packaging business is the logical next step in our company’s ongoing evolution

BY FRANÇOIS OLIVIER, PHOTO BY PIERRE LONGTIN

S

tarted up in 1976 in Montreal by Rémi Marcoux, our company was founded in innovation, which at the time came in the form of supermarket flyers being printed in four-color process on supercalendered paper that, unlike newsprint, did not leave you hands stained.

The other innovation was doing all the prepress work and content creation for the retailers as a full-service partner, right up to delivering those flyers up to people’s doors.

This innovation-driven foundation allowed our founder to grow the company by going public and expand into offset printing and media, primarily newspaper and magazine publishing, and to grow it into a $2-billion business by 2008, which is when our founder retired.

Unfortunately for the company’s second-generation management, including myself, both core businesses that Rémi Marcoux had built up were starting to decline.

When you find yourself in a declining business, strategically you face a choice of becoming the consolidator of that business, or letting someone else do it.

So in 2013 we decided to do two things: become a consolidator in the print industry, and let other companies be consolidators in the media business.

Because running a successful public company is predicated on continued sales growth, we also started thinking about starting a new division to provide that growth, so that the third generation of the company’s leadership would in fact have a viable business to operate.

After much discussion, we decided that this new division would be the flexible packaging business.

Why flexible packaging? Being simple people, we had a simple idea that because we were pretty good at putting rolls of paper into machines and printing on them, we should also be good at taking rolls of plastic film and put ink on those.

We started out on our flexible packaging journey in 2014 with our first acquisition that took us into a very vertical market for cheese packaging products—involving very complex high-barrier seven- and nine-layer film structures—thinking that if could make it there we would be on the right path going forwards.

Between 2014 and 2017 we made several other acquisitions, building a network of six flexible packaging plants across North America, with revenues of about $300 million, or about 15 per cent of our company’s total revenues of about $2 billion at the time.

One of the things we learned about flexible packaging in that time is that you need to fully understand each vertical market in which you operate, which is why we built up a very good team of managers from the companies we acquired.

About five months ago, we were ready to make a real meaningful transformational change in the flexible packaging business by completing the acquisition of Coveris Americas—a major producer with 3,000 people and over $1 billion in revenues.

We executed on that strategy because we felt that we now had better knowledge of the industry and, more importantly, that we had team to facilitate a successful integration of those assets into TC Transcontinental.

It was a real milestone moment for us back in May of this year, as we now had

TC Transcontinental’s president and chief executive officer François Olivier delivering his keynote address at last month’s Pac to the Future II – Retail Reinvented conference in Montreal, produced by PAC Packaging Consortium.

some 4,000 people working for the company, a lot of new customers, and many new many new facilities—with flexible packaging now accounting for about 52 per cent of the company’s combined revenues of just over $3 billion.

In fact, this was the first time in our history that the company’s largest division was no longer the offset printing business.

Our new network of packaging plants now comprises 28 locations—including three production facilities in Canada, 18 in the U.S., three in South America, and three in the rest of the world—making us one of the largest flexible packaging players in North America.

We believe that the best way to create value for our customers is to blend art, science and technology to create superior quality packaging that tells a compelling story for making good shelf appeal, runs well on the factory’s production equipment, and provides optimal product protection.

Today, we are the Number One flexible packaging company in North America for making products to package cheese—be it shredded, sliced, block, cream, Swiss, processed or whatever—dealing with all the 15 top cheese producers in North America.

Another important vertical segment for us is the pet food market—with the second-biggest share in flexible packaging and a unique product portfolio that offers the full breadth of flexible packaging: from 50-pound paper-only bags to paper-poly combinations to woven polypropylene plastic.

We are also a major supplier to the coffee industry with our poly-foil packages, as well as other consumer packaged goods, including many of those retailing at Club Stores.

Given the history of our company, we have a lot of prepress and design capabilities we can offer to our customers to give us an important competitive advantage.

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FLEXIBLE PACKAGING Also, having over 70 extruders to blow our own film makes us even more cost-competitive and, more importantly, enables our customers to bring their product innovations to the market much faster and more efficiently.

Packaging naturally plays a big part in the whole sustainability equation because packaging’s main responsibility is to extend the shelf-life of the packaged product.

Hence not enough packaging may in fact may be a worse outcome from the sustainability perspective than too much packaging.

In the food industry, 90 per cent of the environmental footprint is related to actual production of the food product and delivering it to the store, with packaging only accounting for 10 per cent. Hence, packaging that fails to protect

the food product adequately will have a very negative environmental impact on sustainability.

With about a third of all food estimated to end up as waste in Canada, flexible packaging’s impact on the environment is relatively minor.

