Canadian Packaging

APRIL 2012 | $10

www.canadianpackaging.com

Ashley Chapman, Vice-President Penny Chapman, President, Chapman’s Ice Cream Limited

CREAM OF THE CROP Chapman’s comes in from the cold to regain market share and brand loyalty

Publication mail agreement #40069240.

Story on page 18

WATER WORLD Page 16

IN THIS ISSUE: PRODUCT ID NOW • PACKAGING FOR SHELF-LIFE • CASE-READY PACKAGING

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Can’t see the forest for all the trees?

As the leaders in recycling for over 60 years, Atlantic Packaging is in the business of saving forests.

Annually we save over 14,000,000 trees from being cut down to produce paper products.

Sustainable Packaging for a Sustainable Future®

Happy Day, Earth!

By utilizing the latest technology and world class processes in our 100% recycled paper mills, we save enough energy to power 100,000 homes for a full year, divert 3 million cubic yards of waste going to landfill, use 4.2 billion less gallons water and help to remove 1.2 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere.

By purchasing your products from us, you not only demonstrate your personal commitment to our environment and to sustainable packaging practices, but also show that you care.

At Atlantic Packaging every day is Earth Day! Service Driven!TM “Responsive to your needs” Atlantic Packaging Products Ltd.

Corrugated Division Scarborough-Progress Ave., Scarborough-Midwest Ave., Brampton, Mississauga and Ingersoll 416-298-8101 • 1-800-268-5620 • www.atlantic.ca Add Ink (Atlantic Decorated & Display) Toronto 416-421-3636 • www.addink.ca Color Pak (Pre-printed Linerboard) Toronto 416-298-5518 • 1-800-584-5817 • www.colorpak.ca Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging Ltd. Montreal and Drummondville 514-332-3480 • 1-800-361-5727 • www.ml-group.com FOR MORE INFORMATION CIRCLE 103 HAPPY EARTH DAY.indd 1 Atlantic.indd 4

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UPFRONT

PENNY FOR OUR THOUGHTS APRIL 2012

VOLUME 65, NO. 4 SENIOR PUBLISHER Stephen Dean • (416) 510-5198 SDean@canadianpackaging.com EDITOR George Guidoni • (416) 510-5227 GGuidoni@canadianpackaging.com FEATURES EDITOR Andrew Joseph • (416) 510-5228 AJoseph@canadianpackaging.com ART DIRECTOR Stewart Thomas • (416) 442-5600 x3212 SThomas@bizinfogroup.ca ADVERTISING SALES Munira Khan • (416) 510-5199 MKhan@canadianpackaging.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Kim Collins • (416) 510-6779 KCollins@bizinfogroup.ca CIRCULATION MANAGER Diane Rakoff • (416) 510-5216 DRakoff@bizinfogroup.ca EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lisa Wichmann • (416) 442-5600 x5101 LWichmann@canadianmanufacturing.com EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Tim Dimopoulos • (416) 510-5100 TDimopoulos@bizinfogroup.ca

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HOW TO REACH US: Canadian Packaging, established 1947, is published monthly by BIG Magazines LP, a division of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd. 80 Valleybrook Drive, North York, ON, M3B 2S9; Tel: (416) 442-5600; Fax (416) 510-5140.

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S

o the feds have finally decided to pinch the penny for good before the end of the year in last month’s federal budget—in the process saving the Royal Canadian Mint an estimated $11 million per year in operating costs by no longer having to mint the virtually worthless pieces of faux copper that many of us try to ditch at first chance anyways.

How nice for the Royal Canadian Mint, to be relieved of a loss-making operation whereby it cost 1.5 cents to make a real penny. And with the federal deficit being what it is, surely every penny counts. Everybody wins, brilliant, right?

Actually, it’s hard to see how Canadian consumers will benefit in any major way. In fact, they’re in for a bit of a prolonged price shock and relentless nickel-and-diming once retailers and brand-owners start rounding off their product prices to the nearest five cents— much like what happened in most EU countries in the early days of euro conversion.

Not that the penny will be sorely missed in the greater scheme of things: in hindsight, one of the new century’s bigger mysteries is that it has endured as long as it has. But to give credit where due, it’s nice to see the Bank of Canada not missing a beat in introducing Canadians to the new, polymer-based banknotes—eventually to replace all the paperbased Canadian cash out in circulation—at a measured pace that will give consumers due time and breathing space to come to grips with the new high-tech plastic money.

Having introduced the polymer series $100-bills into circulation earlier this year (although actually seeing one in person still eludes us), the Bank has officially released the $50-bills last month at a glitzy ceremony held at Québec City’s port facility.

A perfect setting, of course, to display the new bill’s front-side depiction of the Arctic research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen against the backdrop of

COVER STORY

©Contents of this publication are protected by copyright and must not be reprinted in whole or in part without permission of the publisher.

DISCLAIMER: This publication is for informational purposes only. The content and “expert” advice presented are not intended as a substitute for informed professional engineering advice. You should not act on information contained in this publication without seeking specific advice from qualified engineering professionals. Canadian Packaging accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported or advertised in this issue. Canadian Packaging receives unsolicited materials, (including letters to the editor, press releases, promotional items and images) from time to time. Canadian Packaging, its affiliates and assignees may use, reproduce, publish, re-publish, distribute, store and archive such unsolicited submissions in whole or in part in any form or medium whatsoever, without compensation of any sort.

PRIVACY NOTICE: From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-668-2374 Fax: 416-442-2191 Email: privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca Mail to: Privacy Office, 80 Valleybrook Drive, North York, ON M3B 2S9 PRINTED IN CANADA PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40069240, ISSN 0008-4654 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canadian Packaging is indexed in the Canadian Magazine Index by Micromedia Limited. Back copies are available in microform from Macromedia Ltd., 158 Pearl St., Toronto, ON M5H 1L3

APRIL 2012 • CANADIAN PACKAGING

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the ship docked in the port. And a rare welcome occasion for Bank of Canada’s governor Mark Carney to talk about something other than interest rates and the high Canadian dollar.

“Just as the work of scientists on the Amundsen is expanding the frontiers of Arctic research, this new polymer series is expanding the frontiers of banknote technology,” said Carney, citing some pretty far-out anti-counterfeiting features making the new plastic bills virtually impossible to replicate illegally, at least for time being. Boasting two transparent areas—one extending top to bottom and packed with complex holographic features, and the other in the shape of a maple leaf—the bills carry a very flattering image of former premier Sir William Lyon Mackenzie King at his statesman-like best on the back panel.

As dazzling as all that, the real beauty of the fabulous print job on the new bills is all in the holographic features designed to help legal tender to always stay at least one step ahead of the crooks, which is something that the packaging industry should also be picking up on.

According to Carney, “Counterfeiting rates have been reduced by 90 per cent since 2004 [and] issuing this new series of banknotes enables us to continue to stay ahead of counterfeiters. And by regularly checking the leading-edge security features on these new notes, Canadians can help protect themselves from counterfeiting threats.”

And so can countless CPGs out there crying about the billions of dollars that they lose each year to global knockoff brand manufacturers and product counterfeiters using packaging as one of the prime means by which to sneak their shoddy goods into the legit consumer markets. Maybe a 90-percent drop in counterfeiting could be reaching for the stars a bit, but even with fractional reductions translating into tens of millions of dollars being kept out of global black markets, the business case for doing something along the Bank of Canada’s lines more or less speaks for itself.

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Cream Topping By Andrew Joseph

Venerable small-town Ontario ice-cream producer back in the driver’s seat with a remarkable rise from the ashes after a fiery near-death experience.

