Canadian Packaging November 2013

NOVEMBER 2013 | $10

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LAURA’S THEME Domino effects pure eye-candy for newly revamped Laura Secord brand

Publication mail agreement #40069240.

Story on page 12

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The products I need when I need them

Exactly

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The Drive & Control Company

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Uptime.

That’s Your Advantage.

Higher uptime means more productivity and profits. New Videojet solutions can help.

Don’t let unplanned shutdowns and difficult maintenance procedures stand in your way. Reach your uptime goals with the new Videojet 1550 and 1650 continuous ink jet printers. With advanced features to improve equipment availability, the new 1550 and 1650 will keep your packaging lines running more reliably.

See Videojet’s new printers that help maximize uptime. Call 877-225-2241 or text Videojet at 76477 visit www.videojet.com/uptime. ©2013 Videojet Technologies Inc.

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Ink Jet. Laser. Thermal Transfer. Labelers. Track & Trace. Supplies. Parts & Service.

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Being in business for over 65 years isn’t what makes us a leader in the packaging industry.

It’s the hundreds of loyal customers, multitudes of innovative products, and the countless times we’ve delivered unrivaled customer satisfaction that does.

(416) 298.8101 • (800) 268.5620 • www.atlantic.ca Add Ink (Decorative & Display) (416) 421.3636 www.addink.ca

Corrugated & Flexible Packaging

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Color Pak (Pre-printed Linerboard) (416) 298.5518 www.colorpak.ca

Displays

Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging Ltd. Montreal and Drummondville (800) 361.5727 www.mitchellincoln.ca

Supply and Inventory Management

Recycling

Mills

13-11-07 11:36 AM

UPFRONT

THE HAND THAT FEEDS

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COVER STORY

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NOVEMBER 2013

LAURA’S THEME Domino effects pure eye-candy for newly revamped Laura Secord brand

12 Chock Full of Cocoa By Andrew Joseph

Story on page 12

agreement #40069240.

VOLUME 66, NO. 11

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that making more local food available in the province’s markets, schools, cafeteria and restaurants will spur greater innovation and accelerated job creation.

“It’s an important and historic step forward.”

Forward to what, exactly? If it’s forward to more government intervention at taxpayers’ expense, than we could suggest many more productive ways of spending $30 million over the next three years than propping up an industry that was not vocally begging for government handouts to begin with.

According to the government’s own statistics, food processors in Ontario already purchase about twothirds of all the livestock, dairy, poultry, grains, and fruits and vegetables that is produced on the province’s farms, so it seems a case of a solution looking for a problem, rather than the other way around.

Moreover, the new act seems to f ly in the face of the premier’s own publicly-stated long-term goals of doubling the province’s agri-food exports by 2020 from last year’s estimated total of $10.8 billion, while also positioning the province as “one of the top five places in North America in revenues for food and beverage manufacturing.”

Wonderful goals, but it’s hard to see how inf luencing the food purchasing decisions of Ontario public organizations with artificial new targets and quotas will nurture the export-oriented mindset that the industry needs to get anywhere near achieving those lofty aims, which also call for the creation of 120,000 new jobs in the agri-food sector by 2020.

Just because the new legislation happens to be “the first of its kind in Canada” does not in itself make it a good legislation, whatever the intent, especially if other provinces follow suit by imposing their own similar measures favoring their local food producers.

Canada already has far more interprovincial trade barriers than most of its major global trade partners, and encouraging further impediments to the f low of goods and services between our provinces is an idea that is anything but a “step forward” to anything good or helpful to anyone in the food or other business.

Venerable Quebec sweets producer brings a beloved Canadian chocolate brand back into the mainstream public spotlight with updated packaging presentation and modernized production capabilities.

Cover photography by Mario Jobin.

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS

3 UPFRONT By George Guidoni 4-5 NEWSPACK

Packaging news round-up.

6-7 FIRST GLANCE

Focus on metal detection.

8-10 ECO-PACK NOW

All about environmental sustainability.

11 imPACt

A monthly insight from PAC-The Packaging Association 30 NOTES & QUOTES

Noteworthy industry briefs.

31 EVENTS

Upcoming industry functions.

31 PEOPLE

Packaging career moves 32 CHECKOUT By Megan Moffat

Joe Public speaks out on packaging hits and misses.

Publication mail

NOVEMBER 2013

helping hand is always welcome in times of economic need, but please forgive us for not dancing in the streets in light of the Ontario government’s sudden outpouring of affection for the province’s food sector—as ref lected in this month’s passage of the Local Food Act. Basically a subsidy for an industry that is actually in pretty decent shape—given anemic economic growth and fragile consumer confidence—this display of government largess has all the trappings of misplaced good intentions rooted in preelection posturing and political opportunism than sound economic judgment and logic.

Hailed by Queen’s Park as a way to create new jobs and to expand the province’s agri-food sector, the legislation reeks of government favoritism, micromanagement and protectionism that could do more harm than good in the long term for an industry facing some real testing challenges in light of the pending, long-awaited free-trade deal between Canada and the European Union, which already has Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne making loud noises about “compensation” for the adversely-affected food producers and farmers.

Frankly, it’s hard to see how pampering small local food producers through a $30-million Local Food Fund and tax-breaks for farmers donating their excess harvest to local food banks will prepare them for either taking advantage of greater access to the vast consumer market of nearly 500 million people, or to develop the core competencies they will need to retain their existing domestic market share in face of added competition from European food producers.

According to Wynne, “The Local Food Act will benefit people by making the connection between buying local and helping grow an important Ontario industry.

“If we increase demand to homegrown food, we will create jobs and boost the agri-food sector’s contributions to our economy,” says Wynne, arguing

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NOW • ADHESIVES •

DIGITAL PRINTING

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FEATURES

18 TEAM SPIRIT

By Andrew Joseph Innovative home-grown industrial adhesives manufacturer enjoying life in the fast lane of the highly-competitive global industry.

22 CHAMPAGNE MOMENTS Famed champagne house toasts new automatic cartoning line.

24 TUNNEL VISION

By Jim McMahon Innovative automatic shrinkwrapper allows frozen-pizza producer to keep rolling in dough.

26 A SEASONING FOR ALL OCCASIONS

By Andrew Joseph Toronto spice and seasonings upstart making optimal use of tabletop color inkjet label printing technology.

NOVEMBER 2013 • CANADIAN PACKAGING WWW.CANADIANPACKAGING.COM • 3

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NEWSPACK

JUICE GIANT EMBARKING ON MAJOR PRODUCTION AND PACKAGING UPGRADES

From Left: Quebec’s minister of finance and economy Nicolas Marceau: Lasssonde Industries chief executive officer Jean Gattuso; Quebec minister of agriculture, fisheries and food François Gendron; and Iberville member of parliament Marie Bouillé during the recent official announcement of the Québec government’s financial support for Lassonde’s capital investment projects.

Leading Canadian juice producer A. Lassonde Inc. is spending $19 million to carry out major upgrades of the company’s manufacturing facilities in Rougemont, Que., including installation of two new preform lines that will enable the company to manufacture its own PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and caps right on-site—yielding major improvements in both production efficiencies and environmental performance.

Partly funded with a $1.85-million grant from the government of Quebec, the upgrade projects— consisting of implementation of new production

lines and modernization of existing facilities—are expected to create up to 24 new jobs at Rougement, where the company produces its f lagship Oasis, Everfresh, Fairlee, Flavür, Fruité and other popular brands of fruit and vegetable juices and juice-based beverages.

“Lassonde operates in a rapidly developing North American market, where it stands out by leveraging quality and innovation in product development and production,” says Jean Gattuso, president of the juice producer’s parent company Lassonde Industries Inc. “Our Rougemont plants are the company’s very first facilities, and these investments will ensure that they remain on the cutting edge and maintain their key operational role,” says Gattuso.

As part of the company’s broader sustainable development strategy, the two new preform lines will enable it to accelerate the reduction in the packaging weight of its PET containers, according to Lassonde, by making the bottles and caps up to 16 per cent lighter.

“In concrete terms, 1.2 million kilos will be trimmed from selective collection each year, while a series of projects related to the production of PET bottles will result in a reduction of 2,400 trucks on the road,” says Gattuso, adding the company also plans to implement new automated production technologies and to increase the size of its storage facilities.

Employing over 2,000 workers, A. Lassonde operates 14 production facilities in Québec,

New preform production lines being installed at Lassonde’s manufacturing operations in Rougemont, Que.

Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and the U.S., where it currently ranks as the second-largest producer of store brand ready-to-drink fruit juices and drinks, as well as a major producer of cranberry juices, drinks and sauces.

“Over the past 10 years, we have more than doubled our production operations and created hundreds of jobs in Rougemont,” states Gattuso.

“Firmly rooted in its community, Lassonde was able to grow thanks to the support of its clients and consumers—especially those in Quebec,” says Gattuso, noting the company currently employs about 800 people in Quebec.

“It is a source of great pride for us to keep growing and creating jobs at home.”

LEADING BOTTLED WATER BRANDS SPARKLE WITH BRIGHT PACKAGING DESIGNS

There must be something in the water this time of year that makes leading Canadian bottled-water brands get really worked up about their product packaging.

A few weeks ago, Puslinch, Ont.-headquartered Nestlé Waters Canada (NWC) expanded the packaging format for its bestselling carbonated Nestlé Pure Life Sparkling Natural Spring Water with the launch of several brand varieties in fully-recyclable, 355-ml aluminum cans.

Containing zero calories, sugar or sodium, the brand’s Original, Lemon, Lime and Raspberry Lime f lavors are retailed across Canada in 12-pack cartons manufactured by the company’s long-time packaging partner Hammer Packaging, as well as in six-packs of 500-ml PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic containers and one-liter single PET bottles.

“Our Nestlé Pure Life Sparkling Natural Spring Water has been the fastestgrowing sparkling water brand in Canada in the history of the category,” says Carol Guier, NWC’s marketing manager for domestic brands.

“Nestle Pure Life Sparkling in cans is a convenient, affordable and healthy carbonated alternative to sugared beverages, particularly for consumers who want to stay properly hydrated but are looking for a little more than f lat water and want to avoid calories.”

In addition, NWC has also launched a limitededition glass bottle for one of its bestselling import

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brands to commemorate one of the world’s greatest singing voices of all time in limited-time marketing collaboration with the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation in Italy.

Available primarily at fine dining restaurants across Canada, the limited-edition oneliter glass bottles of the renowned S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water boast a specially-designed, opera-inspired silver label that features a gray-and-white image of a smiling Luciano Pavarotti— one of the world’s most celebrated opera singers and an enduring symbol of Italian culture—dressed in a fancy black suit and white shirt, with his arms spread wide in one of his best-known stage poses.

“The collaboration with the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation and special edition S. Pellegrino bottle represents a new and important landmark in our ongoing efforts to create and nurture relationships with esteemed Italian organizations that are symbols of style, innovation, culture and prestige,” explains NWC’s marketing manager for premium brands Jennifer Semley Robert.

“In a year of extraordinary happenings in the world of music and Italian opera, we are happy to celebrate Luciano Pavarotti, whose remarkable voice and personality helped to develop a strong, positive image of Italy and the Italian way of living

throughout the world.”

“Just as S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water does,” says Semley Robert, citing the brand’s earlier similar limited-time bottle launches of Canada’s second-bestselling brand of sparkling water collaboratively designed with Missoni in 2010 and Bulgari in 2011 as a way to celebrate Italy’s renowned creative talents and passion.

Not to be outdone, the famed French mineral water bottler Evian has also launched a limited-edition glass bottle of its evian Natural Spring Water through a marketing collaboration with internationally-acclaimed Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab.

According to the product’s brand-owner Danone Waters of North America, the new 750-ml glass bottle was launched earlier this month at select restaurants and hotels across Canada as a joint celebration of both brands’ pursuit of purity in design.”

Representing the evian brand’s sixth collaborations with international fashion brands, “The bottle is decorated with a signature Elie Saab lace pattern that recalls the feminine and elegant designs featured so prominently in the brand’s collections,” according to Danone Waters.

“The delicate white lace has been applied with architectural accuracy, bringing added refinement to the clean lines of the bottle’s silhouette.”

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2013

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NEWSPACK

GREAT TASTE AND PACKAGING GIVE NEW PROTEIN MILKSHAKE DRINK A STRONG GAME-WINNING EDGE

Most Canadian consumers know all about milk’s important role in promoting healthy bone growth and development, and thanks to a brand new product from the Montrealheadquartered dairy products group Saputo Inc., many more may soon discover its similarly impressive muscle-building potential.

Packing 26 grams of protein per 325-ml bottle, the new Milk2Go Sport is a readyto-drink, milk-based protein shake that not only helps stimulate muscle repair after workouts, according to the company, but also dulls hunger, further assisting people trying to lose weight.

“People are increasingly mindful about their protein intake, but are often pressed for time or unsure about what to consume post-workout to ensure proper recovery,” says Philippe Duhamel, marketing manager at Saputo Dairy Products Canada.

“Many products currently on the market contain many undesirable ingredients, and require considerable time to measure and mix,” says Duhamel, “whereas Milk2Go Sport was specifically formulated for on-thego people who are looking for a greattasting product that is high in protein, with the natural goodness of milk.”

Manufactured at a Saputo dairy processing plant in Ottawa and retailing at most major convenience and grocery stores across Canada in vanilla and chocolate f lavors, the Milk2Go Sport also contains five essential nutrients and vitamins in each resealable, single-serve container shaped to resemble a muscular human torso.