Our food industry customers continually ask us to provide more shelf-life for their products so that they don’t end up as waste, and more shelf-life by definition means more and more layers of film to protect that product, which makes in more and more difficult to recycle.

This is not to say that flexible packaging cannot be improved further from a sustainability perspective, but comparing flexible packaging to other packaging formats to protect a given product offers a more accurate picture.

PRICE? CHECK. DURABILITY? CHECK. WARRANTY? CHECKMATE. We don’t provide the best warranty in the game because we have to – we do it because we can. An unmatched combination of quality and durability means you can rest assured that you’re making the best decision when you make it a Mitsubishi.

Visit mitsubishi-motors.ca/fleet for more information on how you can add a Mitsubishi to your fleet.

François Olivier is president and chief executive officer of TC Transcontinental, a Montreal-headquartered global producer of flexible packaging products and Canada’s largest commercial printer. The above text is an edited version of his keynote address delivered t the recent held Pac to the Future II – Retail Reinvented conference produced and hosted by PAC Packaging Consortium in Montreal on Sept. 25-26, 2018.

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Outlander PHEV

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle

** Whichever comes first. Regular maintenance not included. See dealer or mitsubishi-motors.ca for warranty terms, restrictions and details. Some conditions apply.

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If you decided to put about 60 pounds of product like cheese in glass, for example, you would need about 50 pounds of glass to do it, or six pounds of virgin PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic, or three pounds of aluminum pouches, or just 1.5-pound of flexible packaging.

There is also the further impact of transporting that packaging, empty or full, and the truth is that one truckload of flexible packaging is an equivalent to 15 trucks filled with rigid packaging.

The real challenge that the industry is facing lies in what the consumers do with their flexible packaging after bringing the product home and, for various reasons, the recyclability and compostability we all seek is not quite there yet.

There are many reasons for this, but even if were to make the stuff 100-percent recyclable, there is no guarantee that there is someone out there willing to recycle it, so that a 100-percent recyclable product does not end up in the landfill.

In fact, we are currently designing a 100-percent recyclable bag that we are hoping to launch in the market soon, but the question remains:Will it be recycled?

This is the challenge that the industry is facing: the challenge of shared responsibility. We have to work with the raw material suppliers like Dow to create recyclable and/or compostable packaging, but it is also important for product manufacturers to put the right information on that packaging so that consumers know how to recycle or compost the stuff properly.

The system will not work unless consumer puts the packaging in the right recycling stream, and that’s why we have to work with all different levels of government to create an infrastructure for recycling and sorting of these materials.

As a company that was heavily involved in newspaper publishing industry in the past, we were subjected to all kinds of criticism by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and other environmentalists about deforestation and other environmental issues, and we responded by helping to build an infrastructure that has made newsprint a 100-percent recyclable product with a healthy market demand.

Naturally, we intend to do the same thing for the flexible packaging products we produce.

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EVENTS Nov. 14-15

Montreal: Advanced Design & Manufacturing (ADM) Expo, multishow exhibition by UBM comprising PACKEX Montreal, Expoplast, Automation Technology Expo (ATX), Design & Manufacturing, and Powder & Bulk Solids. All at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. To register, go to: www.montreal.am.ubm.com

Nov. 14-15

Santa Clare, Ca.: IDTechEx Show, emerging manufacturing technologies exhibition and conference by IDTechEx Ltd. At Santa Clara Convention Center. To register, go to: www.IDTechE.com/USA

Nov. 14-15

Philadelphia, Pa.: Automation Fair, annual enduser conference and trade show by Rockwell Automation. At Pennsylvania Convention Center. To register, go to: www.rockwellautomation.com

Nov. 19-20

Feb. 5-7

Coral Springs, Fla.: Polyethylene Films 2019, conference

by Applied Marketing Information LLC (AMI). At the Ft. Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Golf Resort. To register, go to: www.ami.international

Feb. 12-14

Atlanta, Ga.: International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), international meat and poultry industries trade show and conference by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI). At the Georgia World Congress Center. To register, go to: www.ippexpo.org

Feb. 27-28

Rotterdam, The Netherlands: European Food & Beverage Plastic Packaging, conference and exhibition by ACI (Europe). To register, go to: www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/

Feb. 28 – March 2

Bangalore, India: drink technology India, beverage, dairy and liquid food industries trade show by Messe München GmbH. To register, go to: www.messe-muenchen.de

Amsterdam, Holland: World Congress and Exhibition on Active & Intelligent Packaging,

by Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (AIPIA). At Westin Hotel. Register online at www.aipia.info