Cover photography by Sandra Strangemore

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS 5 6-8

UPFRONT By George Guidoni NEWSPACK Packaging news round-up.

9-10 FIRST GLANCE New technologies for packaging applications.

11-12 ECO-PACK NOW All about environmental sustainability.

13 IMPACT A monthly insight from the PAC. 31 NOTES & QUOTES Noteworthy industry briefs and updates.

32 PEOPLE Packaging career moves.

33 EVENTS Upcoming industry functions.

34 CHECKOUT By Elena Langlois Joe Public speaks out on packaging hits and misses.

NEXT ISSUE: Packaging for Shelf-life, Corrugated Packaging

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KEEPING IT REAL By Franz Ludwig Fighting back against knockoff drugs.

A CLEAR PURPOSE By Pierre Deschamps Quebec water-bottler keeping things pure and simple.

POULTRY IN MOTION By Andrew Joseph Thriving Quebec poultry processor refreshes its market focus to play up the company’s core competitive strengths.

REDDI TO RUMBLE By Andrew Joseph Western Canadian meat processing upstart turns to thermoforming technologies to carve out a slice of the market pie.

WWW.CANADIANPACKAGING.COM • 5

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NEWSPACK

NEW KFC BOX GETS A HANDLE ON FAMILY DINING After being around seemingly forever—actually 55 years or so—the iconic KFC bucket is now being a given serious run for its money in Canada with last month’s launch of a brand new KFC Family Dinner Box that has already enjoyed “blockbuster sales and success in Australia, where it was recently introduced,” according to the company, which ranks as Canada’s largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain with more than 674 KFC restaurants across the country.

“Our new KFC Family Dinner Box is all about offering variety to families,” says KFC Canada’s senior marketing director Tatiana Carrascal, explaining that the compact, handled, easy-to-carry box was designed to allow KFC customers to customize their takeout orders by allowing them to create up to four customized meals in a single box from an array of signature KFC chicken sandwiches and wraps, pieces of the Original Recipe fried chicken, mini breast fillets, and an assortment of side-dish options.

“The ability to customize meals means that the whole family can enjoy time together and their own personal KFC favorites with no compromises,” says Carrascal, adding that each KFC Family Dinner Box order also comes with free popcorn chicken snacks for sharing.

“It’s a complete family meal that’s completely up to you,” she says.

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While the company’s signature bucket is here to stay, Carrascal says she expects the new KFC Family Dinner Box—designed with help from branding consultants OSL Marketing—to become a popular menu addition in Canada.

“The bucket is a true classic—it’s the original, just like KFC,” Carrascal states. “Nothing pleases a crowd like a bucket of fresh, delicious KFC Original Recipe chicken, and this box is a new twist on a favorite classic that creates more options for variety and convenience—especially when you have four mouths to feed.”

Since it was f irst introduced in 1957, the KFC bucket became a true packaging classic that revolutionized takeout dining, with the trademarked red-and-white KFC bucket being embraced by countries around the world, along with the Original Recipe chicken f irst perfected by KFC founder “Colonel” Harland Sanders more than 50 years ago in Corbin, Ky. According to KFC, the unique recipe—containing different 11 herbs and spices—remains a secret to this day by virtue of being hidden in a high-security, top-secret vault located in Louisville, Ky.

PET ALL SET TO GROW

The global consumption of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) packaging will grow to almost 19.1 million tonnes by 2017, according to a new market study from the U.K.-based research firm Pira International—citing increasing demand in Asia Pacific, South and Central America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East regions that will drive 5.2-percent growth over the next five years.

“The developing countries will show higher growth for PET packaging as a result of growing real incomes and the replacement of traditional pack formats by PET bottles,” states the report, which predicts the strongest growth rates for barrier PET bottles and jars for juices, milk, teas, beer, wine and food.

While PET recycling remains will remain a key issue, driven by government regulations and efforts by brand-owners to minimize their carbon footprint, “there is still some uncertainty whether the uptake of rPET (recycled PET) for bottle production will become widespread,” according to Pira.

“The uptake of rPET for bottle content will depend very much on whether rPET costs less than virgin material,” states The Future of Global PET Packaging report. “While there is strong demand for recycled PET, there remains a problem with raw material supply and an infrastructure that is not expanding quickly enough to collect the material the industry needs.”

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NEWSPACK

COFFEE POWERHOUSE PERKS UP ITS PACKAGING INNOVATION MOJO For millions of hard-core Canadian Starbucks coffee-lovers, making their favorite brew at home has gotten a lot easier since last month’s launch of the coffee powerhouse’s light-roast Blond Roast coffee across many Canadian grocery channels in several consumer-friendly formats—including whole bean and ground coffee bags, VIA Ready Brew and Starbucks K-Cup Packs designed by the Starbucks Coffee Company’s Global Creative Studio team in Seattle, Wash.

According to Starbucks Canada, the new Blonde Roast product family represents a

notable departure from the company’s more traditional, typically darker-roasted beans.

The company says it developed the more subtle and lighter-bodied f lavors to respond to shifting consumer demand trends in Canada— based on a recent AC Nielsen survey showing 40 per cent of Canadian coffee drinker preferring a lighter-roast coffee.

With light-roast and medium-roast blends now accounting for roughly half of all the premium coffee products sold through Canada’s grocery channels—the new product line “will provide a

huge opportunity for Starbucks to extend its reach down Canadian grocery coffee aisles and expand availability of its portfolio of branded products beyond Starbucks stores,” the company states, “while remaining focused on delivering premium coffee products to customers.”

Says Starbucks global chief marketing officer Annie Young-Scrivner: “The launch of new products such as Starbucks VIA Ready Brew and Starbucks Blonde Roast Coffees are great examples of how we continue to leverage our coffee expertise.”

In addition to extending the company’s roast spectrum, the Blond Roast launch has also provided Starbucks with an opportunity to revamp its

entire coffee packaging portfolio based on consumer insights and purchasing behaviors.

The project involved employing distinctive package design structures and colors to make it quicker for Canadian consumers to identify and distinguish between the three core Blonde, Medium and Dark roast categories.

“Canadian consumers will find it easier than ever to navigate the coffee aisles and find their favorite Starbucks coffee by taste and intensity,” says Strabucks Canada, which plans to run a coast-to-coast on-site product sampling campaign at Loblaws, Longos, Safeway, Sobeys and other major supermarket chains through the end of May. The on-site wet sampling and tasting will also heavily supported by atshelf advertising, grocery and retailer f lyer ads, lifestyle publication advertising, direct mail and a cross-channel offer for a free tall brewed coffee at retail locations when consumers purchase a Starbucks Blonde Roast product at any participating grocery outlet, according to the company.

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CANADIAN PACKAGING • APRIL 2012

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FIRST GLANCE PRESSING THE POINT

BIG BUCKET LIST

Having just celebrated its milestone 100th sale and installation, the highly-innovative smartGPS graphic positioning system from the Fischer & Krecke (F&K) division of Bobst Group is claimed to be the only system currently available for f lexo printing equipment worldwide that ensures perfect registration and impression set-up while producing next-to-zero waste of substrate and machine time regardless of printed material, number of colors, drying characteristics of inks, operator skills and other production conditions. Unlike conventional systems which perform set-up in the press through a manual or automatic optical process of trial-anderror, the smartGPS does the job off line at the plate-mounting stage using easily understood and quickly implemented technology, according to the company, enabling significant saving in time and material costs to allow package printers to optimize their short-run job and frequent changeovers for maximum profitability. A winner of the prestigious FTA Technical Achievement Award of the Flexographic Technical Association in 2010, the smartGPS system is available both as a retrofit version and as a value-added option an all the new F&K presses sold worldwide.