Decorated with sporty graphics designed by Saputo’s marketing team in collaboration with Torontobased package design specialists TraffikGroup, Inc., the new protein beverages are said to have already made their way into the training routines of world-class athletes such as NHL (National Hockey League) star Jason Spezza, captain of the Ottawa Senators team; MLS (Major League Soccer) all-star midfielder Patrice Bernier of Montreal Impact; and the Canadian ‘triple threat’ sister team of freestyle skiers Chloé, Justine and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe.

“I’ve tried many different protein drinks and Milk2Go Sport is the perfect kind of fuel to help keep my body going.” says Spezza. “With 26 grams of protein, it definitely helps me recover after a tough workout, but I also like it because it tastes much better than other protein drinks.”

Following an illustrious career as an elite short-track speed skater, Olympic gold medalist Nathalie Lambert’s focus has turned to helping others find the right balance between training, nutrition and healthy habits

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as part of her work at the Montreal Athletic Association (MAA), and she says she’s enthused by this `new rookie’ in the sports drink category.

“A lot of people ask me about the protein beverage craze and I’ve always been a little hesitant to recommend any of the products on the market,” says Lambert.

“As a woman and mom who juggles a crazy schedule and is vigilant not only about protein intake, but also getting enough calcium in her diet because of concerns over osteoporosis, I feel strongly that Milk2Go Sport strikes the right balance, given it has only 200 calories per bottle.”

RIDING THE GRAVY TRAIN

Although Canadians consume vast amounts of gravy between Thanksgiving and Christmas, making a perfect gravy for each festive meal is often the home chefs’ toughest challenge—especially when it must be gluten-free. But not this holiday season, thanks to the new Club House Gluten-Free Turkey and Club House Gluten-Free Brown gravy mixes from the London, Ont.-based McCormick Canada.

Packaged in 25-gram pouches designed by Toronto-based Forthought Branding & Design, the gluten-free gravies contain 25 per cent less salt than the original Club House mixes, says McCormick, which offers many innovative gluten-free recipe suggestions online at www.clubhouse.ca

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FIRST GLANCE METAL DETECTION BUILT LIKE A FORTRESS The new Stealth Pharmaceutical metal detector from Fortress Technology was developed specifically to meet the most demanding quality standards of the healthcare industry, according to the company, with capabilities to detect metal contaminants and particles in high line speeds with a throughput of 30,000 tablets per minute. Built to withstand harsh cleaning regimens and featuring adjustable height/head tilt settings and wheels for easy integration, the Stealth Pharmaceutical boasts a special USB feature to facilitate quick access to QA reports from the system’s software. Like other Fortress metal detector systems, Stealth Pharmaceutical incorporates the latest Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology for superior speed and precision, along with the ability to detect and reject ferrous and nonferrous metals, including nonmagnetic stainless steel.

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FLY LIKE AN EAGLE Manufactured by Eagle Product Inspection and distributed in Canada by PLAN Automation, the new Eagle Pack 550 PRO X-Ray inspection system was designed to meet product inspection needs of food processors and manufacturers with mid- to large-sized bulk packaged food items such as cereals, rice, f lour, sugar, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. Offering numerous inspection and operational benefits such as an enhanced graphical interface, high-speed imaging, increased contaminant detection for difficult product applications, onscreen self-diagnostics, full multilane and multiview capabilities, Eagle Pack 550 PRO’s robust technology also offers users the ability to count components, check seal integrity, measure mass, and assess fill

levels to enable bulk packaged food processors to accurately document production in order to improve operational processes and efficiency. In addition, the Eagle Pack 550 PRO provides food processors and manufacturers with the option to integrate Material Discrimination X-ray (MDX) technology into their X-ray system, which enables customers to detect and remove historically undetectable inorganic contaminants such as glass shards, rocks, rubber, and plastics in applications where high levels of product density make X-ray images very busy and difficult to interpret accurately. Employing enhanced Eagle SimulTask image processing software and dual energy technology, the Pack 550 PRO with MDX clearly identifies unwanted foreign bodies within the packaged product to remove any contaminated food items from the processing line.

Eagle Product Inspection PLAN Automation

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DETECT TO PROTECT Since the launch of the GHF Detector line with the promise to deliver better performance compared to other metal detectors, S+S Inspection Inc. has won a number of important trials in the food packaging and process industries, according to the company, thanks to recent expansion of the company’s new advanced manufacturing and design facility in Bartlett, Ill., to meet demand and to introduce a new range of customized modular conveyor designs to ensure that lead times are kept in line with market expectations. Offering top-rated IP69K washdown protection, the GHF Detector offers a robust head design and an integral full-color touchscreen control unit designed to make it easy to set up and report back on line conditions that could affect the integrity of the inspection system—offering the type of performance to enable the detection of previously undetectable metal contaminants. In addition, the GHF Detector systems can be equipped with monitoring technology that detects failures in operational issues such as line blockage, overfilled reject bins, low reject air pressure, etc. With

a full diagnostic log and fail-safe alarms, the GHF Detector provides immediate feedback to indicate the necessary corrective actions.

S+S Inspection Inc.

SIGNATURE STYLE Featuring a full-color touchscreen, a membrane key panel and product inspection data collection capability, the new Signature metal detector from Mettler-Toledo Safeline is designed for easy, cost-effective easy integration into food production lines, according to the company. Combined with material handling systems such as standard or custom-made conveyor systems to achieve full automation of the product inspection process, the Signature detectors are available in a broad variety of sizes, finishes and sealing standards, all which can readily detect even the most difficult-to-spot nonmagnetic stainless-steel fragments and non-spherical fine-wire contaminants. An optional sophisticated, yet simple set-up routine allows end-users to configure Performance Validation Routine (PVR) testing to their own needs, whereby they choose to test on a ‘time basis’ or ‘pack count basis.’ Automatically changing to the PVR screen whenever when the testing is due or overdue and operating in conjunction with a Reject Confirmation Unit (RCU), the system provides the security and reliability to meet all the pertinent Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards, according to Mettler-Toledo.

Mettler-Toledo Safeline

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UNRIVALED X-CELLENCE The f lagship X⁵ X-ray inspection system from Loma Systems incorporates a host of groundbreaking new features to ensure optimal product integrity for busiest of food packaging lines, according to the company, with its recent redesign answering the users’ call for easier cleaning and reduced maintenance to deliver maximum uptime in round-theclock manufacturing sites, while identifying and rejecting the contaminants with unprecedented accuracy and precision. With today’s retailer compliance demanding the highest levels of cleanliness, the X⁵ system’s rounded, sloping surfaces help ensure that food particles and washdown droplets cannot accumulate on its surfaces, with the addition of impermeable seals onto the X-Ray eliminating the risk of water ingress. Powered by a Windows-based operating system, the X⁵ is designed to deliver accurate, reliable product control at lines speeds up to 394 feet per minute, with the system’s proprietary Adaptive Array Technology (AAT) dynamically tailoring resolution, depth and scaling to give the best detection performance for any product requiring inspection. According to Loma, AAT eliminates the previous need to specify the diode array pixel size, as the X⁵ will automatically adjust from 0.4-mm, 0.8-mm and 1.6-mm to select the optimal detection capabilities for the product being

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METAL DETECTION FIRST GLANCE inspected. This high-speed operation is enhanced with cutting-edge inspection technology that makes light work of detecting contaminants such as metals, glass, PVC, bone, rubber, stones, and ingredient clumps to divert the affected products off the line for further examination, along with both underweight or overweight packs, or improperly packaged items with incorrect content levels. Offered with a number of cooling options to suit individual applications and an innovative energy-saving heat exchange system delivers excellent thermal dissipation to achieve low overall energy consumption, the X⁵ comes with an intuitive 12-inch color touchscreen and a dome signal lamp for displaying the unit’s status at a glance. Moreover, the system’s handy quick-release mechanism, mounted on a gas strut for operator safety, allows for the conveyor belt to be changed within just a few minutes.

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assist busy, high-volume food processors to meet HACCP, IFS HACCP, BRC, IFS5, SQF 2000 and FSSC 22000/PAS 220 safety standards by finding even the smallest particles of ferrous, nonferrous and stainless-steel contaminants, Cassel metal detectors also offer reliable metal detection capabilities for end-use applications in the food, pharmaceutical, plastics, aggregate, recycling and mining industries.

Magnetic Products, Inc.

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X-PERT ANALYSIS Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has announced several upgrades for the company’s popular Xpert C400 X-Ray system for detecting metals and other foreign objects in food products, including a new

X-ray source with twice the power of the original model, compact sanitary drum motors and shorter line configurations. According to the company, the X-Ray power boost makes the system well-suited for thicker, denser product and/or higher speed production to target broader range of food applications, including challenging wet or semi-frozen products, as well as metallized packaging structures that do not lend themselves to metal detection. The upgraded Xpert C400 also features a new compact sanitary drum motor to drive its conveyor, thereby improving safety and performance, minimizing maintenance requirements, and simplifying sanitation by enclosing all moving parts—for a smaller overall footprint.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

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X-TREME MEASURES The new Xtreme Metal Detector system from Eriez is loaded with enhanced features, improved sensitivity, intuitive operation and exceptional reliability in an ultrasleek design that blends simplicity and sophistication with its easyto-navigate control, with an extra-large color interface, to raise industry bar in terms of superior sensitivity, ease-of-use and reliability, according to the company. “Our field sales engineers and customers played a vital role in the development of our new Xtreme Metal Detector,” explains Eriez product manager for metal detection John Klinge. “We gathered crucial information from our customers about what they want and need in metal detection equipment in order to design the Xtreme Metal Detector to exceed these demands and expectations.” Wellsuited for a broad range of industry applications—including chemical, food processing, packaging, pharmaceuticals, plastics and rubber—the Xtreme Metal Detector boasts a user-friendly interface with a full QWERTY keyboard, robust auto set-up, a dedicated reject log, and a vivid display.

✔ Produce packages with the same look and feel as a traditional bacon package.

✔ Printed and registered top and bottom films.

✔ Produce packages with or without J, L, or clear bacon carry boards.

✔ High-speed reliable production. ✔ Superior seals significantly reduce leakers.

✔ Packages can withstand HPP. ✔ Take advantage of EZ peel film. ✔ Washdown machine provides better sanitation and hygiene.

✔ Produce standard and custom retail packages, as well as bulk packages, all on the same machine.

INTRODUCING THE REISER BACON PACKAGING SYSTEM

Eriez 40

TH I S C HAN G E S EVE RYTH I N G

MAGNETIC ATTRACTIONS Magnetic Products, Inc. offers a broad range of Cassel metal detectors featuring proprietary FourQuadrant technology that ensures extreme equipment reliability to allow them to readily adjust settings to find metals in even the most difficult products such as cheese or high-salt-content foods, according to the company. Boasting powerful DDS technology and remote service capabilities, users are taken through a series of easy-to-follow, step-bystep, high-graphic screens to set standards for product testing. Designed to

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Upgrade your retail bacon packaging to a whole new level with the Reiser Bacon Packaging System. Reiser engineers have done it again.

This time they’ve developed a packaging solution for retail bacon that sets the new standard. With printed and registered top and bottom films, the ability to run with or without a carry board, superior seals, EZ peel film, and a package that can withstand HPP, the high-speed Reiser form/fill/seal packaging machine brings the newest technology to your bacon packaging line. This is the one machine that does it all. Not only does it easily produce a range of retail and bulk package formats on a single machine, the rugged Bacon Packaging System also eliminates costly maintenance and downtime.

Reiser Canada 1549 Yorkton Court #4, Burlington, ON L7P 5B7 • (905) 631-6611 Reiser 725 Dedham Street, Canton, MA 02021 • (781) 821-1290 www.reiser.com 2013

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ECO-PACK NOW

THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT GREEN If the future of green packaging lies in the hands of our next generation, then a recent repackaging project by a German undergraduate design student—with a little help from a few inf luential friends—is a good sign that the future just may be in very hands indeed.

As part of her Bachelor of Arts course work at the prestigious FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences in western Germany earlier this year, Sabine Zits decided to promote the use of renewable materials in packaging in a special design project co-sponsored by the popular funny-frisch potato chip brand manufactured by major German snack-foods producer Intersnack.

“I decided to show designers what is already possible for packaging by having some reallife samples of potato chips made up with a clear renewability message,” Zits, relating how she used metalized and clear samples of the NatureFlex compostable film—manufactured by the U.K.-based Innovia Films from renewable, bio-based wood pulp—to produce the new biobased packaging featuring effective deadfold and

anti-static properties; high gloss and resistance to grease and oil; good barrier to gases, aromas and mineral oils; and a University student wide heat-seal range.

Laminated by nearby Sabine Zits (left) and converter Allf lex and Innovia’s sales manager printed using a press Holger Eschenburg show at the University of off the redesigned potato Stuttgart, the new chip bags displayed at chip-bags received high the FH Achen University praise from the brand- design showcase. owner and all other business partners involved in the collaboration, according to Innovia’s sales manager for the German market Holger Eschenburg.

Says Eschenburg: “We were very pleased to be able to facilitate this project, where designers of the future like Sabine Zits can showcase the advantages of our NatureFlex packaging films to their peers, contemporaries, and the packaging industry at large.”

PAPER TIGER PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION If little kittens are the essence of cuteness, then the newest addition to the ROYALE paper tissue brand’s feline family has found a perfect home to help the iconic brand to keep charming Canadian consumers with an updated new look that will help highlight one of the world’s most acute wildlife conservation crises.

Launched lat month across Canada under the Save the Tiger Fund partnership with Panthera—the world’s leading organization devoted exclusively to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems—the new ROYALE Tiger Towels line of multipurpose paper towels feature an enlarged image of an adorable tiger cub adorning the two-, six- and twelve-pack plastic overwraps, designed by the Oakville, Ont.-based package design consultancy Pigeon Branding + Design, to complement the brand’s venerable mascot duo of f luffy white feline puff balls that have been at the core of its marketing campaigns for the last 40 years.