March 17-19

Nov. 26-29

March 19-21

Paris, France: ALL4PACK Paris 2018, international packaging, processing, printing & logistics exhibition by Comexposium. At Paris Nord Villepinte. To register, go to: www.all4pack.com

2019 Jan. 16-17

San Francisco, Ca.: Sustainable Foods Summit, international sustainability conference by Ecovia Intelligence.At the Hilton San Francisco Financial District. To register, go to: www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

Boston, Ma.: Seafood Expo North America, jointly with Seafood Processing North America. Both at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. To register, go to: www.seafoodexpo.com/north-america Munich, Germany: LOPEC, international exhibition and conference for the printed electronics industry by Messe München GmbH. At International Congress Center Munich. To register, go to: www.lopec.com

March 26-28

Chicago: ProFood Tech 2019, global food & beverage processing exhibition by Kolenmesse and PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

At McCormick Place. To register, go to: www.profoodtech.com

March 26-29

Melbourne, Australia: AUSPACK 2019, international packaging and processing technologies show by the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association Limited (APPMA). At Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. To register, go to: www.auspack.com.au

March 27-28

Atlanta, Ga.: Industrial Pack 2019, industrial, transit and protective packaging exhibition by Easyfairs. At Cobb Galeria Center, To register, go to: www.easyfairs.com

April 24-25

Brampton, Ont.: 20/20 Vision: Progress in Packaging, conference and exibition by CCCA (Canadian Corrugated Case Association) and AICC Canada. At the Pearson Convention Centre. To register, go to: www.aiccbox.ca/events

April 20 – May 2

Toronto: SIAL Canada, North America’s food innovation trade show by Expo Canada France. Jointly with the SET Canada food equipment and machinery exhibition.

Both at Enercare Centre. To register, go to: www.sialcanada.com

June 13-14

Amsterdam, Holland: Sustainable Foods Summit, international sustainability conference by Ecovia Intelligence. To register, go to: www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

Sept. 4-6

Johannesburg, South Africa: Food & Drink Technology Africa, regional trade fair for the food, beverage and packaging industries by Messe München GmbH. At Gallagher Convention Centre. To register, go to: www.fdt-africa.com

Oct. 5-9

Cologne, Germany: Anuga 2019, international food and beverage industries exhibition by Koelnmesse. At Koelnmesse fairgrounds. To register, go to: www.anuga.com

Jan. 23-24

Barcelona, Spain: Maximizing Propylene Yields 2019, global summit by ACI (Europe). To register, go to: www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/

π

Jan. 27-30

Cologne, Germany: ProSweets Cologne 2019, international supplier trade show for the sweets and snacks industry by Koelnmesse.

At Koelnmesse fairgrounds. To register, go to: www.prosweets-cologne.com

SHIPPING SUPPLY SPECIALISTS OVER 1,550 SIZES ALWAYS IN STOCK

BOXES IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES

Jan. 30-31

ORDER BY 6 PM FOR SAME DAY SHIPPING

Paris, France: ADF & PCD Paris 2019, comprising Aersosol Dispensing Forum (ADF) and Packaging of Perfume Cosmetics & Design (PCD) conference. Both by Easyfairs Oriex.

At Parc des Expositions, Porte de Versaille. To register, go to: www.easyfairs.com

Feb. 4-6

Las Vegas, Nev.: The Packaging Conference. By The Packaging Conference LLC. At Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas. To register, go to: www.thepackagingconference.com COMPLETE CATALOG

1-800-295-5510

uline.ca

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CHECKOUT BY MEGAN MOFFAT

Consumers often tend to judge a product they have not bought before solely based on the look of the packaging.

Whether the packaging is used to convey a message or attract attention, it’s all about buyer intrigue—thinking outside the box and sharing the story surrounding the brand. Critically, brands are starting to recognize that consumers want to like their packaging as much as they like the product. While it’s the inside that counts in the end, consumers still need a little extra pizzazz to draw their attention from the other competitors. Different types of visual illustrations can be used to highlight a brand’s product while still conveying important information to the consumer. Here is a sampling of a few products that make effective use of shapes, colors and lines turns to turn heads and draw the customer’s eyes towards the brand.

Because it is one of the most recognizable brands on retail shelves anywhere in North America, I was intrigued to see something different other than the usual standard tissue box we’ve grown accustomed to from Kleenex.

For someone who is perpetually stuffing facial tissues or restaurant napkins into her pockets during the f lu season, it a was joy to Kleenex now offering individually wrapped wet wipes inside a resealable stand-up pouch for total consumer convenience on-the-go. While still boasting the soft and thick texture of the popular facial tissue, it’s the calming illustration on the front panel of the pouch that draws the initial attention. The blue watercolor palette generates an aura of ultimate relaxation, while the ombré effect created by illustrated raindrops perfectly complements the brand’s renowned soothing nature by projecting sense of placid tranquility and purity. The abstract nature of the packaging entices consumers to take them along to their favorite peaceful place—be it a good book and a warm blanket, Tuesday night hot yoga, or even a walk in the rain.