The new five-liter Big Bucket PrimoWeigher combination scale from CombiScale Inc. is capable of accurately delivering quantities of product— including cheese, clothing, confectionery, dry goods, electronics, fresh meat, produce and petfood—ranging from as little as four ounces up to 55 pounds, according to the company, with the system’s innovative swing-out center hopper dramatically simplifying product changeover, cleaning, and hopper height adjustment. Supplied with the industry-first Primo Pocket Control device to provide remote control of all the operating PrimoWeigher scales, which can connect from virtually anywhere for remote diagnostics, troubleshooting and technical support, the system’s open-frame design facilitates easy machine cleaning, washing servicing and maintenance, with all the electronics housed centrally in a remote-mounted electrical enclosure at f loor level to ensure optimal protection from washdowns and machine vibration.

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CAUGHT ON FILM The new Torayfan F63 heat-sealable BOPP (biaxially-oriented polypropylene) film from Toray Plastics (America), Inc. is claimed to incorporate proprietary technology that enables the superior adhesion of water- and solvent-based inks on the print side of the film—facilitating production of exceptionally high print quality on the final f lexible packages used to package salty snacks, baked goods, crackers, cookies, confectionery items, etc., according to the company. Designed for use in a print web, the new F63 polypropylene film is said to be well-suited for the use of white inks to achieve high opacity, while its low seal-initiation temperature (SIT) for lap-seals enables faster processing times on high-speed F/F/S (form-fill-seal) packaging equipment.

Incorporating the new-generation IRB 460 robot designed specifically for high-speed end-of-line palletizing applications, the new PalletPack 460 system from ABB Robotics is a pre-engineered package of well-proven palletizing components offering integrated hardware with full documentation for significantly reducing project costs and set-up times, according to the company. Boasting a reach of 2.4 meters and robust 110-kilogram capacity with a compact footprint, the four-axis IRB 460 palletizing robot is easily integrated into existing packaging lines, with the PalletPack’s programming wizard making the programming very similar to that used for a traditional PLC (programmable logic controller)—enabling PLC programmers without specific robotic experience to program the system. Offered in configurations for either high-speed bag palletizing or compact end-of-line case palletizing, the PalletPack 460 package consists of an IRB 460 palletizing robot; a Flex-Gripper end-of-arm tool; an ABB control PLC and a Jokab safety PLC; PalletWare support software; user documentation; and a userfriendly FlexPendant graphical HMI (humanmachine interface) with four screens to display pallet and pick set-up, pallet pattern set-up, path profile and product movement.

The new range of Cryovac Oven Ease ovenable rollstock film from Sealed Air Corporation can withstand temperatures up to 375 F for up to four hours, according to the company, making it especially wellsuited for packaging poultry, boneless beef and pork cuts into consumer-friendly, easy-to-prepare film packs that allow pre-seasoned or marinated items to be cooked inside the same material in which it is packaged. Available in size to accommodate product weight up to five pounds and engineered to run on most conventional rollstock thermoforming equipment, the Cryovac Oven Ease film boasts exceptional clarity and vacuum-sealing properties to ensure the product is freezer ready—while accommodating both cook-from-raw or reheat applications—as well as being able to keep the cooked items hot in the package long after being removed from the oven.

ABB Robotics

Sealed Air Corporation

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TAKING THE HEAT

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Wide belt the FlexLink way!

Our new wide belt conveyors allow you to create space efficient layouts and predictable production flows. The system is designed for the transportation of large individual items or large flows of smaller products.

Find out more about the new wide belt conveyors and how you can use them to get the most value out of your production.

Contact us today at info.ca@flexlink.com or give us a call at (905) 639-6878.

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FIRST GLANCE THE FINE PRINT The new model PA1200fa printer-applicator from Tharo Systems, Inc. is designed as a highly accurate, cost-effective solution for specialty application requiring only the front of the product to be labeled, according to the company. Offered with Tharo’s H-Series direct thermal or thermaltransfer printers with print resolutions of 203- or 300-dpi (dots per inch), the systems print and apply labels to the leading edge of a product moving down a conveyor where the orientation of the product cannot be changed due to product line constraints, whereby each printed labels is quickly stripped from the liner and held by suction on the applicator tamp pad, which is mounted on a heavyduty swing arm that extends over a conveyor and securely tamps the label onto the product—accommodating a diverse range of label sizes up to 4.5-inch-wide and eight-inches-high.

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RECYCLE-READY The ever-expanding range of fully-recyclable rigid plastic and metal packaging products from BWAY Corporation now comprises more than 270 different metal, plastic and hybrid containers—including steel and tinplate containers like paint cans, aerosol cans, pour-top cans, F-style containers and open- and tight-head pails—made with at least 25-percent recycled content, according to the company, with full end-of-life recyclability for all the steel containers. Made with up to 30-percent post-consumer resin, the company’s standard plastic packaging products include many innovative designs of bottles, drums, tight-head containers, hybrid paint cans and open-head pails—available in a multitude of shapes and sizes—while its award-winning ECO-PAIL containers (see picture) offer up to 50-percent postconsumer resin content and the innovative Tri-Seal cover that eliminates the need for a gasket.

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MAGNETIC ATTRACTION Distributed by Magnetic Products, Inc. (MPI), the Cassel range of metal detectors features proprietary, fully-integrated “four-quadrant” technology that enables users to readily adjust settings to

find metals in even the most ‘difficult’ products such as cheese or highsalt-content foods, according to the company, and their DDS (direct digital signal) technology capabilities allows for remote servicing to virtually eliminate the need for any costly and time-consuming onsite repairs.

Magnetic Products, Inc.

BAGGING RIGHTS Designed to handle materials ranging from fine powders to 0.75-inch particles, the new STONEPAK Model 725 bag valve filler from Premier Tech Chronos is the latest addition to the company popular 700 Series of force-f low packing machines.

Engineered to ensure cleanest possible operation with minimized ledges to prevent product and/or dust build-up and with a minimal number of wearing parts in the product’ path, Model 725 is constructed to deliver decades of reliable service even in the most challenging bagging facilities, according to the company. Like all other STONEPAK brand baggers, the air packer can be upgraded with ultrasonic sealers for effective closing of the bag’s valve after filling, while the slim design allows for multiple packers to be banked together under a common feed hopper for increased production throughput.

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KNOWING YOUR PLACE The new IntelliPack SmartBagger foam-in-place (FIP) system from Pregis Corp. features innovative SmartTrax software capability to eliminate the need to invest in secondary protective systems for void-fill and bottom padding requirements—enabling the SmartBagger to produce SmartTrax protective cushions in addition to FIP bags by employing a series of foam-filled cylinders to create bottom pads to help cushion heavy objects, as well as being as being used as end-caps and corner protection to wrap

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products or to fill awkward voids. Well-suited for packaging a broad variety of large and small components requiring optimal transport protection— automotive, military, furniture, electronics, aircraft, appliances, controls/instrumentation, industrial equipment, sporting goods, etc.—the systems can be easily programmed with barcode data for each specific product that enters the pack station, proving vital information to tell the system the exact amount of film and liquid foam to use for the job at hand.

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TIPPING THE SCALES Available as one- or nine-quart models with one-, two- or three-pan configurations—the new AUTOWEIGHER linear scales from WeighPack Systems Inc. provide a reliable and economical automated solution for a multitude of manual filling application by automatically feeding product from the along a vibrating pan into the weigh bucket below, and then releasing the product through a funnel into a container or bag below when reaching the target weight. Operating at speeds up to 15-cpm (cycles per minute) in automatic or semi-automatic mode, the user-friendly scale is designed to provide tool-less disassembly of the hopper, weighbucket and funnel to minimize downtime for cleaning or a product changeover, with the built-in foot pedal facilitating semi-automatic operation when required. Automatically displaying product weight in real time in imperial or metric units, the foodgrade AUTOWEIGHER can be safely used with a diverse range of products, including poultry, snacks, coffee, rice, nuts, produce, chemicals, powders, pharmaceuticals, etc.