Manufactured by Irving Tissue Company Limited in Dieppe, N.B., the new Tiger Towels use the company’s proprietary Thru-Air Dried (TAD) technology to deliver a soft, strong and more absorbent paper towels in handy, scent-free half-sheets to accommodate both small and large clean-ups, according to ROYALE, which also offers an “absorbency guarantee, so Canadians can be confident they will do the job every time.”

In addition to donating $40,000 to the fund to help Panthera continue its campaign to preserve the world’s remaining 3,200 wild tigers and their habitats, the tissuemaker is also providing ongoing support to raise awareness of the issue and increase fundraising efforts throughout 2014, including, online and social media support, retail point-of-sale materials and community events.

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“We are extremely proud of our new partnership with Panthera through Save the Tiger Fund, which lets us directly contribute to the preservation of tigers and their habitats worldwide,” says Gary MacIntosh, director of marketing for Irving’s ROYALE Canada business.

“During our research, as we developed the Tiger Towel concept, we were shocked to learn that tigers are now an endangered species,” says MacIntosh.

“Given the majestic beauty of our new brand ambassador, we felt a responsibility to ensure future generations will grow up in a world with tigers.

“We hope this partnership helps raise awareness and interest for tiger conservation among Canadians.”

Adds Panthera’s vice-president Andrea Heydlauff: “Right now, there are fewer than 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild, with one of the world’s most iconic species in near extinction because of rampant poaching for the illegal wildlife market.

“This is why we are delighted to have ROYALE on board to help raise awareness and support of our programs in Canada and beyond to ensure a future for wild tigers,” says Heydlauff, whose group was founded in 2006 with a mandate to protect the world’s most endangered large cat species, also including lions, jaguars and snow leopards.

“Tiger conservation is a global issue, and what tigers need to survive is for the world to care,” Established by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 1995, Save the Tiger Fund (STF) sponsors effective efforts to stop the killing of wild tigers and enable wild tigers to recover and thrive. To date, STF has invested in more than 300 projects in 13 tiger-range countries to reduce and eliminate threats to wild tigers and to create favorable conditions for their conservation.

NEW PLASTIC FOOD CONTAINERS OFFER A CLEAR GREEN CHOICE

With weight and recyclability being the biggest two hot-button issues when it comes to plastic packaging, the benefits of choosing good old polypropylene (PP) to package a diverse range of food, beverage and non-food products are pretty clear-cut, according to one of the world’s largest manufacturers of rigid plastic packaging products.

Headquartered in the U.K., RPC Group’s global reach and market penetration are suitably matched by its continuous innovation in developing better, stronger and more eco-friendly plastic packaging such as the newly-launched Clear PP containers. (See Pictures) Treated with special food-safe Millad NX 8000 advanced clarifying agent produced by Spartanburg, S.C.-headquartered specialty chemicals producer Milliken & Company, the Clear PP containers achieve unprecedented levels of clarity, according to RPC, while optimizing the PP material’s inherent sustainability benefits of: • Low density to create lightweight finished product; • Low-temperature processing with low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during production; • Low energy usage during raw PP production and product manufacturing—resulting in shorter cooling times and a lower carbon footprint.

• Good compatibility with many recycling streams—particularly for non-food packaging.

“Our high-clarity PP enables a new level of brilliance and transparency for plastic packaging,” says David Baker, RPC Group’s general manager for the U.K. “The highly appealing aesthetics, achieved through the addition of Milliken clarifying agent, are supported by a host of performance and sustainability benefits that add to PP’s overall viability and attractiveness, particularly in the light of increasing environmental awareness and tightening packaging regulations.”

Baker says the vast majority of RPC’s thermoformed, blowmolded and thin-walled injectionmolded food-grade containers are made with PP precisely because of the material’s unique combination of physical properties.

“The new Clear PP ensures good impact protection and barrier protection for finished packaging that help to extend the shelf-life of products and prevent food waste by protecting produce ‘from plot to plate.’

“Because this strong, yet lightweight packaging is easier to handle and transport, it also lowers vehicle weight and overall energy consumption,” Baker explains, citing RPC’s participation in Britain’s nationwide WRAP initiative aimed at developing a viable process to recycle PP packaging waste into recycled PP suitable for use in the manufacture of new food packaging.

NOVEMBER 2013

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ECO-PACK NOW

PAPER TISSUE PRODUCER HONORED FOR ITS GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN EFFORTS Leading Canadian paper tissue products manufacturer Kruger Products L.P. has received the 2013 Greening of the Supply Chain award of the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters (CATIE) last month in recognition of ongoing concerted efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of its supply chain operations.

Currently in its fifth year, this distinction is awarded each year to a Canadian company that has initiated, implemented, and proven a corporate commitment to greening its supply chain, as well as reducing its carbon footprint.

Following in the footsteps of last-year’s award winner Walmart Canada Corporation, Kruger

Products has demonstrated considerable progress in its supply chain operations that enabled it to finish ahead of the two other high-profile finalists Toshiba and Celestica.

“It is a privilege to be recognized for our projects, large and small, that are contributing to lessening our impact on the environment,” says Kruger Products logistics vice-president John O’Hara, citing specific environmental performance improvements such as implementation of updated supplier policies; Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification; reducing logistics and transportation inefficiencies; implementation of innovative technologies to improve its sustainable perform-

ance; and achieving the targets set forth by the company’s Sustainability 2015 strategic environmental improvement plan.

“The award is a real testament to our leadership and commitment to driving sustainable change within our company, our broader industry and the industries of our customers,” adds Kruger Products vice-president of sustainability Steven Sage.

Employing over 2,300 people at four Canadian and one U.S. mill to produce a diverse range of tissue products for household, industrial and commercial use, Kruger Products supplies the Canadian consumer market with some of the industry’s most popular tissue brands such as Cashmere, Purex, SpongeTowels and Scotties.

TETRA PAK ON A BIG SUGAR RUSH FOOD SAFETY

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

SHELF LIFE EXTENSION

BRAND BUILDING

Global aseptic paperbox manufacturer Tetra Pak says it has broken new ground in the carton packaging industry’s drive towards fully renewable packaging by signing a with Brazil’s leading plastics processor Braskem to supply all of its manufacturing facilities in that country with LDPE (low-density polyethylene) resins derived from sugar cane.

Starting in 2014, Tetra Pak will begin converting this bio-based LDPE into the plastic caps used to open and close all of the estimated 13 billion drink cartons that it makes in Brazil each year—meaning that all of its cartons manufactured there will contain up to 82-precent renewable-content materials.

“The new agreement with Braskem demonstrates our commitment to bring environmental innovations to our customers and is a further step in our journey to develop fully renewable packages,” says Tetra Pak president and chief executive officer Dennis Jönsson, noting that all the paper used in the production of Tetra Pak packages in Brazil since 2008 has been chain-of-custody certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being sourced from responsibly managed forestlands.

According to Tetra Pak, Braskem will use ethanol derived from sugar cane to produce the ethylene which will then be converted into LDPE biopolymers—marketed under the I´m green trademark—featuring the same technical properties as LDPE made from fossil fuel-based sources.

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NOVEMBER 2013

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The vital partner and catalyst for the packaging value chain

Founded 1950

Call to Action!

PAC Food Waste Initiative 33% of all food produced globally is wasted Inaugural meeting of PAC FOOD WASTE December 5, 2013.

Hosted by Molson Coors.

FOOD WASTE

PACKAGING SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD WASTE

Sign up now!

W

A

In response to the recent Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Food Wastage Footprint Summary Report* and call for action, the PAC board of directors announced the launch of the PAC Food Waste initiative.

S

T

E

Bruce Smith Director of Global Packaging & PAC Chairman

FAO projects that global food production must increase 60% by 2050 in order to meet the demands of the growing world population. Yet, more than 33% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. The FAO report provides a global account of the environmental footprint of food waste along the food supply chain, focusing on the impacts on climate, water, land and biodiversity.

Intervention Required – Inaugural Meeting Dec 5, 2013 The founding members will collectively create the program charter and lead the path to identifying packaging solutions to reduce food waste. The initial founding member meeting will take place on December 5, 2013 with expected project launches shortly thereafter.

All organizations with touch points in the food supply chain could participate including: agriculture, food distributors and processors, retailers, material/ package manufacturers, packaging machinery, waste management associations, NGOs and government.

Bruce Smith, Director of Global Packaging for Molson Coors and Chairman of PAC, stated, “There are opportunities to reduce food waste throughout the supply chain, through packaging improvements. The PAC wants to investigate the causes, identify opportunities for innovation, extend product shelf life, inform and educate the broader community.”

If food waste is an important SEE issue – social, environmental and economic – to your organization then become a founding member and get engaged now! * Download report at bit.ly/11DyTJG

P R O D U C T’S F I R S T L I N E O F D E F E N S E

For more information contact James D. Downham, PAC, President & CEO at jdd@leaderlinx.com

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COVER STORY

CHOCK FULL OF CHOCOLATE Canadian family with long history in the cookie industry takes pride in raising the beloved Laura Secord image to new heights of packaging glory ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHY: MARIO JOBIN

I

The Leclerc family, now led by the Laura Secord president Jean (above) alongside his brother and vicepresident Jacques, has remained at the forefront of the Canadian snack-food industry for over 100 years.

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t’s probably a testament to the manufacturer of the delicious chocolates that its products are more well-known in Canada than the historical heroine for whom it was named after.

To set the record straight, Laura Secord was in fact a real-life heroine of the War of 1812 between Britishheld Upper and Lower Canada and the still fledgling United States of America, but was never a chocolatier and never ran a business hawking chocolates.

However, back in 1913 Frank P. O’Connor opened a small candy store in Toronto, where he sold handmade chocolates. He named his store after the same Laura Secord, who was still fondly remembered 100 years later as a Canadian symbol of courage, devotion and loyalty.

While the Laura Secord company initially sold chocolates, confectionary and ice-cream, over the next 100 years, it has experienceed tremendous success and transformation, now selling its highquality, premium goods to an appreciative customer base that extends across North America.

Purchased in 2010 by the Leclerc Brothers, Jean and Jacques, the company is once again going through a profound transformation thanks to these

gentlemen from Quebec City, who have been working in the confectionary and chocolate industry their whole life.

If the name sounds familiar—and it should—the Leclerc family began the well-known and wellrespected Group Biscuits Leclerc baked goods business producing cookies and snack products back in 1905.

Nowadays, the Leclerc brothers own and operate Laura Secord and Nutriart Inc. Purchased in 2005 by Biscuits Leclerc, Nutriart employs 71 people out of its plant and headquarters in Quebec City. Operating as a separate entity owned by the Leclerc brothers since 2009, it manufactures peanut-free chocolates from cocoa beans that it produces and sells in both liquid and solid form, along with offering: fruit purées, caramel, yogurt coating, compound chocolate, chocolate bars and various inclusions such as chocolate chips and chunks.

Jacques is the president of Nutriart and Jean its vice-president, “But, in a complete f lip-f lop of responsibilities, I am the president of Laura Secord, while my brother Jacques is its vice-president,” Jean Leclerc told Canadian Packaging during a recent interview.

Laura Secord currently owns and operates 108 stores

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COVER STORY

A close-up view of clean, legible lot code data applied to the thin protective layer of film covering chocolate-coated cookies by a Domino A320i inkjet printer.

One of three Domino A320i inkjet printers at the Nutriart facility in Quebec City where Laura Secord chocolates are produced and packaged, applies product codes to the outer wrapping of a tray of chocolate-covered cookies.

across Canada and has two head offices—one in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, and one in Quebec City—with a total of about 1,000 employees.

Today Laura Secord ranks as Canada’s largest and best-known chocolatier selling a very wide variety of premium-quality chocolates, including dark chocolate, white chocolate, flavored and pure chocolate, and an assortment of unique confectionary items.

Along with being able to purchase the delicious chocolates at the Laura Secord stores, customers can also purchase the iconic brand in pharmacies and grocery stores across Canada.

Prior to the Leclerc brothers’ purchase, Laura Secord chocolates were actually manufactured in Pennsylvania, but were not readily available in the U.S., which is something the Leclerc’s say they hope to remedy soon. Excluding the Laura Secord brand chocolates, Leclerc says the Nutriart chocolates are delivered to clients across Canada and the U.S. “Of course, customers who visit our stores can also purchase ice-cream and other treats such as caramel crunch and chocolate fudge,” says Leclerc, noting that about 15 per cent of the products sold by the stores are manufactured by an outside third party.

“Still, with over 400 products under the Laura Secord brand, we continue to use the time-honored recipes,” relates Leclerc. “Why mess with a very good thing?”

Adds Leclerc: “At Nutriart, we produce only chocolate-based products, which means we make products ranging from a simple high-quality 100gram chocolate bar to chocolate-coated wafers, and everything in-between.

“But what is extremely important to us is maintaining the reputation Laura Secord brand chocolates have with the consumer. Whether it’s through providing excellent customer service or dedicating ourselves to stringent quality controls, we backup every product carrying our name with an unconditional guarantee of quality.”

Leclerc says that it’s been within the past two years that they began to develop licensed products for the Laura Secord brand with trusted partners.

He says that just in time for the holiday season this December, partner Top Desert will be launching a full collection of Laura Secord Sorbets, along with other frozen deserts. For its part, Brands Unlimited will also be launching a full collection of Laura Secord gift baskets, with Leclerc promising that more innovative ideas will be forthcoming soon.