Taking the art of abstract illustration in a modern direction, the method Hand Soap brand has become a rapidly-growing brand in large part due to its appealing visual aesthetics and a resoundingly eco-conscious message. Parabenfree, biodegradable, never tested on animals, and 100-per cent recycled plastic packaging structure all make a compelling statement about this product’s mission to help keep you clean without hiding any dirty little secrets. Moreover, the bottle’s pear-shaped design provides a perfect canvass for mixing a varied array of colors to suit the brand’s diverse selection of scents—perfect for sprucing up any bathroom shelf. Released just in time for the upcoming holiday season, the new Frosted Fir scent really rouses the holiday spirit with its gold foil and subtle pine-tree graphics set against the forest-green wraparound shrinksleeve label. The end result is a genuinely elegant container without all the busy bells and whistles found in most holiday-themed packaging. Kudos to method for its relaxed, watercolored approach to packaging design that projects a calm sense of peaceful purity and serenity to put the consumer at ease with the world.

As you may have guessed, I am a big fan of subtle design tweaks in packaging, rather than radical reinvention of the wheel just for the sake of it. In this light, the recently redesigned packaging for the Liberté Organic line of Greek-style yogurt hits all the right notes with its natural approach to decorating the highquality dairy favorite. Boasting beautiful graphics fruit graphics of fresh fruit

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in its natural state to spruce up the cram-colored background, the 650-ml container of the brand’s delicious Mango & Apricot f lavor variety is a real breath of fresh air in the aisles among the rows of mostly ‘me-too’ yogurt tubs crowding the dairy section shelves. Simple and elegant, the botanical sketch effortlessly conveys the timeless nature of the product with its high approachable and personable packaging that captures the product’s taste and overall attention to detail without having to resort to digitally-enhanced product photography that has become the norm for most mainstream yogurt brands lately.

PHOTOS BY MEGAN MOFFAT

SUBTLE PACKAGING THAT WORKS WONDERS

Another clever alternate approach to picture-perfect packaging décor is the use of intentionally child-like graphics to make an instant connection with the consumer.

Produced on the West Coast by the Burnaby, B.C.-based Happy Planet Foods, Inc., the Happy Planet brand of all-natural gourmet soups happily laps it up with the cartoonish logo of planet earth created by simple sunbeam marker strokes—located in the tear-off portion of the stand-up plastic pouch just above the resealable closure.

The whimsical motif is repeated with the brand logo, tagline and the three other product callouts featured on the 500-ml pouches of the Thai Chicken Soup f lavor— each employing kindergardenish scribbles to relate the product’s attributes in plain and simple messaging that even a child can easily understand. It’s all very disarming and transparent—especially with the bottom half of the pouch being left clear to let consumer actually see the contents inside in true “nothing to hide” fashion. Using a high-quality photograph of lemongrass, ginger, and mushrooms—provides an open invitation for consumers to really think about what’s in their food. All in all, it’s a very tasteful departure from the usual round metal cans that most soups are still packaged in—making a perfect marketing pitch to happy-go-lucky consumers to leave the shop with some wholesome goodness to bring home.

Megan Moffat is a freelance writer living in Toronto.

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX ADVERTISER..................................................................PAGE

ADVERTISER..................................................................PAGE

Anritsu Company....................................... 23

Reiser / Robert Reiser & Co........................ 16

Baumer hhs Corp....................................... 25

Stock Packaging Canada............................ 31

Delkor Systems Inc...................................... 9

Sun Chemical Limited................................ 11

Domino Printing Solutions Inc...................... 2

Thermo Fisher Scientific............................. 36

Emerson Automation Solutions (ASCO)....... 22

Uline Canada Corporation.......................... 39

FlexLink Systems Canada Inc..................... 10

VC999 Packaging......................................... 4

Fortress Technology Inc............................. 31

Veritiv Canada, Inc.................................. OBC

Harlund Industries Ltd................................. 5

Videojet Canada........................................... 1

Heat and Control.......................................... 8

Weber, Inc................................................... 6

Mettler Toledo...........................................IBC

Weighpack Systems Inc............................ IFC

Mitsubishi.................................................. 38

WestRock.................................................... 7

Plan Automation.......................................... 5

Zund America, Inc..................................... 25

Regal Beloit America, Inc........................... 18

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2018

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CPK_Me

PHOTOS BY MEGAN MOFFAT

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