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SHEDDING NEW LIGHT ON MEAT PRODUCT SHELF-LIFE EXTENSION Food retailers can achieve notable shelf-life extension for many of their meat products by installing the relatively inexpensive LED (light-emitting diode) lights in their store refrigeration units, according to a research project carried out by Kansas State University.

The study, which compared the industry’s usage of the more commonly utilized fluorescent lighting versus LED lights for five different meat products—pork loin chops; beef loin steaks; ground beef; ground turkey; and beef inside round steaks—concluded that using LED lights has significantly extended the shelf-life of some sampled beef products, helping reduce product spoilage and giving grocers more time to sell the product.

“Most meat products displayed under LED lighting had colder internal product temperatures, which helps extend product shelf-life,” said member of the research team, which evaluated the refrigerated meat products for discoloration, rancidity and operating efficiency.

“Beef loin steaks and inside round steaks stored under LED lights can have up to one day longer shelf-life.”

The study’s thesis may be accessed online: www.krex.k-state.edu/dspace/ handle/2097/13135

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ECO-PACK NOW

METRO COMES CLEAN WITH FULL PRODUCT DISCLOSURE FOR PRIVATE-LABEL SEAFOOD

Canadian supermarket heavyweight Metro Inc. • Evaluation of the “The information gathered will enable is lending its considerable market clout and muscle diagnostics of us to better understand what those supto concerted, cross-industry efforts to reverse the commercialized pliers are able to offer, which will lead effects of global overfishing with new, highlyspecies based on the company to make informed decisions informative packaging for its private-label frozen the most recent and to set practical goals,” according seafood to disclose the species origin and other scientific opinto Metro, which key traceability information to consumers. ions and reports; maintains it is According to the country’s third-largest gro• Thorough trainnearing its ultimcer, the packaging update is part of the coming of all the perate goal of havpany’s ongoing implementation of its Sustainable sonnel concerned; ing all fresh and Fisheries Policy initiative—launched in 2010 • Enhancing consumer awareness of all the frozen wild and to address ocean resource depletion and other issues at stake through educational multimedia farmed seafood urgent marine stewardship challenges. communications; products sold at “Thanks to a complete review of the information • Financial contributions to the UNESCO’s its stores conform available on the products that we commercialize UQAR Research Chair devoted to the inteto the Sustainable under our private labels, we are now able to prograted analysis of marine systems.

Fisheries Policy guidelines and definitions. vide our packaging with the common name, the scientific name, the zone or the country where it was fished or farmed, as well as the type of fishing involved,” says Marie-Claude Bacon, senior HMI controller director of corporate affairs at the Motion controller > Compact > Performance Montreal-headquartered Metro, which employs about 65,000 Canadians at more than 600 food stores and over 250 drugstores across Québec and Ontario, generating annual revenues of about $11 billion.

“Consumers will now be better informed, and hence will be able to make more enlightened choices,” says Bacon, citing research confirming that SoMachine > Software Canadian consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the origins of food products they Logic controller Drive controller > Flexibility purchase, and their global eco> Efficient logical impact.

Since embarking on the Sustainable Fisheries Policy in September of 2010, product labels on all fresh seafood packaged by Metro in-store have provided detailed sourcing information gathered from a Optimized control; shorter time to market thorough analysis of traceability, according to Metro, which Machines today need to be faster, more flexible, and must be able to solve Flexible Machine Control more complex automation functions than ever before. As a machine builder you has since used that information must constantly look at innovative ways to build more energy-efficient machines, To reach 100% flexibility and optimization, to withdraw seven seafood spereduce development costs, and get your machines to market much faster. flexible machine control incorporates cies deemed to be “endangered” predefined and proven automation Flexible Machine Control has made this history. Flexible machine control from its product offering. incorporates SoMachine™, a single software suite that runs on multiple architectures and functions and embeds Metro says the new packaging, hardware control platforms to achieve 100 per cent machine flexibility: HMI, intelligence in multiple hardware control motion, drive, and logic controllers. With SoMachine, you need only one which includes a fact sheet proplatforms. A single software suite helps software, one cable, and one download to design, commission, and service you to develop, program, and commission viding information about the your machines from a single point. SoMachine minimizes your work and your machines. product’s origin at a glance (see capitalizes on each design.

One Software picture) is already making its way Flexible machine control is part of our brand-new MachineStruxure™ solution, Environment re to the company’s f lagship Metro One software suite to designed to take complexity out of the business. The MachineStruxure solution wa ne develop, program, and oftachi S commission your machines, also includes: M and Metro Plus supermarkets requiring only one tool, one So download, one connection, Tested, Validated Architectures and Functions: Build a strong automation and one project file in both Québec and Ontario, as platform through the use of our ready-to-use, proven, and fully transparent well as its Super C and Food automation architectures and application function libraries implemented with Multiple Basics discount stores there.

FDT/DTM technology. Our architectures are predefined and dedicated to your Hardware specific needs for optimum results.

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U.S. CITIES CATCHING THE RFID WAVE TO CASH IN ON RECYCLING EFFORTS Turning trash into cash is at the heart of all well-designed municipal recycling systems, and the U.S. cities of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Mich., have been cleaning up in a big way since implementing RFID (radio frequency identification)-based technology to optimize their critical waste management processes.

Using two-wheeled recycling and trash containers mounted with the RFID xtreme tags from the Grand-Rapids-based Xtreme RFID—a division of Canmore, Alta.-headquartered Cascade Engineering Group–the RFID system comprises an on-board truck data collection system with RFID readers and Capturit antennas in the hopper; an industrial PC with optional screen and GPS and GSM transceiver placed in

the cab; and back-office software.

Built to withstand heavy daily usage, the xtreme tags—powered by high-performance ShortDipole inlays manufactured by the Finnish-based UPM RFID—snap securely in place just below the below trash cart lids (see picture), and are guaranteed to last 10 years.

When sanitation crews collect consumers’ gar-

bage and recycling, the truck’s RFID readers and antennas capture tag data—recording the time, GPS coordinates and load weight—and the drivers can record any missed pick-ups using the on-board computer. That information can be used to automate data collection and billing, while also providing municipalities with powerful insights they can use to enhance service.

In Cincinnati, the RFID-based recycling system has helped increase citizen recycling participation from 40 to 79 per cent to capture 18,000 tons of consumer packaging waste that would otherwise end up in landfill. With recycling volumes growing by 49 per cent between 2009 and 2011, the city estimates to have saved about US$930,000 in waste disposal and labor costs.

For its part, Grand Rapids is currently extending RFID technology to its waste collection operations—implementing usagebased pricing for the city’s 60,000 residents and using the data to optimize the scheduling of sanitation crews’ driving routes routes.

TORONTO SET FOR CWRE 2012

If a thriving trade show is an accurate ref lection of the industry’s well-being, then waste diversion is certainly blossoming in a big way in Canada, with the 15th edition of the upcoming annual Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo (CWRE) in Toronto already being predicted to shatter all previous attendance and exhibitor participation records.

Scheduled to be held a the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont., Nov. 14-15, 2012, the country’s premier show for the waste, recycling and public works markets has already received enthusiastic support from all the leading industry associations, according to show organizers Messe Frankfurt, Inc. “It is exciting to have our 15th edition of the Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo being held in Toronto—the city where it all started,” says show manager Arnie Gess, adding she expects more than 200 exhibitors to display cutting-edge products and technologies at the November event.