The Leclerc brothers are in full agreement about

the fairer sex being their primary targeted customer base.

“We know that women are big chocolate consumers, and they are therefore certainly a big part of our target market,” explains Leclerc. “They are the ones buying chocolates for kids and purchasing gifts for others, and even for themselves.”

Back in Time This helps explain why three years ago the Leclerc brothers decided to revise the iconic Laura Secord image of the bonneted heroine of 1812.

While Leclerc is adamant that no one at the company was ashamed of the age of the company or its image, they simply looked at creating a more modern version of Laura, as if she was still around in 2013, as a way to attract younger consumers and invigorate the brand.

There is a bit of a blurring of lines when it comes to the two businesses operated by the Leclerc brothers, but whereas Laura Secord does not manufacture for Nutriart, Nutriart does produce a fair bit for Laura Secord.

Prior to the Laura Secord purchase, Nutriart was a plant without a brand, and Laura Secord was a

brand without a plant—so it was a perfect match, and one of the reasons why the Leclerc brothers purchased the Laura Secord business.

Operating under the Nutriart banner, Laura Secord produces the majority of its products within a 250,000-square-foot HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point)-certified processing facility in Quebec City, with Leclerc adding that it will be GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative)-accredited by early 2014.

“There is no Laura Secord facility as such,” he says. “About 85 per cent of Laura Secord’s products are actually made at the Nutriart facilities in Quebec City, but Nutriart is the larger business, with the Laura Secord production accounting for about 10 per cent of its total production.

“However, Laura Secord is certainly the far better-known of the two entities when it comes to consumers.”

According to Leclerc, Laura Secord processes two billion cocoa beans per year to produce some 50 tons of chocolate daily.

“The majority of our cocoa beans are purchased in the Ivory Coast of Africa, and a smaller amount of a different cocoa bean from South Africa,” explains Leclerc. “We have very specific requirements for bean quality.”

Accoding to Leclerc, the Nutriart manufacturing plant can operate three shifts in a 24-hour workday, five days a week.

Says Leclerc: “We don’t currently manufacture during our night shift, which leaves us the oppor-

Laura Secord/Nutriart utilizes a 10-bucket XPdius weigher and bagger, manufactured by WeighPack Systems, to ensure accurate pack fills of chocolates produced at the company’s 250,000-square-foot facility in Quebec City.

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COVER STORY

The Quebec City plant operates four Loma Systems metal detection units and one LCW 3000 checkweigher system to ensure optimal product qualityand weight accuracy.

A Leclerc Robotique machine uses a Fanuc Robotics M-3iA/6S robot for quick and accurate pick-and-place of individual chocolate pieces from one line onto another.

tunity to increase our production even more in the future. In the meantime, we do a thorough cleaning of the equipment and premises during that night-shift time.”

This past summer Nutriart expanded its operational footprint when it purchased a warehouse next door, with plans to make it the primary distribution center for the Laura Secord brand.

The manufacturing plant has seven production lines running at any given time, including: • Two dropping lines for chocolate chunks, pellets and pastry sticks; • One molding line for chocolate bars, pieces, etc.; • An enrobing line;

• One panning line; • One line to form and produce seasonal products, such as miniature chocolate Easter Eggs; • Two lines of conching (surface scraping), which Leclerc describes as topping and creating a chocolate compound.

As with any quality product, great care is taken by the manufacturer to create it.

When the cocoa beans arrive at the Nutriart facility, they are throroughly cleaned to remove foreign materials such as rocks or dirt, and then stored for processing.

After steaming and roasting, the beans are cracked and sieved, with the shell vacuumed away.

After crushing, the beans are milled and turned into a chocolate liquor.

It is at this point in time that the process can be altered to create the desired recipe, with the liquor mixed with sugar, cocoa butter and milk powder.

The paste that comes out then gets refined via a five-roller machine.

“This is where the particle size really makes a big difference,” says Leclerc.

“The more pressure the refiners apply, the finer the chocolate.”

After it is broken down in a powdery form, the chocolate is moved into a conche for an eight-hour period, where it is beaten and heated at a high temperature to achieve just the right f lavor and richness of the chocolate, according to Leclerc.

The resulting mix is then blended with more cocoa butter to achieve a silky smooth texture, before being transferred to 45,000-kilogram tanks.

A close-up of the easy-to-use control panel on the D100+ laser scribing system used to This chocolate mass is mark the outer packaging, either tray boxes or bar wrappers, with the best-before data. then ready for further

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processing, such as molded shaping, after which it is placed into refrigeration to harden.

“Once the product exits the refrigeration part of the line, the chocolates move directly to the packaging area,” explains Leclerc.

The chocolates are then hand-placed into trays and then are conveyed to a new wrapping machine purchased earlier this year—a CM Fima from Carle & Montanari-OPM s.p.a.—that wraps the trays of chocolates at a speed of 400 units per minute.

Before the tray of plastic-wrapped chocolates is placed in a presentation box, each tray is labeled with lot code information on the plastic film by an A320i continuous inkjet coder from Domino Printing Sciences plc, one of the plant’s three model A320i’s.

After the trays are placed in a box, each box of chocolates is labeled again with the best-before date and lot number data by one of two Domino D100+ laser coders.

Code of Conduct After coding, each box is sealed by the automatic hot-glue Nordson ProBlue 7 adhesive applicating system and placed into master cases by hand before being sealed and placed onto a pallet and taken to a stretchwrapper, where it is prepared for either warehousing or immediate delivery to the customer.

Leclerc says he is equally happy with the performance of both Domino systems to date.

“Domino makes great equipment,” he says. “We find that the A320i inkjet systems offers us an impressively great low total cost of ownership.”

Founded in 1978, Domino has a global network of 25 subsidiary offices—including Canada—developing, manufacturing and selling total industrial coding and printing technologies.

According to Domino, the low total-cost-ofownership is enabled by the use of a new i-Tech— intelligent technology—service-free ink system that delivers ultra-low make-up usage, which reduces costs and operator intervention.

The robust and easy-to-use D-Series plus line is considered to be a highly versatile range of industrial scribing lasers, which Domino says was designed to provide high-quality coding across a wide range of production speeds.

Laura Secord/Nutriart uses a Domino DPX fumes extractor on the D100+ laser line to ensure efficient extraction of fumes and particles for a safe and clean working environment.

“We bought from Domino because of the industry-wide respect for the reliability of the equipment,” explains Leclerc.

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A close-up view of the Domino D100+ laser coder quickly applying best-before data and lot-code information onto the Laura Secord 40-gram Milk Chocolate bar wrapper.

“As well, we felt that the cost-of-use was less than the competition, as well as posessing a very efficient service team.

“Whenever we experience a problem with one of the coders—and such problems are actually very rare—the Domino team always finds an effective solution quickly and without delay.

“The quality of their equipment is excellent, and the coding inscriptions are very visible and highquality,” Leclerc states, adding that the most recent Domino purchase at the plant was for an A320i installation in early 2013.

“We use that particular machine to print onto our new bulk-bag products,” relates Leclerc.

“Right from the get-go, as soon as it was installed, it worked right away and without any problems.”

Another piece of impressive machinery at the Laura Secord/Nutriart facility is a pick-and-place work cell from Leclerc Robotique.

Founded by the Leclerc family in 2004, Leclerc Robotique specializes in the integration of industrial robots and automation processes.

The Leclerc Robotique picker at the Laura Secord/ Nutriart facility utilizes a M-3iA/6S four-axis robot, manufactured by Fanuc Robotics, to quickly and accurately pick individual pieces of chocolate candy from the manufacturing line and place them neatly into a second line for further packing.

The M-3iA/6S robot utilizes a Fanuc iRVision Visual Tracking system that aids the speed of the robotic accuracy in picking chocolates placed at various angles from the first moving conveyor.

According to Fanuc, encoders within the trackThe facility also operates four metal detection ing system allow for greater speed, position and units from Loma Systems, including the IQ3 model, as well as one LCW 3000 checkweigher direction inputs for accurate location of the indialso designed and manufactured by Loma. vidual chocolate pieces.

The LCW 3000 is a versatile machine designed The Nutriart facility also utilizes a 10-bucket to handle all types of f lexible and rigid products XPdius weighing and bagging unit designed and and packages, according to Loma. manufactured by the Montreal-headquartered For Laura Secord and Nutriart, the LCW 3000 WeighPack Systems, which is used by the chococheckweigher offers full advantage of being late manufacturers to run at a speed of up to 30 bags hygienic and easy to maintain, providing excellent per minute depending on product weight. line speeds up to 325 feet per minute, while being As appropriate weights of chocolates are released by the weigher, the product passes through a vertical Vertek bagger from WeighPack as well as a Fortress Technology Phantom metal detector unit.

The Phantom metal detectors are rugged units ofering a heightened stability with excellent sensitivity performance, thanks to their DPS (Digital Signal Processing) technology.

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The reverse side of a D100+ laser coder, inscribing lot-code data onto a paperboard package before it is sealed by Nordson’s ProBlue 7 hotmelt adhesive applicator.

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The finished product of a 40-gram Mik Chocolate bears a permanent laser-scribed coding applied by the Domino D100+ coder at the Laura Secord/Nutriart plant.

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A Leclerc Robotique case-erector uses Festo pneumatics (inset) to form corrugated cartons in a swift, gentle motion.

Perched on the floor, a SEW-Eurodrive motor provides smooth movement and power to the conveying system within the Leclerc Robotique pick-and-place robotic workcell at one of many production lines at the Laura Secord/Nutriart plant.

Featuring a Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 700 operator touchscreen, the easy-to-use CM Fima wrapping machine, manufactured by Carle & Montanari, quickly foil-wraps individual pieces of chocolate.

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able to handle package weights up to 6.6 pounds.

Other notable packaging and supplier equipment utilized at the Laura Secord/Nutriart plant includes: • One Anritsu X-Ray system purchased from Abbey Packaging; • a Leclerc Robotique carton erector; • an Econoseal horizontal carton erector built by Econocorp; •N ordson hot-melt adhesive applicating systems for sealing snack-packs; • Chocolate boxes manufactured by Jones Packaging of London, Ont.; • Corrugated cases are from Norampac, a Div. of Cascades Canada; • 3 M-Matic case sealers manufactured by 3M Company.

For Laura Secord, being green does not just mean its delicious French Mint chocolates.

“Sustainability is very important to us,” explains Leclerc.

“We are in the process of installing a brand new furnace that was designed specifically for us to allow us to heat our premises by burning all the refuse cocoa bean shells rejected from the chocolate-making process.”

Leclerc points out that at store level, customers are asked if they would like a bag, and if they answer yes, they are always provided one made from recycled materials.

Within the packaging itself, molded trays inside are now made of corn-based materials and are 100-percent biodegradable.

“By standardizing many of our box formats, we have reduced production time and, therefore, our energy consumption,” Leclerc notes.

“In addition, we have optimized our box-production planning processes, thereby considerably reducing the number of our deliveries and cutting our CO 2 emissions.”

It’s all part-and-parcel for Laura Secord, as it continues to support responsible cocoa cultivation, sound environmental management, respect for all communities, and recognition of international fair labor standards and more.

“For Laura Secord, the packaging is the core of our marketing strategy since we adapt the way we do business in accordance to every big holiday during the year,” sums up Leclerc.

“It’s our mission to offer best-quality products in a package that’s going to please our loyal customers and to attract new ones.”

For More Information: Domino Printing Solutions (Domino Canada) Loma Systems Canada Inc. Anritsu Company Abbey Packaging Equipment Ltd. Fanuc Robotics Canada Ltd. WeighPack Systems, Inc. Jones Packaging Inc. Norampac (Div. of Cascades Canada ULC) Nordson Canada Limited Carle & Montanari-OPM s.p.a.

Leclerc Robotique Econocorp Inc. 3M Company Co. Fortress Technology Inc. Loma Systems Festo Inc. Rockwell Automation Inc. SEW-Eurodrive Company of Canada Ltd.

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ADHESIVES

Lou Cavallo, Vice-President, Operations Conrad Maziarczyk, President, Technical Adhesives Ltd.

TEAM CHEMISTRY Feisty Canadian adhesives innovator happy to take on the industry’s Big Boys on its own terms

ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHY: COLE GARSIDE

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or some folks, having a stick-with-it attitude can be a sign of stubbornness or immaturity, whereas for others, having a never-say-die perspective can be downright admirable.

In any case, it is hard not to admire what Technical Adhesives Ltd. has achieved over the years of growing its privately-owned business in its unique, fun-loving way to become one of the major

players in a highly competitive market segment.

Crazy Canucks or shrewd business acumen— whatever the case, the folks at the Mississauga, Ont.-headquartered Technical Adhesives have certainly made a name for themselves as manufacturers of adhesives for a variety of different industries, such as: bookbinding, envelopes, paper converting, tissue and towel, automotive, wood industry, consumer packaging and more.

Perhaps owing to a bit of cultural Canadian humility, company president Conrad Maziarczyk takes a

bit of pride in the fact that it’s a company from the Great White North that is not only playing amongst the global leaders, but doing so successfully.

“My father started the company back in 1961,” Technical Adhesive president Maziarczyk told Canadian Packaging during a recent visit to the company’s headquarters.

“He was a chemist who got into the business the honest way by manufacturing glues himself; mostly inexpensive, water-based adhesive glues.”

According to Maziarczyk, when the company

Not yet reaching its super-sticky stage, freshly-manufactured strips of hot-melt adhesive quickly move along the production line running at the main Technical Adhesives production facility in Mississauga, Ont., where they are cut to chicklet-size pieces, before being packed into plastic film bags inserted inside corrugated cartons for delivery to customers.

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ADHESIVES became involved in the hot-melt adhesive market in the mid-1980s, it was able to become a more high-end business.

“And after that, it was about 10 years ago that Technical Adhesives took its next big step by becoming involved in the U.S. market,” says Maziarczyk.

“For us, it was the next phase in the decision to take on the billion-dollar adhesive companies throughout North America,” he says. “Now the American market accounts for about 30 per cent of our business.”

Water-based adhesives are still a major market for Technical Adhesives, which manufacturs a diverse range of formulations for dextrines (starch-based), animal glues, latex adhesives, pressure-sensitive acrylics and, of course, hot-melts.

Maziarczyk adds: “I would say that Technical Adhesives has a fairly even 50-50 split in producing water-based and hot-melt adhesives.”

Technical Adhesives national sales manager Brian St. Germain says, “Our sales were around $17.5 million in 2010, $19.5 million the next year, $22.5 million in 2012, and we are on pace to do $24 million this year.”

“And I’m sure we’ll top that next year,” he states, adding the company actively seeks and gains about 10 new accounts a month, typically split evenly between Canada and the U.S.

Working at the Technical Adhesive laboratory at the Mississauga facility, a chemist tests a batch of freshlymade adhesive to ensure product consistency and quality matches all customer specifications.

Stuck On You Despite the company’s burgeoning success—or perhaps one has something to do with the other—Maziarczyk has seen fit to create a relaxed family atmosphere in the workplace.

While fostering goodwill towards one’s co-workers may seem like a given for any company, Technical Adhesives just seems to go above and beyond the norm in this respect.

“It may sound like a cliché, but we work hard and we play hard too, but most of all,” explains vice-president of operations Lou Cavallo, “we have a lot of fun doing it.

“It’s perhaps because of our tendency to not hire from within the industry—our success has been rooted in training specifically for our industry.

“For us, it is extremely important that we hire people who can fit in and do the work that is required,” Covallo says.

Maziarczyk notes the fun, familylike atmosphere at Technical Adhesives translates into practically zero turnover at the company.

According to Maziarczyk, the people working on the water-based adhesive product lines have a minimum of five years experience while St. Germain has 15 years and Cavallo and Maziarczyk have 26 years apiece with the company, making a compelling case for dedication and experience translating into customer trust.

Located just on the western outskirts of Toronto with close access to the major highways, Technical Adhesive actually consists of three buildings next-door to each other. This includes a 25,000-square-foot headquarters

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ADHESIVES and additional 15,000- and 10,000-square-foot warehouses added when the company was last expanded in 2008.

To facilitate quicker delivery to customers, the company has also set up large warehousing and storage plants in Montreal, Vancouver and Chicago, with 45 employees in Toronto and an additional 15 spread out at the other locales.

The Montreal area also boasts a manufacturing plant for water-based adhesive formulations, according to Cavallo.

“We tend to focus on lean manufacturing here at Technical Adhesives,” says Cavallo, “which is aided by the fact we are privately-owned.

“If we weren’t a private business, we would probably have an additional 30 employees.

“We are constantly working to eliminate excesses and deficiencies to run in the most effective way possible,” he states.

“It is definitely an ongoing learning process every day.”

For his part, St. Germain describes the company as “a small business with a ton of sales people.”

St. Germain likes to tell his sales people to “just have some fun, enjoy meeting new people and the sales will happen.”

“But we also have the products and the service to keep it going,” Maziarczyk interjects.

“You can talk the talk all you want, but eventually you have to walk the walk and give the customer what they want, when they want it, and for a price that is mutually agreeable,” he asserts.

This easy-going corporate culture extends all the way to the company’s customer base, according to St. Germain.

“We treat our customers like friends,” says St. Germain. “I think that’s why we have such great customers.”

While obviously pleased with the continued growth and success of the business, Maziarczyk notes that there is no great secret to it.

“It might sound like suicide, but we go after the companies seeking that one adhesive product that no other adhesive manufacturer wants to work

As part of this year’s $1.5-million capital upgrades to the main manufacturing facility, Technical Adhesives purchased a new 5,500-kilogram hot-melt kettle to help increase production volumes.

A close up of an SEWEurodrive motor (inset) powering heating elements of the new hotmelt kettle.

with,” he remarks.

“We have such great chemists in our laboratory that creating that perfect mix of ingredients to give the customer what they want, well... that’s how we made a name for ourselves,” Maziarczyk enthuses.

Citing a recent example of doing the dirty jobs, Maziarczyk relates: “We recently completed a project that other adhesive companies walked away from or just couldn’t solve.

“The volume was one drum a month for a specialty adhesive that had very difficult substrates to bond to, it needed to pass indirect food contact guidelines.”

“In fact, we have our chemists test each batch to ensure we are within the correct specification of the recipe, which is a rarity in the adhesive industry.”

Speaking highly of his chemists, Maziarczyk proudly recalls that Technical Adhesives not only created an adhesive that the customer needed but also improved their line efficiencies.

“For us it was a great accomplishment,” relates Maziarczyk. “It has now opened the door to supply them with over 50 drums a month on other lines.”

For Technical Adhesives, the formulations it produces can actually provide more than what the customer originally asked for—a core competitive advantage.

St. Germain notes that some customers have claimed between 17 to 20 per cent less glue is required to provide the bond they need—which translates into real cost-savings for the customer.

“Customer cost-savings played a huge part in our successful growth during the recent recession in Canada and the U.S.,” chimes in St. Germain.

“A recession makes companies take a hard look at how they run their business, and to ensure that when buying a product or equipment that they don’t simply choose the least expensive item.

“Simply put, at the end of the day, our high-quality adhesives help us win customers, and retain them.

“The bottom line,” sums up St. Germain, “is we are accountable for our products.”

A Lantech stretchwrapper quickly spins a plastic film around a pallet load of 48 cartons of hot-melt adhesives in preparation for transport to a customer.

Row upon row of chemical ingredients that will eventual become part of one of the company’s many different binding adhesive formulations.

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ADHESIVES

Looking like strips of the world’s longest fettuccine pasta, strips of freshly-made hotmelt glue quickly cool off before heading to a cutter downstream inside the Technical Adhesives manufacturing plant that turns out 20 million pounds of adhesives annually.

Adds Cavallo: “The first time we sell you, you can be sure it will be the exact same product you receive time and time again.”

Boasting great people skills and great products— with over 3,000 active formulations derived from an ingredient list of 500 different chemicals— Maziarczyk says it is imperative to keep upgrading its processing equipment to stay one step ahead of the competition in this tough market.

While not mentioning specific names, he points out that with smaller companies being bought out by bigger companies, about 40 per cent of Technical Adhesive’s competition has dried up in recent years, meaning that those who are left have bigger bankrolls behind them.

While the company regularly sets aside monies for capital investment upgrades, Maziarczyk calmly reveals Technical Adhesives made a $1.5-million investment this year to upgrade the three hot-melt production lines, and is thinking about something

Technical Adhesives national sales manager Brian St. Germain says that along with enjoying the constant growth in sales over the past several years, employees also enjoy the company’s easy-going, fun-loving social activities after work and on days off.

similar for the six water-based adhesive lines for an upcoming project.

Family Bond

Maziarczyk’s eldest son Jake—an engineering graduate from Queens University—was instrumental in spearheading the recent upgrade.

“This project included the installation of a new 5,500-kilogram capacity hot-melt kettle and overhauling the hot-melt extruder to enable us to produce hot-melt adhesive faster, while providing us with the ability to double our production rate,” explains St. Germain.

Along with equipment upgrades, Technical Adhesives also improved its carbon footprint with some notable environmental upgrades: • New high-efficiency lighting installed throughout all the offices, manufacturing area, and both Toronto-area warehouses; • A ll electric heaters for all three Mississauga buildings converted to natural gas heaters; •N ew high-efficiency natural gas boilers installed in both hotmelt and water-based lines to reduce companywide electrical consumption by 60 per cent.

With all those new accounts coming into the collective fold every month, keeping up with demand is imperative for Technical Adhesives, which now currently manufactures some 10 million pounds apiece of hot-melt and water-based adhesive products a year.

Twenty years ago, Technical Adhesives became one of the first adhesive companies to create a hot-melt glue that could be deemed ‘environmentally sustainable’ with its Enviromelt 1001, a repulpable adhesAs part of its sustainability and energy conservation efforts, Technical Adhesives has ive that when used to glue installed a high-efficiency thermal fluid heater, manufactured by Fulton Thermal Corp. together such things such

as cereal boxes, it can still be easily recycled.

“That was 20 years ago,” says Maziarczyk, “and we’ve certainly grown our sustainable formulations since then.”

Always devising better adhesives, the company has created the 9033A adhesive, a hot-melt glue that operates best at a temperature of 105° to 110 °C, a full 15 degrees less than that of a standard low-temperature hot-melt.

And, according to Technical Adhesives, extra low temperatures have been shown to extend the life of the application system with other benefits including: • Aggressive tack for high-speed equipment; • Reduced downtime; • Clean running; • Reduced charring; • Excellent viscosity stability; • Strong bonds.

The company also has good working relationships with Norampac (a Division of Cascades Canada), and Atlantic Packaging Products who provide Technical Adhesives with the corrugated boxes it uses to pack its product for shipping. After filling, these cartons are sealed using a Nordson ProBlue adhesive application system.

With great company success comes the inevitable offers for Maziarczyk to sell the company.

“It’s been going on for years and years,” says Maziarczyk humbly, noting that such offers are a good indicator that Technical Adhesives must be making its mark in the packaging industry.

All in all, Maziarczyk sees the next five years as the ideal time to further capitalize on the many positive factors currently at play, including stable oil and raw material pricing, an improving U.S. economy, and an incredibly loyal customer base.

To strengthen his company’s position, Maziarczyk promises an inevitable U.S. acquisition to enhance his company’s manufacturing capabilities and cement its frontrunner status in the North American adhesives market.

For More Information: Technical Adhesives Nordson Canada Limited Norampac, a Div. of Cascades Canada ULC Atlantic Packaging Products Ltd. Lantech LLC Fulton Thermal Corp.

SEW-Eurodrive Company of Canada Ltd.

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Photos courtesy of Gerhard Schubert

Automate Now

CHAMPAGNE MOMENTS Robotic cartoning line a sparkling addition for renowned champagne house

W

hen you’re in the luxury goods business, presentation is often as important as the product itself—a fact that the famed champagne house Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin of Reims, France, takes very seriously.

Just like the premium-priced bubbly inside each distinctive corked bottle that was once the drink of choice of the ruling Romanov dynasty in imperial Russia’s heyday, the sheer indulgence of the Veuve Clicquot brand overwhelms the senses before the bottle is even opened—with the refined printed label and high-quality glass body making an exquisite first impression.

Because this luxurious presentation of the champagne must never be impaired during the automatic cartoning operations, the Reims winery recently invested into a new, state-of-the art packaging line supplied by a prominent German packaging machinery manufacturer Gerhard Schubert GmbH.

Featuring innovative design to prevent the suction surface from ever touching the bottle’s famed brand label, six TLM-F4 robots pick up and tilt the bottles at 90 degrees before placing them into the carton inserts.

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Installed earlier this year, the new TLM (toploading machine) system is used to package the Veuve Clicquot 750-ml glass bottles into two different box sizes: with the smaller box containing two cardboard inserts to hold three bottles each, while the large box design features room for four inserts. (see pictures below) Consisting of eight separate submachines to facilitate production throughput of 150 bottles per minute, the TLM system replaced the plant’s earlier mono-format system that could only achieve output of 100 bottles per minute.

The innovative TLM line design (see opening picture) integrates a product belt for the incoming bottles, a transmodule section for the boxes, and another section for the carton inserts.

Each of the line’s patented TLM transmodules is a single-axle, autonomously operating, railbased robot with a turning unit at each end.

Utilizing interchangeable size plates placed on the transport carriages, the TLM line at Veuve Clicquot is configured in a compact design whereby unloaded modules automatically return to the other end on a lower track.

In operation, a TLM-F3 robot removes two f lat blanks for the carton inserts from the magazine and transfers them to a TLM-F2 robot, which erects them and places them into the size plate of the waiting transmodule, using a special tool to affix the carton inserts inside without using any glue.

After the TLM-F2 has placed two more carton inserts inside, the transmodule starts and connects to the transmodule group that begins moving as a chain, with its speed controlled by the

product f low of the pick-andplace process.

In accordance with the timetested counter-directional running principle, the bottles reach the picker stations from the opposite direction, with highsensitivity photocells instantly detecting their respective positions on the product belt.

At this point, six four-axis TLMF4 robots swing into action to pick up the bottles individually, tilt them horizontally by 90°, and gently place them into the carton inserts in the required ‘head to foot’ alignment.

Remarkably, the TLM system arranges the bottle formations in the carton insert without using a grouping chain.

Fundamentally different from conventional solutions, this process offers significant advantages in terms of protecting the product due to the absence of a mechanical grouping chain that puts extra stress on the handled bottles.

For added product protection for the elegant cover, the Schubert line employs the TLM-F44 picker stations, featuring specially-designed tools constructed in such a way that the suction surface never comes into direct contact with the label.

There is also no further impact of direct contact with the label during the rest of the process, according to Schubert, ensuring that each bottle of champagne leaves the machine as unscathed as when it was first fed in.

At the end of the picker section, all the carton inserts on the transmodule are loaded with bottles, and another transmodule is released from the group to proceed to the filling station— with each bottle being marked with all the appropriate product codes by a laser coder along the way.

CANADIAN PACKAGING • November 2013

Automate Now

The carton inserts are filled with bottles and placed inside the decorative, signature-yellow carrying cases.