“The 2012 event is anticipated to being our biggest show ever, following a very successful show in Montreal in 2011,” says Gess, adding that CREW 2011 in Montreal was completely sold out six weeks before the event.

For more on attending or exhibiting at the event, contact Messe Frankfurt, Inc. at (877) 534-7285; or go to: www.cwre.ca

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ACCESS THE GLOBAL PACKAGING NETWORK

Sustainability Needs Smart Marketers In October 2005 H. Lee Scott Jr, CEO of the world’s largest retailer, Walmart announced a revolutionary “business sustainability strategy” to their global employees and suppliers. The aspirational goals were very ambitious, “To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment.”

To implement this strategy a radical mind shift and tactical plan was an imperative. Collaboration and transparency were critical and subject matter experts were needed to drive the programs. Those assets had to come from nonprofits, government agencies, consultancies, and academic institutions. And most importantly, the supply chain had to be aggressively engaged. Open communication was abundant but the Walmart Scorecard for packaging became a central process. Suppliers had to become engaged in the discussion.

Today Sustainability is Core to Consumers and Retailers Seven years later the sustainability movement is approaching a tipping point, with seven out of ten companies now placing it on their permanent management agenda, according to a new report from the Boston Consulting Group. These findings are detailed in the research report Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point. The report details that sustainability is gaining ground: About twothirds of the nearly 3,000 executives surveyed from the commercial sector said sustainability was necessary to being competitive in today’s market. And nearly one-third said sustainability activities contributed to profitability.

Walmart’s competitors have not stood on the sidelines as the game played on. Some have been more aggressive than others. Tyler Elm was Walmart’s senior director of corporate strategy and business sustainability at the time the initiative was launched. Today, Tyler is one of the thought leaders of sustainability and is applying his talents as Vice President of Sustainability for Canadian Tire.

On the global scale the formidable Paris-based Consumers Goods Forum is flexing its muscles as sustainability is a cornerstone of their mandate. I served on the CGF committee that led to the publication of their Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability last fall. This initiative created the global language for packaging and sustainability. CEO Bill McEwan of Sobeys is the only Canadian company representative on the CGF international board of directors and Sobey’s sustainability initiative is well advanced and respected in the Canadian community.

Canada’s largest grocer, Loblaw, is aggressively engaged and publishes their sustainability reports annually. Loblaw can take credit for leading the plastic bag reduction initiative. Their 2010 CSR report claims a 73% national reduction in plastic shopping bags. Since 2007 they have reduced the number of plastic shopping bags used by 2.5 billion.

The Downstream Supply Chain Implications Many smart consumer packaged goods manufacturers have listened to their retailing customers and the almighty consumer. The usual big brand leaders have been driving the manufacturing sector sustainability agenda some of which include Coca Cola, Kraft, Nestle, P & G,

PepsiCo and Unilever. Many of these global leaders have been living sustainability for years; it is embedded in their culture and part of their DNA. But before Walmart announced sustainability to the world it was one pillar of the Corporate Social Responsibility report. Today it is the marquee headline of the report.

Many other manufacturers have taken a wait and see attitude while other naysayers just don’t believe in it.

Uneducated opportunists in their rush to win the hearts and minds of consumers have created mass confusion with false and or incorrect green claims. This strategy has likely had minimal results in increased sales and profitability. The wise green shoppers have quickly put it back on the shelf.

Ottawa-based TerraChoice (www.terrachoice.com) is a market researcher that updates the state of knowledge of environmental claims on home and family products. The Seven Sins of Greenwashing was first published in 2007.

The target of their study is to identify the false and misleading environmental claims that marketers make about their products. They want to discourage greenwashing while simultaneously encouraging greener product innovation and commercialization. In their 2010 report TerraChoice went to 24 retail stores and identified 4744 green products vs. 2739 in 2009, a whopping 73% increase.

Conversely there was a marginal improvement in sin-free products year over year as only 4.5% in 2010 vs. 2% in 2009 were sin-free products.

ers routinely or sometimes consider the environment when making a purchasing decision, they are influenced most by end-of-life messages. Cone reports that there is an opportunity for companies to reframe the discussion and educate consumers about what they’re doing to reduce a product’s impact across the supply chain. 73 percent of consumers want companies to provide more environmental information on the product packaging to help inform their shopping decisions. And 71% of consumers wish companies would do a better job helping them understand the environmental terms they use to talk about their products and services.

More than half of consumers continue to erroneously believe that common environmental marketing terms such as “green” or “environmentally friendly” mean a product has a positive (36%) or neutral (18%) impact on the environment. The messages consumers want most are those that are precise. When purchasing a product with an environmental benefit, consumers cited a symbol or certification (81%) and a message with specific data or outcomes (80%) as most influential in their decision to buy.

There is plenty of substantiated evidence that sustainability can lead to growth and profitability. Consumers want green products but this is a complex subject that requires a good understanding and is supported by precise claims. Avoid the trap of speed-to-market at the expense of product validation. So marketers, my final counsel is the name of the famous 60’s TV comedy, Get Smart!

So where does packaging fit into the sustainability agenda? Packaging historically has gone relatively unnoticed by consumers as a delivery system to get products to market and into their homes. Today with the sustainability discussion taking place in schools and at dinner tables the pressure is on to create more sustainable packages. James D Downham When consumers speak, politicians listen. Governments President & CEO are also looking for lower cost solutions to the high debt PAC – The Packaging Association incurred during the economic downturn.

Retailers and brand owners are faced with the demands of consumers to reGreat Learning Opportunity - Register Now! duce the amount of packaging while government is legislating “you make it, Sustainable you own it” policies. The cost of collecPackaging tion, recovery and disposition of packConference VI aging is over $1 billion in Canada or 3% of the cost of goods sold. This now has June 19, 2012 everyone’s attention.

Opportunities for Smart Marketers Let’s take a look at some relevant research that may provide the framework for aspiring marketers to reap the benefits of sustainability.

Next steps

Cone Communications (www.coneinc. com) position themselves as a public relations and marketing agency known for igniting brands with high-impact strategies. The recent 2012 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker presents the findings of an online survey by ORC International.

Sixty-nine percent of American consum-

To learn more about PAC, contact Lisa Abraham at 416.646.4640, labraham@pac.ca or Len Rudner at 416.644.3762, lrudner@pac.ca Follow us

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YOUR GATEWAY TO CANADA’S CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS COMPANIES From PDF

PRINT - WEB SITE - E-NEWSLETTERS - SPONSORED E-BLASTS - LEAD GENERATOR PROGRAMS In every issue, Canadian Packaging and EMBALLAGES, Les Nouvelles visit the most innnovative and productive consumer packaged goods companies in the country.

Let us help you to execute a multi-media campaign aimed at the people who buy packaging designs, materials, containers and machinery. Include your best sales message in your customers’ “required reading” on the packaging function.

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PRODUCT ID NOW

KEEPING IT REAL

Regulation and technology key tools in battle against fake drugs

BY FRANZ LUDWIG

C

ounterfeit pharmaceuticals are a major ongoing threat to patients and pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world alike. Not only do they result in reduced treatment efficacy and sometimes failure, but they also harm manufacturer reputations, reduce revenues, and lower return on investment (ROI) in research-and-development.

In fact, they are responsible for an estimated 2,000 deaths daily worldwide and represent an illicit “grey’ estimated at $205 billion—presenting a growing problem across Europe, North America, Japan and emerging markets.

Moreover, the problem is worsening. According to a recent directive from the European Union (EU), the number of counterfeit medicines seized at its outer border has tripled between 2006 and 2009 to reach approximately 7.5 million items—a figure that does not even include the patent issues involved.

More alarmingly, whereas the issue of counterfeit pharmaceuticals was previously primarily related to lifestyle medicines, nowadays there are a lot of innovative and life-saving drugs becoming falsified—with gravely dangerous implications for patients relying on these drugs to survive.

As the counterfeit drug problem continues to grow with widespread media attention, public confidence in public health systems, as well as in pharmaceutical brands is eroding. There is an urgent need to understand why and how the counterfeit drug market evolved, as well as for governments and pharmaceutical manufacturers to unite to implement programs that protect consumers.

Fortunately, there are many advances taking place in both regulations and track-and-trace technology that can yet prove to be effective solutions to combat this costly, and often deadly, challenge.

Counterfeit drugs have been plaguing the global pharmaceutical industry since the 1980s, with various factors contribution to the problem’s growth.

The unfolding forces of globalization have enabled many regional economies, societies, and cultures to have become much more integrated through modern-day communication, transportation and trade—making it far easier for counterfeiters to trade and transport falsified drugs.

Additionally, a series of economic crises if various part of the world has had a profound cumulative global effect of leading cash-strapped consumer to find more cost-effective pharmaceutical sources— creating the market demand that enabled counterfeiting in the healthcare industry to flourish.

The rise of the Internet has also facilitated the purchasing of counterfeit drugs—with over 50 per cent of all medicines purchased on the Internet from illegal websites that conceal their physical addresses found to be counterfeit.

However, counterfeit products increasingly find their way into the legal supply chain. Previously, online pharmacies were the main traditional targets, and being typically sold in small quantities to in-

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dividuals, the financial gains to counterfeiters were fairly limited.

Today, however, drug counterfeiters are switching their focus to pharmaceutical wholesalers supplying medicines worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, euros or dollars traded in a single transaction, causing much more widespread damage and public affliction.

Naturally, drug counterfeiting presents the greatest danger in regions with weak regulatory and enforcement systems, with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that one in four medicines sold in the street markets being counterfeit.

To address this issue, new EU Serialization standard to be introduced in 2014—followed by the new FDA/California Serialization standard in 2015—will be aimed at harmonizing product and package coding for pharmaceutical product—requiring manufacturers to implement more in-depth serialization systems.

As globalization has created more steps between production and consumption of pharmaceuticals, manufacturers have implemented various approaches to detect and prevent counterfeit products—often employing a combination of anti-tamper, serialization and authentication technologies to distinguish between real and counterfeit products, to creating several layers of security for original pharmaceutical producers.

Anti-tamper is the first step of such brand protection strategy, which can be achieved by designing packaging with features like perforated openings.

Serialization is the second layer of protection, relying on printing on each package a unique serial number that is recorded at production in a database, with any subsequent packs featuring the same serial number to be flagged down as suspect.

Finally, authentication serves as the third layer of protection with various new overt methods, such as visible holograms or color-shifting packaging; covert methods such as infrared and UV (ultraviolet) pigments and microtext that can be read with specialized equipment; and products using forensic authentication solutions such as molecular markers and biological tracers, which can be tested in laboratories.

Increasingly, track-and-trace is becoming a prominent means of serialization to help managers protect against counterfeiting and expiration throughout the supply chain. Its main advantage is the fact that it enables the serial number to be recorded at various points throughout the supply chain on a central server or on the product itself— facilitating the discovery of where counterfeit products have entered the supply chain. It also allows full traceability of products on a global basis.

These systems work by printing a unique identifying code onto each product after it has been packaged. Once the code is assigned, it is activated, validated and entered into a database, where it can be cross-checked against all serialized codes throughout the supply chain.

A newly-developed track-and-trace solution from Bosch Packaging Technology provides a compelling example, whereby the system uses a Carton Printing System (CPS) module, consisting of a printer and camera that automatically prints on each product.

To enable tracing of individual products, it prints a unique serial number and expiration date on each package, including a batch number and global trade item number (GTIN), with the system then encoding that data into machine-readable 2D (two-dimensional) data matrix code. (See Pictures) All the printed tracking data is automatically checked for accuracy by the camera, which reads and verifies each printed digit with the Optical Character Recognition and Verification (OCR/OCV) software that cross-checks the human-readable text with the 2D data matrix code within milliseconds, will all camera-read data stored in a central database for further tracking-and-tracing.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers can greatly benefit from such track-and-trace systems, which will provide them with documented proof of what has been produced at the item level, and allowing for full trackingand-tracing of the product after it exits the factory.

Moreover, the central database can also be modified to provide access to regulatory bodies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, or any other proper government health authorities.

While a precise count of the volume of counterfeit pharmaceuticals available in the world’s medicine cabinets does not exist, it is widely estimated that about one per cent of pharmaceutical consumed in the developed nations are counterfeit, with the number ranging anywhere from 10 to 50 per cent for the nations across the developing world.

By helping to improve global supply chain security, track-and-trace and other modern-day product identification technologies can provide a reassuring measure of protection, and a peace of mind, for both patients and pharmaceutical manufacturers alike.

Franz Ludwig is after-sales product manager with leading German-based packaging equipment manufacturer Bosch Packaging Technology. For more information, go to: www.boschpackagingservices.com

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BOTTLING

Robert Bérubé, President, Eau Limpide Inc.

A CLEAR PURPOSE

One-stop equipment shopping keeps things clear and simple for a Quebec water-bottler

BY PIERRE DESCHAMPS PHOTOS BY CYNTHIA PANOS

W

hile some 70 per cent of the Earth is indeed covered by water, roughly 97 per cent of that water is salienated in our oceans and not fit for human consumption.

While the remaining three per cent of the water is freshwater, about 69 per cent of that total is contained within the world’s glaciers and ice-caps.

While freshwater reserves are hardly evenly distributed around the globe, the Province of Quebec seems to have its glass more than half-full of oppportunistic advantage, as groundwater reserves, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife of the province, the reserve contains no less than 200,000 billion liters of freshwater in the inhabited area alone.

Formed in 1996, Eau Limpide Inc., of SaintSimon-de-Rimopuski, Que., also saw the potential and set up shop in a 5,000-square-foot facility to bottle the fresh mountain spring water from the Appalachian mountain range, containing a low salinity that offers consumers a clean, crisp and refreshing taste.

“We do not use any mechanical means to transport the fresh spring water to our facility,” states company president Robert Bérubé. “The spring is right here on-site, and it comes to the surface the old-fashioned way—on its own via gravity.”

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For the folks at the privately-owned Eau Limpide—whose company name translates from French to English as “Pure Water”—keeping things clean and simple are of paramount importance.

According to Bérubé, Eau Limpide’s bottled water contains a scant 90 parts per million (ppm) of mineral salts—an important consideration as fresh water is described as having less than 1,000-ppm of dissolved salts.

“Our bottled water is far and away under that,” says Bérubé. “It’s got a clean, crisp taste that has our customers clamoring for more.”

Larger Picture When Eau Limpide first began bottlingthe spring water, it concentrated on bottling the larger-sized jugs of water—the 11-liter and 18-liter varieties for its two brands, Limpide and Appalaches.

While the Eau Limpide brands were a popular water choice, overall growth for the company remained slow but steady.

“It was only two years ago that we felt confident enough to increase our market share and thus our production,” Bérubé told Canadian Packaging during a recent interview.

“We looked to produce smaller packs—to produce bottle sizes that would provide greater convenience for the purchasing public, who might simply just want a small bottle of our tasty water to carry with them down the street while walking,” he explains.