For More Information: Gerhard Schubert GmbH

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Transmodules on the left transport the boxes, transmodules in the center transport the carton inserts, and the product belt on the right moves the champagne bottles through their packaging stages.

When the traveling transmodules— carrying two boxes each—arrive to the filling station from the opposite direction, a TLM-F2 that had previously erected these boxes from a f lat blank places them onto another free transmodule.

During the loading process, the two TLM-F2 robot work in synch by simultaneously placing two layer of carton inserts into both box sizes at the same time.

The transmodules join this process individually, meaning that while the front transmodule is proceeding to be closed, the rear transmodule moves up to the front position and receives a second layer of cardboard inserts, while a transmodule carrying empty cartons moves up to the initial position.

Because each of the single-axle robots can move on the rail section autonomously, all the individual packaging processes are ideally decoupled for the Veuve Clicquot operation— part of the headquartered LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) luxury products group—that prizes operational f lexibility and strict quality assurance.

“Thanks to this new line, we are now able to package our champagne with higher output and f lexibility,” enthuses the winery’s technical director Henri Darré.

“We really did not feel it was necessary for us to accept more system complexity to achieve this,” says Darré, citing the TLM line’s compact design with only a three-meter-wide footprint.

“On the contrary, the operation, the maintenance ... everything is simple and convenient with this line, which is now a new highlight for all of our company tours open to the public.”

November 2013

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Less is more PPS cushioning has revolutionized the world of standard cylinders. Self-adjusting—clean—safe, for faster installation and immediate start-up. The self-adjustment eliminates the need to think about load and speed change. PPS will take care of that for you.

Festo Inc. Tel: 1 877 GO FESTO Fax: 1 877 FX FESTO festo.canada@ca.festo.com www.festo.ca/en/pps

Automate Now

TUNNEL VISION Custom shrinkwrapper and heat tunnel boost pizza maker’s speed and output

by Jim McMahon

W

hile food trends come and go, frozen pizza remains one of the ubiquitous foods in the typical North American household, with convenience, low price and a constantly growing assortment of topping and flavors making it one of the continent’s heat-and-serve choice for any households constrained by time and budgets.

According to the American Frozen Food Institute, 66 per cent of U.S. households consumed frozen pizza in 2010, with sales of US$3.2 billion accounting for almost 10 per cent of the country’s mass-market frozen food sales.

Keeping up with market demand for this very popular consumer product can be a challenge for food processors—not only because of the high throughputs required, but also because frozen pizza can be a difficult product to package.

Few frozen food products require more careful handling through the packaging process than pizza, and nowhere in the packaging cycle is this more critical than during the shrinkwrapping stage.

Automated shrinkwrapping of frozen pizzas has long tested the patience of many food processors, requiring extremely delicate handling of frozen pizza pies in order to keep the sauce and loose toppings—pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, etc.—fully intact during wrapping. These ingredients tend to shift around and fall to the bottom of the shrink bag before sealing.

However, most continuous side-seal wrappers have a limited speed range—topping out at about 100 pizzas per minute—leaving processors with the hard choice between quality and speed at the other’s expense.

But that’s no longer the case for the Milwaukee, Wis.-based Palermo’s Pizza—at least not since it started using a new generation of continuousmotion side-seal shrinkwrapper employing continuous side-sealing technology.

Opened on Milwaukee’s east side in 1964 by Sicilian immigrants Gaspare and Zina Fallucca, the popular eatery started manufacturing frozen pizza in 1979, using traditional Sicilian recipes.

Widely acknowledged as an innovator in the frozen pizza category—credited with creating the industry’s first self-rising frozen pizza and its first ultra-thin crust product—the company produces a diverse range of popular Palermo’s f lagship brand products, including Primo Thin, Naturally Rising, Stone Baked, Classics by Palermo’s and, most recently, the Palermo’s Hand Tossed Style pizza featuring ‘family-favorite f lavors’ on a middle-thickness crust.

Low Profile Being a low-profile product, frozen pizza is also prone to shingling while traveling backto-back on the infeed conveyor before entering the wrapper—often resulting in poor infeed registration, missed f lights, double product bagging and broken crust.

The conventional machinery employed for highspeed shrink wrapping of frozen pizzas—at the rate of 100 to 150 pizzas per minute—typically uses lap-seal technology for sealing the shrink bag.

The lap-seal method wraps the film around the pizza as it goes through a forming shoe, and then overlaps the film on the bottom of the pizza— thereby static sealing it before going into the shrink tunnel. A key problem with this sealing method is that pizza toppings will frequently fall underneath where the seal is being made, thereby compromising the integrity of the seal.

When the wrapped pizza comes out of the tunnel, the loose or open lap-seal can be very hard to detect, so it is often consumers who discover that the pizza they purchased was not securely sealed.

To ensure a better-quality seal, some food processors have utilized continuous-motion side-seal shrink wrappers. Because the seal is being formed on the edge of the pizza, rather than across the bottom, the risk of loose toppings contaminating the seal area is eliminated—resulting in a much more reliably sealed package.

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at a double-digit rate every year,” says Walz. “As we grew and the demand for product went up, it generated a need for us to operate at a higher level of speed to meet the demand.

“The challenge we were facing as we tried to push our line speeds up was the ability of our existing lap-seal wrappers to run at the higher rate of speed, and provide a reliable seal,” recalls Walz.

“The lap-sealers use a static sealing process, with an overlap on the bottom of the pizza, but sometimes we would lose that seal, which would then open up in the shrink tunnel.

“That tended to be a limiting factor when running at higher speeds,” Walz relates. “Moreover, our main packaging line was using a lap sealer that was operating at less than 90 12-inch pizzas per minute, prompting us to embark on a project to increase the line rate on that line first.

“After reviewing several shrinkwrap designs, we settled on one system that could be customconfigured to meet our specific needs, instead of adapting to an existing format.”

The system ultimately chosen by Palermo’s is a high-speed, continuous-motion, servo-controlled side-seal shrinkwrapper manufactured by Texwrap Packaging Systems, a well-established manufacturer of fully-automatic shrinkwrapping systems based in Washington, Mo. What makes this system unique, according to Texwrap, is its utilization of multiple technologies which are integrated into one system architecture—enabling high-speed throughput of up to 150 frozen pizzas per minute with consistent high-quality seals and no product damage.

Built for Speed

The popularity of these brands has made Palermo’s one of the fastest growing manufacturers of frozen pizzas in the U.S., ultimately prompting it to expand its manufacturing facility.

Started up in 2011, the company’s new 250,000-square-foot, USDA-approved plant is a veritable showpiece of packaging technology— operating four packaging lines.

According to the plant’s vice-president of operations Mike Walz, the plant’s main packaging line is dedicated to producing the company’s bestselling 12-inch frozen pizzas, which arrive there after having the sauce and topping deposited onto dough to form the pizzas, which then travel through an ammonia-based spiral freezer.

Exiting the freezer, the now-frozen pizzas are conveyed through the shrinkwrapper and shrink tunnel, followed by labeling and cartoning. The finished product is then cased, palletized and sent off to shipping or deep freeze storage.

“We have been experiencing continued growth

The robust throughput speed of the wrapper is achieved by the sealing head, incorporating a patented servo orbitalmotion technology that eliminates the need for the head to move with the product while the seal is being made.

The sealing head moves in an ellipse without the back-and-forth motion of typical sealing heads, which dramatically increases the throughput speed of the wrapper.

The orbital head is controlled by very fast and precise servo motors, as is the entire wrapper and infeed.

The system is built with Generation 3 servo technology, meaning that it was designed from the ground-up to integrate servo technology, PLC (programmable logic controller) and the mechanical elements of the system, with the system’s 10-axis servo controls ensuring extremely accurate registration, minimizing the amount of film used for wrapping, and reducing the need for maintenance.

The wrapper is also equipped with an innovative product protection system which ensures that the orbital head will not close down on any pizza, using a sensor to map the position of each pizza as it enters the orbital head operating space.

CANADIAN PACKAGING • November 2013

Automate Now

Frozen pizzas being spaced out for loading inside the plastic shrinkwrap bags.

Pizzas and supporting cardboard disks being matched up before entering the shrinkwrapper.

Bagged frozen pizzas entering the plant’s newly-installed Texwrap shrinkwrapper.

“We tested the wrapper at 180 pizzas per minute,” relates Walz. “This is very fast throughput, but it performed just as promised, with accurate registration, secure seals and no product damage.

“On a continual basis, we normally operate the system at 120 to 140 pizzas per minute, which is considerably faster than the maximum 90 pizzas per minute with our previous lap-sealer.”

During sealing, the self-compensating system’s belts grip the film securely over a long distance— allowing the seal to be made on the pizza, with the excess trim cleanly separated with the use of a special heating element.

The line’s infeed has also been optimized for maximized throughput and careful product handling, with a Texwrap-designed lane-combining system taking three lanes of pizzas exiting the freezer and consolidating them onto one lane.

Likewise, a servo-driven f lying nose bar is pro-

grammed to not only place the pizzas inline at a set spacing without touching each other, but also to automatically adjust the speed of the entire line to match incoming production.

Engineered to meet the highest sanitary standards, the entire infeed and shrinkwrap system features washdown-rated, corrosion-resistant, welded stainless-steel design that eliminate all crevices and areas where food particles may collect.

As Walz sums up: “Both the speed and the quality of the seal have been tremendously improved with this continuous system.

“We were able to get a shrinkwrap system on our primary line that not only met our design specifications, but exceeded it.”

Seal the Deal After the seal is made, a lug conveyor automatically inserts a cardboard circle underneath the pizzas, and indexes the product into the wrapper.

To support the shrinkwrapper, Palermo’s installed a Texwrap triple-chamber forced air convection tunnel equipped with digital temperature controls, high-velocity fans, individual top and bottom controls for air direction, and variablespeed conveyors.

The heat tunnel incorporates a special feature called Seams Down, which ensures that the sideseal seams do not position over the printed circular label on top of the pizza.

Jim McMahon is a freelance writer specializing in foodprocessing automation.

For More Information: Texwrap Packaging Systems Shrink Packaging Systems Corp.

APPOINTMENT

WeighPack Systems Inc, a leading provider of high performance packaging equipment, is pleased to announce the appointment of Andy Wischmann as Sales Manager – Distributor Accounts effective September 2013.

This important position at WeighPack will allow Andy to provide focused attention to Distributors and Agents throughout North and South America. His vast experience in the food industry will help WeighPack to expand its services within the Americas as well and provide significant support for its partners and re-sellers.

Andy’s prior experience includes being Managing Director, Principal Operator, and Owner of WHG, Inc. and the Wischmann Company in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1994 Andy moved to the USA to build and oversee international distribution for Beehive, Inc. / Provisur Technologies, a leading manufacturer of food processing equipment.

“I do look forward to work not only with the excellent team at WeighPack but also with our partners concentrating on streamlining and supporting the relationship between our Distributors and Agents with WeighPack as we consider this as one of our most important business relations,” says Andy.

For more information, visit us at www.weighpack.com or call 1.888.934.4472

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LABELING Jason Lam of Universal Impex holds up a bottle of the company’s Cool Runnings brand Parsley Flakes sporting a label created with the newly purchased QuickLabel Systems Kiaro! color label printer.

A SEASONING FOR ALL OCCASIONS A Toronto spice and seasonings business entrepreneur using colorful labels to create on-demand shelf impact ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHY: COLE GARSIDE

I

t is probably a given that everybody remembers their first job while still in high school—usually something horrible and low-paying involving sweeping f loors or early morning delivery of newspapers. It’s a very rare individual indeed, whose first job is running a startup business they created themselves, and using it to jumpstart a successful and growing career into adulthood.

Paul Bridgemohan, self-described as an operations manager, but humbly downplaying his actual role as president and owner of Universal Impex Corporation, is one such a person, happily running a thriving business distributing gourmet Caribbean products, with a heavy emphasis on spices, in Toronto.

“Actually, I prefer to say that we deal in blended seasonings,” Bridgemohan told Canadian Packaging magazine during a recent interview at his 25,000-square-foot facility.

“Of course, these blended seasonings are made up of spices.”

With all the trappings of a prototypical immigrant success story, Bridgemohan didn’t actually start his business in his garage—but rather by renting out a high school buddy’s garage.

“It was back in 1992, and I decided that I wanted to earn my own money and had no interest in working as a clerk or delivering things, so I thought I

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would start my own spice import business,” recalls Bridgemohan.

“Because I lived in an apartment complex with my family,” he recounts, “I rented out the garage of a friend who wasn’t a business partner, to store my spices and to have a place to hand-pack them for sale to mom-and-pop shops in the Toronto area.”

Remarkably, Bridgemohan was 15 years old when he started down the road of entrepreneurship.

“At the time, I focused on a pair of products: glu-

cose and barley f lour. These two items are quite big in the Caribbean diet,” explains Bridgemohan noting that over there glucose is an inexpensive sweetener used in coffee and teas, and barley f lour is used for an adult afternoon snack, as well as a nutritional porridge for babies.

Because Bridgemohan and his family moved to Canada in 1989 from the Caribbean nation of Guyana, one might think he was importing spices into his adopted country. Instead, he says he was buying bulk quantities of the barley f lour and glucose from outside sources to repackage them under the British Class brand, and exporting it back to the Caribbean.

Growing a one-man operation to a 25 employee enterprise nowadays, Universal Impex still buys in bulk, and ships to markets around the world, but it has also created four specific brands for different markets.

According to Bridgemohan, the British Class brand is designed for the South Asian market, the Mekong brand caters to the Asian segment, the Baby Treasures brand name is just for the original two company products, and Cool Runnings, which consists of seasonings, spices and other Caribbean

A selection of spices and blended seasonings marketed under Universal Impex’s Cool Runnings brand name feature newly-created labels produced in true on-demand fashion on the QuickLabel Systems Kiaro! color inkjet label printer.

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2013

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LABELING

Situated in Toronto, Universal Impex’s 25,000-square-foot processing and packaging facility is a huge step up from the humble early days, when the company was operating out of a rented house garage. 2013-08-12 10:05 AM Page 1 28545 E Conestoga_7.875x10.75.qxt_28545

products, for markets all over Canada and around the world.

Bridgemohan readily admits that he named the brand Cool Runnings in homage to the American sports comedy movie about the Jamaican Olympic bobsled team back in the 1980s, but there is no joking about the success that the brand and the company as a whole have achieved.

While the early days of buying the spices in bulk, storing them in his friend’s garage and then repacking them are long gone, Bridgemohan says that he’s still essentially doing the same thing over 20 years later. It just happens to be all done on a larger scale, with more product offerings and packaging equipment, to keep up with the increasing customer demand and with far greater purchasing and operating costs as well, he relates.

“Pepper, thanks to increased demand and less supply, is something that comes from India, Vietnam and Brazil,” says Bridgemohan, “which costs about US $6,000 a metric tonne.”

According to Bridgemohan the top sellers for Universal Impex are its: Blended Seasonings; All-purpose Seasonings; Caribbean Spice & Roasted Garlic; and Jerk Seasoning Powder.

“While we continue to sell our products throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Canada, with the Caribbean ethnic market being our original target market, the ever-growing South Asian community is huge for us,” says Bridgemohan, describing Universal Impex as being somewhere between a small and medium-sized company.

“But we’re getting there,” he chuckles.

These days, Universal Impex continues to supply mom-and-pop shops in Toronto, but its products can now be found in large independent supermarkets such as five Danforth Food Market locations, Top Foods Supermarket, Jian Hing Supermarket, Fresh Value Supermarket, as well as at Walmart, Metro, Food Basics, No Frills, Fortinos, Loblaws, Real Canadian

NOVEMBER 2013

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The Kiaro! printer from QuickLabel Systems quickly and neatly spooling labels onto a rewinder.

“We consider FCC our

business partner.”

Arnold Drung, President, Conestoga Meat Packers, Breslau, Ont.

When you talk financing with FCC, we’ll listen Ready to expand? We learn how you want to grow, then create a financing package that helps you do it. Work with the leading lender to agriculture, agribusiness and agri-food in Canada. Let’s talk business. fccfinancing.ca

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LABELING

The user-friendly Custom QuickLabel software developed by QuickLabel Systems allows Universal Impex to create and tweak its own customizable labels virtually on-the-fly.

Superstores, Zehrs, Sobeys, IGA, Foodland, Fresh Co and Price Chopper retail stores.

Although Bridgemohan does not wish to divulge specific product production, he did estimate that Universal Impex produces about 400,000 units of various-sized seasonings per month.

While extremely confident in the continuing success of dry-goods brands under the Universal Impex umbrella, Bridgemohan says that in order to grow the business, he is now focusing on products unrelated to the blended seasoning market.

“I’m moving towards liquids such as hot sauces, beverages and coconut-based products, but I don’t want to pack or repack them,” relates Bridgemohan.

“While I have no problem packing the dry goods for my brands, if I’m going to expand the product line, I want the products to be already packed by other companies,” he continues, adding that when it comes to the dry seasonings, Universal Impex creates each recipe from scratch.

“Even so, we are very careful about what product we attach our name to.”

Although reluctant to spill the beans about the production line equipment he has on his singular bottle and bag lines, aside from acknowledging that he has a filler, capper and label application system, Bridgemohan was extremely candid when discussing the company’s brand new Kiaro! inkjet label printer manufactured by QuickLabel Systems.

Test Pattern

When Universal Impex purchased the Kiaro! from QuickLabel Systems, it also purchased the optional rewinder to collect the just-processed labels into neat and workable rolls.

Manufactured by Jokey Plastics, the clean, stackable, white plastic tubs are extensively used by Universal Impex to pack larger bulk quantities of its spices and blended seasonings at the Toronto facility.

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Although Universal Impex still has an outside printing company produce labels for its retail packaging needs, Bridgemohan says he purchased the Kiaro! in March of 2013 to use solely as a “testing tool.”

“Although I have certainly been aware of QuickLabel for quite some time, it was after I saw them at a local trade show that I thought about how the Kiaro! could be a beneficial machine for us,” Bridgemohan relates.

For the company to grow, Bridgemohan says it was imperative to be able to have a tool to help with ideas and demonstration.

“We aren’t the type of company to sit back and watch the world go by,” explains Bridgemohan.

“We want to help inf luence it.”

As such, he and his employees tend to come up with a lot of ideas to try and improve the overall look of the products.

But rather than asking a printing company to create a few sample labels—impossible given that he is expected to purchase labels in quantities of 200,000 or so—Universal Impex judiciously uses the Kiaro! to create professional-looking labels on demand.

“The Kiaro inkjet label printer has already helped us with a few projects,” Bridgemohan admits.

“Before committing to a huge print run of labels, we print off a few high-quality labels on the Kiaro! to ensure the bottles will look as good as we have imagined them in our own head.

“It’s how we do our R&D.” Featuring a fixed-head CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK) inkjet technology, the Kiaro! digital color label printer provides a print resolution of 1,200x1,200-dpi (dots per inch), to create a nice, clean and crisp label every time.

Bridgemohan recalls that QuickLabel Systems invited his employee Jason Lam to the headquarters of its parent company Astro-Med, Inc. of West Warwick, R.I. for a live demonstration and training.

Described by Bridgemohan as his go-to guy when it comes time to make the demonstration labels, Lam says that the Kiaro! was actually pretty easy to use.

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2013

13-11-07 1:53 PM

LABELING

A vast selection of oils, beverages, dried foods, spices and blended seasoning products sit within a large showroom at the Toronto headquarters of Universal Impex. The Cool Runnings product line brand (right) is the company’s biggest selling brand in Canada.

“For the short-run label production, the Kiaro! is an inexpensive alternative for us,” says Lam. “In fact, the colors printed by the Kiaro! are sharper with more pop than what we normally get in the larger-run labels done by an outside company.”

After becoming the first company to introduce an in-house digital color label back in 1984, QuickLabel Systems has become a leading manufacturer of production-capacity, full-color digital label printers, barcode printers and labeling software that allows businesses of any size to print their own labels whenever they want it: on-demand and just-in-time.

Bang for the Buck When Universal Impex purchased its Kiaro!, the printer came supplied with the intuitive Custom QuickLabel software program to help run the machine, along with an optional rewinder to gather the printed labels after they are printed.

The Custom QuickLabel software comes with the purchase, and is used to lay out the label design, add barcodes and print variable fields that connect directly to a database, helping create any label format or shape.

Although not actually part of Universal Impex’s milieu, the Kiaro! is capable of printing high-quality color labels at very high speeds—7,200 three-byfour-inch labels per hour.

Along with creating labels for the bottles, the

printer can be used to create demo labels for any type of packaging Universal Impex chooses. This includes the large, white plastic tubs provided by Jokey Plastics capable of holding five to eight pounds of seasoning blends or more, depending on the product density.

As far as future growth prospects for Universal Impex, Bridgemohan sees the continued strengthening of the company’s branded products as key, with increased growth in Canada, and complemented with some penetration to the lucrative U.S. markets.

“One way we can do that is by staying focused on our core products,” says Bridgemohan.

“Yes, I want to expand the product line with more private-label speciality products, but when it comes to our own dry goods—our seasonings and other non-perishable items that can have a shelflife of two to three years maintaining its aromatic potency—there’s a reason why we have been successful over the years.

Bridgemohan adds: “I also want to increase our presence on social media, with the point being that

the more people who see our name, the greater the chance we gain a new customer.”

As Bridgemohan sums up, “Universal Impex has been making and packing a wide variety of popular and special spice blends and original seasoning for over 20 years now, and all can add a little special something-something to any dish with just a dash here or a pinch there.

“While I obviously won’t take credit for a product like pepper—though ensuring we get only the highest quality pepper in is extremely important— our seasoning recipes are something I am quite proud of,” he concludes.

“It has helped get Universal Impex this far, and I am curious to see to what heights we’ll be able to reach next.”

For More Information: QuickLabel Systems Astro-Med, Inc. Jokey Plastics North America Inc.

470 471 472

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NOTES & QUOTES  Label manufacturer and converter ASL Print FX of Vaughan, Ont., has been awarded the prestigious Best of the Best worldwide honors for technical excellence of its print quality during the recentlyheld international Labelexpo Europe 2013 exhibition in Brussels, Belgium. Competing against numerous entries from seven continents across five different printing process categories, the label produced by ASL for the Niagara, Ont.-based vintner Rennie Estates Winery captured top place in the f lexographic category of the World Label Awards competition by excelling at all evaluation criteria assessed by the international judging panel: from registration to color reproduction. “This label pushes the boundaries of traditional f lexo printing,” according to the World Label Association’s judging panel. “The definition of the image is excellent and the registration is exact,” the judges added, while also praising the label’s high-end features such as dome lacquer registration and cold foil-stamping on the label. Says ASL Print FX president Charlie Maclean: “It is terrific to be recognized by your peers, and an honor to be recognized as a leader in this highly competitive industry.”

 Industrial robotic tooling and subsystems manufacturer ATI Industrial Automation has commenced the first phase of a major expansion of the company’s manufacturing facilities at its global headquarters in Apex, N.C., in response to fastgrowing global demand for the company’s robotic end-effectors used across automotive, consumer packaged goods, aerospace, electronics and many other manufacturing industries. To be carried out in two phases over the next three to five years, the expansion will more than double the company’s current production space to over 129,000 square feet, according to ATI, while creating an estimated 200 new jobs. “The diversity in our customer base, coupled with our focus on innovation and customer service, has allowed us to succeed in a sluggish global economy despite lower-cost competition from overseas,” says ATI chief executive officer Robert Little, who co-founded the company in 1989 with two other business partners. “Over 40 per cent of our sales are exported to world markets and we expect that percentage to increase,” says Little, adding the company’s sales have increased more than tenfold since 1998, with its staff growing to over 200 people.

SHAWPAK SYSTEMS LTD. COMPLETES CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP Shawpak Systems Ltd. announced today the completion of the sale and transfer of ownership of the company.

Gerry Cellucci, President of Shawpak Systems Ltd., said, “This transaction marks 27 years of ownership and effective stewardship of Shawpak Systems by Pete Skinner Jr. and Peter Skinner Sr. Together the Skinners have made tremendous positive contributions to the Company and, as a result, to our customers and our employees. We look forward to continuing in the same tradition and with same commitment. We greatly appreciate the support we received on this ownership change from our employees and so many of our stakeholders.”

Shawpak Systems Ltd. has been acquired by two former salesmen of Shawpak Systems Ltd., Rick Topp and Larry Swift as well as four partners of Alex E. Jones & Associates Ltd.: Gerry Cellucci, Paul Duke, Stephane Morin, and Christian Charbonneau. Following the acquisition, Nigel Turnpenny, formerly of Mettler Toledo joined the company as a partner as well as Regional Manager for Western Canada now providing local sales and service support to the area.

The new organizational change will focus on delivering exceptional sales and service to a client base with an ever increasing expectation of product knowledge and professionalism from their partners and vendors. Rick Topp, VP of Sales, Larry Swift VP of Technical Services and Nigel Turnpenny, Sales and Service, Western Canada, will each have a significant roll in shaping the future of the company. Our combined wealth of knowledge and experience will be utilized to achieve our goal of being the premier source for product inspection systems in Canada.

For more information, contact: Gail Misener Tel: 905-847-1022, Ext 321 gail@alexejones.ca www.shawpak.com www.alexejones.ca

 New York Citybased private venture capital firm Cove Point Holdings, LLC has completed the acquisition of the Clysar polyolefin shrink film manufacturing business from f lexible packaging products group Bemis Company, Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Operating under the Clysar, LLC corporate banner, the company plans to move its headquarters from Oshkosh, Wis., to Clinton, Iowa, which already houses its extrusion and converting campus. “Our philosophy is to acquire stable, American-based companies with excellent growth potential, and then invest in valuecreation strategies that help them f lourish,” says Cove Point chairman William Morris.  Reusable transit packaging and services supplier ORBIS Corporation of Oconomowoc, Wis., has opened up a new RPM (reusable pack-

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ORBIS RPM services president Albert Seecharan (second from left) joins local Mexican officials at formal unveiling of the company’s new service center in Queretaro.

aging management) service center in Queretaro, Mexico, to provide logistical support—including demand planning, shipping, tracking, cleaning, sorting and replenishment—for the nearby Rexam Mexico production facility. “We consider this new center in Queretaro to be the next step in creating a long-term relationship with Rexam by moving from not just providing reusable packaging, but going one step further to leverage our experience and expertise to optimize their entire shipping system,” says Albert Seecharan, president of the company’s RPM services.  Labeling manufacturer and converter Fort Dearborn Company of Elk Grove, Ill., has completed the acquisition of AC Label from Emigrant Capital Corp. for an undisclosed amount.

Employing about 200 people at three operating divisions in Louisville, Ky., Provo, Utah, and St. Louis, Mo., AC Label is a well-established supplier of pressure-sensitive, cut-and-stack, rollfed and digitally-printed labels for the beverage, nutraceutical and spirits industries. “This acquisition enhances our leadership position in the decorative label marketplace by broadening our geographic footprint, capabilities and market penetration,” says Fort Dearborn chief executive officer Jeff Brezek.  The Motoman Robotics Division of Miamisburg, Ohio-headquartered industrial automation systems group Yaskawa America, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Agile Planet Inc., Austin, Tex.-based developer of software programs and hardware accessories for industrial robotics, including the robot/motion control software products used in Yaskawa Motoman’s MLX Robot Gateway platform.