Expanding its water bottle options, Eau Limpide still went large—introducing a four-liter plastic jug, while also packaging its water in the more standard one-liter and 472-ml versions, which consumers could easily carry with them when on the go.

While the strategic decision to manufacture new sizes of an already existing product might seem like a no-brainer, it meant that Eau Limpide had to make a capital investment for a new filling line to handle the smaller-sized plastic bottles.

“Initially, the decision to invest in a new bottle filling line was something we wanted to run with quickly. We already had the product and our bottle supplier could easily supply us with all we required— so all we needed to move on was establishing the actual bottling line supplier,” Bérubé relates.

While it was true that there were many factors that played into the company’s choice of a bottle line equipment manufacturer, the decision was almost anti-climatic.

Bérubé says he wanted an equipment manufacturer that could easily provide after-sales support within the province of Quebec, thereby providing a quick response to its needs, while also ensuring that bottling line was robust and of high-quality.

For Eau Limpide, there was really only one choice—Capmatic Ltd., a North American manufacturing leader of liquid, tablet and powder packaging equipment, who just happens to have its global headquarters in Montreal.

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BOTTLING

The Eau Limpide bottle filling line consists of Capmatic’s robust Versafill filler, Superjolly capper and Labelstar labeling equipment.

“We knew all about Capmatic equipment,” states Bérubé. “Their reputation is well-established in the water-bottling market.”

Bérubé refers to Capmatic noting that in the 1990s, when the bottled water boom began, Capmatic saw a place to expand its bottling line equipment manufacturing capabilities within the province of Quebec.

“In the late 1990s and early 2000s, we were very active in the botled water market in Quebec,” recalls Capmatic’s director of international sales Christian Normandin. “We sold seven or eight botling lines then—many of them high-speed bottling lines.”

Normandin adds that Capmatic’s reputation in the field of bottling of water has not diminished in the interim, and has in fact grown, with the globallyoperating manufacturer having sold its machines in over 20 countries.

After evaluating the many equipment options presented to him by Capmatic, Bérubé opted for a filling line comprised of independent elements.

stability and capping accuracy.

“The Labelstar label applicator is perfect for bottling liquids in plastic containers,” says Normandin.

“It has a botles separator and a double belt to ensure a more accurate indexing. And, each machine also includes an intelligent ‘Photoshop’ that helps ensure a precise positioning of the label on the each bottle.”

Bérubé purchased a Labelstar System 1 machine, with one labeling head designed that applies a full label wrap around the bottle, using a motorized system that actually synchronizes the speed of the labeling head with the speed of the bottle on the production line.

“It’s been a great filling line for us,” extolls Bérubé. “It has been everything we expected and the service we have received from Capamatic has been fabulous—quick and efficient.”

Other equipment and material suppliers of Eau Limpide include: • Sempoac Canada Inc., of Boucherville, Que., supplier of the 18-liter polycarbonate and 11-liter water jugs; • Montreal’s Portola Packaging and Horizon Plastics of Saint-Lazare-de-Bellechasse, Que. both supplying bottles for the new Capmatic filling line; • Flexographic labels for the new line of water bottles are printed by Les Étiquettes Modernes J.F. Ltée of de Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Que.; • A shrinkwrapper manufactured by Saturn Packaging Equipment of St. Laurent, Que. According to Bérubé, ading this new Capmatic filling line caused Eau Limpide to redesign its production area.

“It has been a redesign of addition by subtraction. Adding the bottle line caused us to rethink the way we work, and ultimately the lean manufacturing improvements we implemented

Pick and Choose

(Above) The Superjolly continuous screw capper uses a pick-and-place system to accurately place bottle closures. (Below) A close-up view of plastic caps being applied by the Capmatic Superjolly capper.

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“Picking and choosing the best options from Capmatic, we gained a better understanding of the machinery but also how it could best work with us to give us the optimal fill rate for all three of the new water bottles sizes,” relates Bérubé.

In 2011, Capmatic installed three pieces of equipment in the Eau Limpide facility: a Versafill filler, Superjolly capper, and a LabelStar label applicator.

According to Capmatic, the Versafill automatic pressure filling machine for liquid, semi-viscous and foaming products is ideal for both long and short production runs.

Normandin says that the Versafill supplied to Eau Limpide contains 12 filling nozzles, which can, “depending on the three Eau Limpide bottle sizes, fill at speeds of up to 50 bottles per minute.”

The Versafill bottle filler comes standard with a recovery manifold that collects any water that might overflow during the filling process—ensuring the production area remains relatively dry and safe.

Says Bérubé: “It provides fill quantities ranging from five liters to as small as 20-ml, so this one filler easily handles our three new bottle sizes.”

Able to work with bottle diameters of 10-mm to 150-mm and heights between 20-mm and 350-mm, Bérubé is quite happy with the Capmatic Versafill.

For bottle-capping purposes, Eau Limpide chose Capmatic’s Superjolly inline continuous screw capper. Using Capmatic’s standard mechanical pick and place system, caps are positioned accurately to the Superjolly for capping as the filled water bottles are moved into place via a starwheel, which provides a higher level of

Eau Limpide uses a single-head Labelstar System 1 labeler to wrap labels around its new line of water bottles.

have allowed our overall productivity to improve.”

Following this stream of improvement, Eau Limpide continued to increase its annual sales, with an eventual goal of capturing a 10-percent share of bottled water market in its area.

“Right now, thanks to equipment like the Capmatic line, we are now better able to compete with the best bottled water manufactures,” sums up Bérubé. “But ultimately, the superb taste and very high quality of our fresh spring water will be our greatest selling point, so it is only a matter of time befor we reach our goals.

Pierre Deschamps is the editor of Emballages, a Frenchlanguage sister-publication of Canadian Packaging.

For More Information: Capmatic Ltd. Semopac Canada Inc. Portola Packaging Canada, Ltd. Horizon Plastics Modern Labels Ltd. Saturn Packaging Equipment

422 423 424 425 426 427

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COVER STORY

Penny Chapman, President, Chapman’s Ice Cream Limited

Ashley Chapman, Vice-President

THE CREAM ALWAYS RISES Canadian ice-cream icon literally rises from the ashes to regain its sweet top billing in grocery-store freezers ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR PHOTOS BY SANDRA STRANGEMORE

L

ife is often likened to ice cream, in a sense that it should be enjoyed before it melts away on you, but it would have taken an incredibly wide-eyed optimist to find any silver lining in wake of a devastating fire that laid waste to the family-owned Chapman’s Ice Cream Limited production facility back on Sept. 4, 2009.

Accidentally started by a welder’s torch, the raging inferno completely gutted both the structure and most of the production and packaging equipment housed inside the 85,000-square-foot factory located in Markdale, Ont., about a two-hour drive north of Toronto, throwing serious doubt on the future for Canada’s largest independent icecream producer and, at the time, the undisputed Number One seller of frozen yogurt products in the country.

Rise Up But just like with the mythical Phoenix rising from the ashes, the company’s long-nurtured sense of steely resolve and self-belief—combined with strong family values and a stoic sense of humor in face of adversity—more than made up for the fire’s tragic aftermath to pave the way for a remarkably speedy and exceptionally well-executed recovery.

Today, the Chapman’s brand name is once again a highly-regarded and well-trusted label for upscale, refined ice cream excellence among millions of Canadian ice-cream lovers won over long ago by the product’s outstanding taste profile, high quality and affordable pricing.

Originally expecting to be out of business for about 22 months, the Chapman’s operation was in

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fact up-and-running in a temporary shelter in just seven months, as Canadian Packaging magazine found out during a recent visit to the company’s new, bigger-and-better production complex spread out over about 500,000 square feet of space.