 Paperboard packaging products manufacturer Keystone Folding Box Co. of Newark, N.J., has picked up the 2013 AmeriStar Award for pharmaceutical packaging from the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) for the company’s innovative Ecoslide-RX sustainable compliance package (see picture), which also placed as the first runner-up for the 2013 Columbus Award for compliance-enhancing packaging design from the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council of Europe (HCPC-Europe). Made from 100-percent recyclable material, the child-resistant, senior-friendly package contains no plastic in its secondary packaging, according to Keystone.

NOVEMBER 2013

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EVENTS

PEOPLE

Nov. 19

Feb. 10-13

Mississauga, Ont.: Top 50 Packaging Ideas Expo, packaging solutions tabletop fair by the Canadian Packaging magazine. At Mississauga Convention Centre. Contact Stephen Dean at (416) 510-5198; or via email sdean@canadianpackaging.com

Orlando, Fla.: Industry in Transition: The Information-driven Enterprise, annual industry forum by ARC Advisory Group. At Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld. To register, go to: www.arcweb.com/events/

Nov. 20-21

Feb. 12-14

Montreal: Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo (CWRE), by Messe Frankfurt Inc. At Palais des congrès de Montréal. Contact Kim Porter at (770) 984-8016; or go to: www.cwre.ca

Brussels, Belgium: PACE (Packaging and Converting Executive) Forum 2014, by Arena International. To register, go to: www.arena-international.com/ pace

Nov. 20-22

Feb. 19-21

Düsseldorf, Germany: COMPAMED 2013, medical technologies supply chain exhibition and conference by Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. At Messe Düsseldorf Fairgrounds. Contact Messe Düsseldorf (Canada) at (416) 598-1524; or go to: www.messe-duesseldorf.de

Orlando, Fla.: NPE 2015, international plastics exposition by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association. At the Orange County Convention Center. To register, go to: www.npe.org

Nov. 21-23 Toronto: Graphics Canada, graphics, printing and converting show by Printing Equipment & Supply Dealers’ Association of Canada (PESDA). At the Toronto International Centre. To register, go to: www.graphicscanada.com

Nov. 26-28 Nairobi, Kenya: Food Processing and Packaging Exposium (FPPE), by Messe Düsseldorf Gmbh. At the Kenyatta Conference Center. Contact Messe Düsseldorf (Canada) at (416) 598-1524; or go to: www.messe-duesseldorf.com

Dec. 3-5

March 13 Green Bay, Wis.: Converters Expo, package converting technologies exhibition by BNP Media. At the Lambeau Atrium. To register, go to: www.convertersexpo.com

March 17-20 Atlanta, Ga.: MODEX 2014, manufacturing and supply chain exhibition and conference by MHI and Reed Exhibitions. Concurently with Supply Chain and Transporation USA and Georgia Logisitcs Summit. All the the Georgia World Congress Center. To register, go to: www.modexshow.com

March 18-20

Cologne, Germany: Thin Wall Packaging, conference by Applied Market Information (AMI). At Maritim Hotel. To register, go to: www.amiconferences.com

Cologne, Germany: Green Polymer Chemistry 2014, international conference on sustainable production of plastics and elastomers by Applied Market Information Ltd. At Maritim Hotel. To register, go to: www.amiplastics.com

Dec. 3-6

March 24-26

Shanghai, China: Labelexpo Asia 2013, exhibition and conference by Tarsus Group Limited. At the Shanghai New International Export Center. To register, go to: www.labelexpo-asia.com

Bangkok, Thailand: Multilayer Packaging Films 2014, Asia-Pacific conference on specialty f lexible packaging applications, materials, markets and manufacturing by Applied Market Information Ltd (AMI). At Swissotel Nai Lert Park. To register, go to: www.amiplastics.com/events

Dec. 9-11 Abu Dhabi, UAE: Flexible Packaging Middle East 2013 conference by Applied Market Information Ltd (AMI). At Sofitel Hotel. To register, go to: www.amiplastics.com/events ,

Dec. 10-11

Berlin, Germany: European Bioplastics Conference,

by European Bioplastics. At Intercontinental Hotel Berlin. To register, go to: www.en.european-bioplastics.org

Dec. 11-14 Delhi, India: CeMAT India, international trade fair for material handling and logistics by Deutsche Messe AG. Contact the Canadian Chamber of Industry and Commere at (416) 598-7129; or go to: www.win-india.com

2014 Feb. 5-6 Paris, France: Aerosol & Dispensing Forum 2014, international summit by Oriex Communication.

At the Espace Champerret. To register, go to: www.aerosol-forum.com

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April 16-17 Shanghai, China: Luxe Pack Shanghai 2014, luxury goods packaging exhibition. At the Shanghai Exhibition Center. To register, go to: www.luxepack.com

May 8-14 Düsseldorf, Germany: interpack 2014, international packaging technologies fair by Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. At Messe Düsseldorf Fairgrounds. Contact Messe Düsseldorf (Canada) at (416) 598-1524; or go to: www.interpack.com

May 6-10 Essen: Germany: METPACK 2014, global metal packaging trade fair and conference

by Messe Essen GmbH. At Messe Essen. To register, go to: www.messe-essen.de

May 14-15 New York City: Luxe Pack New York, luxury goods packaging exhibition by Idice Monaco. At Pier 92. Go to: www.luxepacknewyork.com

 Nestlé Waters Canada (NWC), Puslinch, Ont.-headquartered producer of bottled water and other enhanced water beverages operating Canadian-based bottling facilities in Puslinch and Port Hope, B.C., has appointed Debbie Moore as company president to replace the recently-departed former president John Zupo, who has been appointed as business executive manager and general manager of NWC’s parent company Nestlé Waters North America in Moore Stamford, Conn.  Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based digital printing systems supplier Screen USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyoto, Japan-based printing and graphic arts systems manufacturer Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd., has appointed Jeff Sammons as regional sales manager for territory comprising U.S. northeast Sammons and eastern Canada.  SKG, Cincinnati, Ohioheadquartered branding development services provider formerly known as Schawk, Inc., has appointed Scott Lucas as managing director of the company’s Brandimage and Anthem operations in the Cincinnati area.

Lucas

 Evansville, Ind.-headquartered Berry Plastics Group, Inc. has appointed William Norman as president of the Rigid Open Top Division unit, and Adam Unfried as executive vice-president of strategic planning.  MOCON, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.-based manufacturer of instrumentation and testing equipment for food and pharmaceutical industry applications, has appointed Rich Barrett as regional manager for North and South America.

Barrett

Appointment

Frank Fisico is promoted at Sealed Air to the position of Regional Sales Manager -Canada, Food Care Division.

As a part of the Food Care division of Sealed Air, the Cryovac® brand develops innovative technologies to keep food fresh, better tasting and more accessible. We do this with a strong understanding of consumer needs and a focus on delivering packaging systems, equipment solutions and services that enable manufacturers and their retail customers to be more productive and profitable.

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HORROR SHOW PACKAGING FRIGHTFULLY FUN

A

lways pushing the boundaries of human imagination with his unique blend of psychological and physical horror with infamous films such as The Fly (1986) and A History of Violence (2005), David Cronenberg is considered to be one of the most challenging and exhilarating directors to come out of Canada. Hence it is fabulously fitting for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to be hosting the currentlyrunning David Cronenberg: Evolution multimedia exhibition strictly dedicated to the audacious and thrilling work of Canada’s prolific director.

Naturally, the marketing products and packaging produced for the exhibit—opened to the public earlier this month—were carefully selected to not only highlight Cronenberg’s unique body of work, but also to entice and excite long-time fans as well as the casual curiosity-seekers.

No stranger to film, The TIFF Shop in Toronto is currently carrying copies of popular Cronenberg films such as The Naked Lunch (1991), Cosmopolis (2012) and, of course, the strange and mind-bending Videodrome (1983) as part of the special-edition Criterion Collection package. In terms of immediate far-out impact, the Videodrome packaging is really a sight to behold—boasting some iconic disturbing graphics from the film and the infam-

ous hand-scribbled “Long Live the New Flesh” quote on a DVD case that perfectly mimics the old-school videotapes of years gone by. The clever use of the color bars and broadcast test card for the Criterion logo on the side of DVD perfectly ties in with the wicked plot of the Videodrome movie, striking a very responsive chord not only with the fans but also anyone who wants to take a little bit of Cronenberg home from the spellbinding exhibit.

For newbies to the mind-bending world of Cronenberg, The TIFF Shop also features products with packaging that are not specifically tied to Cronenberg’s prolific body of work, but rather pointedly alluding to his dark and transformative style of film-making. For example, the small tin Pocket Box for general items boasts bright and bold colors of black and crimson red as a nod to his devotion to body horror, with the macabre graphics and all-caps font spelling out POISON sure to grab immediate attention of any die-hard Cronenberg fan. The use of the old- school lab f lask and a bird image on the back further pushes the horror element of the packaging to transform what is really a very simple product into a ‘must-have’ keepsake, stylishly oozing dark intent with its ‘dangerous content’ warning labels.

While coffee mugs tend to be a rather standard take-home memento at many cultural events, the packaging for the so-called Creepy Mug really

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Alex E Jones & Shawpak Systems Atlantic Packaging Products Ltd Bosch Rexroth Canada

For more information on Classified Advertising please contact: 416-510-5198

10PAC-CHK-TAB.indd 32

30 2 IFC

Cryovac

10

Farm Credit Canada

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Festo

23

Fortress Technology Inc.

6

Haremar Plastic Manufacturing

9

Harlund Industries Ltd. Intelligrated

25 5

Name Title

33

Company Name

Multivac Canada

19

Address

Sealed Air

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SEW-Eurodrive Co. of Canada

17

Unisource Canada

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VideoJet Technologies Canada

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NOVEMBER 2013

CIRCLE THE R.S. NO. THAT MATCHES THE NUMBER ON THE ADVERTISEMENT OR ARTICLE OF INTEREST. FAX THIS BACK TO US AT (416) 510-5140

Muller Martini Canada Inc.

7

Megan Moffat is a recent graduate of the Film Studies program at the Wilfrid Laurier University currently working at The TIFF Shop in Toronto.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

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Robert Reiser & Co. Inc

For its part, the packaging for the director’s Red Cars art-book uses intentional ambiguity to optimize the hidden horror element to full advantage.

Targeted specifically at the die-hard Cronenberg fans—featuring a Cronenberg-written screenplay that never made it to the sliver screen—the simple white cardboard box, decorated only with a red string and stylized red lettering, is intriguing precisely because of its simplicity—drawing attention of not only hard-core cinephiles but also regular consumers who don’t have a clue about the product by triggering a natural “What’s inside the box?” reaction. This element of mystery works perfectly throughout most of this unique, mind-altering exhibit that runs through January of 2014.

FREE

Leclerc Robotique

Weighpack Systems

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Page

stands out from the crowd with its graphic, cringe-worthy “hidden creepers in your mug” tag line. While definitely pushing the boundaries of creepiness with its graphic “creepy crawler” depiction, the packaging also provides a lot of useful consumer information about the mug’s size, dishwasher directions and microwave-safe features—all that useful stuff you hardly ever get from a standard paperbox.

Photos by Megan Moffat

CHECKOUT MEGAN MOFFAT

City Prov. P/Code Telephone Fax Email Address

CANADIAN PACKAGING • NOVEMBER 2013

13-11-07 11:40 AM

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With (1200ft/min) its hybrid applications, along the withcomplete offset produce size print technology, sleeves. and printing Muller Martini VSOP offers ranges (381-762mm/15-30” by using lightweight a range of other printing processes, including:

print sleeves.

With its hybrid applications, along with offset printing Muller Martini VSOP offers With itstechnology, hybrid applications, along with offset a range of other printing processes, including: Muller Martini technology, VSOP web offset press is printing Muller Martini VSOP offers flexo, screen, gravure and digital as available with electron beam, UV and hot air printing a range of other printing processes, including: drying which provide ansuch optimum welltechnologies as finishing processes as laminating.

Muller Martini VSOP web offset press is Muller Martini VSOP web offsetUV press available with electron beam, andis available with electron beam, UV and hot air hot airdrying technologies which provide drying technologies which provide an an optimum flexibility in the printingoptimum process.

Muller Mar 20 Caldar Telephone www.mullermartinicanada.com

Digital Solutions Saddle Stitching Book Technologies Mailroom Systems Web Presses

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tini North America i Rd. Concord, ON L4K 4N8 Martini North America Muller 905-660-9595 Fax 905-660-9555

20 Caldari Rd. Concord, ON L4K 4N8 Booth #3207, November 21-23 Telephone 905-660-9595 Fax 905-660-9555 International Centre www.mullermartinicanada.com Toronto, Canada

Muller Martini North America 20 Caldari Rd. Concord, ON L4K 4N8 Tel 905.660.9595 mullermartinicanada.com

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Monday,

Tuesday,

Wednesday,

Thursday,

Friday,

Monday...

You get the picture. When it comes to packaging automation, Unisource understands that operations must run consistently day-after-day in order to keep productivity, performance and quality to the highest standards.

Our packaging experts are focused on delivering leading-edge solutions that help improve productivity, consistency and quality of packaging operations.

We work with leading manufacturers to ensure performance, reliability and innovation – all to help your business reach the next level.

Visit www.unisourcepackaging.ca or call 1-800-UNISOURCE to learn about our equipment programs

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