“While we ideally wanted to rebuild on the old site, the challenges of constructing a stateof-the-art facility with the same footprint were too great to overcome. This meant that we needed to build an entirely new ‘greenfield’ facility,” explains company vice-president Ashley Chapman, son of the husband-and-wife ownership duo of David and Penny Chapman.

“The only problem was that some employees figured we would be closed for a long time and tried to take vacations,” says Ashley, relating that the Chapman family made immediate plans to make sure that all of its employees would be looked after financially, at full pay rates, while the owners would try to get the business back on its feet.

“But because we quickly restarted production in a nearby dry facility we had completed only five weeks prior to the fire, we brought back many key personnel sooner than anticipated,” he recalls.

The Chapman’s story originally traces back to 1973, when David and Penny decided to pur-

chase a 100-year-old creamery in Markdale after having worked for various dairy companies in the Toronto area—learning first-hand about the icecream business and identifying many niche market opportunities that just seemed to go begging at the time.

“Back in the early 1970s, if you wanted ice cream you could get chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, the ‘exotic’ butterscotch ripple ice-cream f lavor... and that was pretty much it,” recalls Penny.

“But we came up with 20 new strange and wonderful f lavors that immediately caught the taste-buds of people, and soon we were on our way,” she says, adding that because the purchased creamery was already pre-zoned specifically for ice-cream production, the upstart firm was able to hit the ground running fairly quickly.

While the 2009 fire left little behind except for a few still-frozen buckets of ice cream lying around in a coldstorage facility, the Chapmans say they were quite grateful to other nearby ice-cream operators with spare production capacity for chipping in with third-party manufacturing help until the company could set up its own emergency manufacturing plant—using mostly pre-owned equipment purchased through an auction down in southern U.S. Considering the operation’s importance to the economic well-being of the To ensure optimal hygiene security, Chapman’s uses an Attec Food Type 23835 walk-through boot cleaner installed by Shawpak Systems.

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COVER STORY makes it feel closer to lard and can stick to the roof of the mouth.

Ditto for the frozen yogurt products manufactured by Chapman’s, which estimates to enjoy a dominant 80-precent share of the Canadian frozen yogurt market.

“Actually my mother (Penny) hates yogurt,” he confides, “so it was paramount for us to create a frozen yogurt that tasted like ice cream as much as possible.”

Adds Penny: “I still hate yogurt, but our Frozen Yogurt is a really tasty product.”

Along with continuous product innovation carried out daily at the plant’s R&D department, the Chapman’s facility naturally takes well-deserved pride in its strictly-followed product quality and safety regimen and procedures.

Quality First A carton of Chapman’s ice cream cups passes through an Alpha Checkweigher and a Mettler-Toledo Safeline PowerPhase PRO metal detection unit, with both units supplied and installed by Shawpak Systems.

village of Markdale—in 2009 employing 350 people out of a population of 1,400 residents— the company’s dramatic rise from the dead at a brand new production complex located just a few blocks away from the original factory—housing a new 165,000-square-foot central production plant designated as a peanut and nut-free manufacturing facility; a separate 50,000-square-foot plant for producing ice-treats containing nuts; administration offices; a 18,000-square-foot nut warehouse; and a 150,000-square-foot distribution center just down the highway—can hardly be overstated.

People Power Today employing nearly 500 people, with room to accommodate up to 650 employees during the busy peak seasons, the present-day Chapman’s Ice Cream operation was designed to meet whatever production, regulatory or other challenges the future holds, according to Chapman’s, which also operates a 100,000-square-foot support warehouse to store packaging and ingredients to keep the production lines running.

Naturally, that included being able to overcome any fire-related emergencies, which was effectively addressed with construction of the company’s own self-contained water reservoir and pump house, according to Ashley Chapman.

“Of course that wasn’t too much of a surprise,” he remarks, “but even before the fire, because of our size we didn’t want to put too much pressure on Markdale’s fairly limited resources, so we became the first ice-cream company in Ontario to have our own wastewater treatment plant.”

Also slated for this coming spring is a new state-of-the-art reverse osmosis system that allow Chapman’s to reuse 100 per cent of its production wastewater in rooftop condensers.

The new Chapman’s digs also include a separate freezer area, a designated CIP (clean-in-place) room, a product testing lab, and a well-staffed R&D (research-and-development) room.

Nowadays comprising well over 100 different SKUs (stock-keeping units), Chapman’s diverse f lagship brand product portfolio includes many stalwart bestsellers such as Original Ice Cream, Premium Ice Cream, Premium Canadian Collection, Frozen Yogurt, Frozen Yogurt Bars, Yogurt Plus and Sorbet—along with the more recently-introduced Lactose Free/No Sugar Added

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ice-cream recipes, and various individually-packed novelty products such as Li’l Lollies, Sandwiches, Rockets, Cones and other popular froze treats marketed at most major grocery chains and independent grocery stores across Canada coast-to-coast.

“There are over 100 SKUs for our brands alone, but we also turn out roughly the same number for our private-label customers too,” states Ashley, saying the private-label market accounts for about 40 per cent of the company’s total revenues, with major national grocers like Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys among some of its bigger private-label accounts.

Asked to explain the popularity and brand loyalty for Chapman’s products among Canadian consumers, Ashley cites unrivaled taste, texture, high aesthetics appeal of both the product and the highgraphics packaging, consistent quality, competitive pricing and, last but not least, artisan-like authenticity of the final product.

“One of the key things to keep in mind is that we make real ice cream,” asserts Ashley.

“To be legally considered ice cream in Canada, the product must have a minimum of 10-percent butterfat,” he says, explaining the importance of getting the butterfat content balance just right: too little makes the product taste too icy; too much

“We do full quality testing in our lab on every batch of ice cream product we produce,” says Ashley, citing the plant’s internationally-recognized SQF certification of the Safe Quality Food Institute; the A-grade and ‘zero non-conformances’ BRC certification of the British Retail Consortium, recently achieved with the assistance and training of GCP Consulting; and full compliance with all the allergen audits administered by the Guelph Food Technology Centre (GFTC).

To ensure highly hygienic production environment throughout the plant, Chapman’s worked with the renowned Canadian food inspection and packaging systems distributor and integrator Shawpak Systems Ltd. of Oakville, Ont., which supplied the plant with top-of-the-line, hygiene equipment manufactured by Attec Food Technology, which is designed to eliminate any possible contaminants being carried by plant personnel into the production area.

Donning proper hairnets, bump caps, lab coats, production pants and steel-toed boots, all Chapman’s plant employees first move through the Attec Type 23741 soap dispenser, outfitted with a special sensor to confirm that any person entering the facility soaps their hands first.

After a sensor detects the presence of both hands placed into the soap dispenser at the same time, a dollop of P3-manosoft soap, supplied by Ecolab, is dispensed onto each hand, after which a motorContinues on page 20

Frozen yogurt products packed in colorful cartons converted by Boehmer Box, a division of CANAMPAC, enter an Arpac 708 E-27 SS shrinkwrapper to be bundled in six-packs for easier palletizing and transport.

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COVER STORY THE CREAM ALWAYS RISES Continued from page 19

driven turnstile automatically unlocks to allow the employee to pass to the next area.

The staff must then enter a Type 23835 walkthrough bootcleaning machine— boasting stainless-steel construction to resist rust corrosion and bacteria growth—which One of 16 Videojet 1610 small-character inkjet coders used by Chapman’s.

SCHNEIDER PACKAGING EQUIPMENT IS NUMBER ONE IN PACKAGING IN NORTH AMERICA FOR FANUC

ROBOTICS ROBOT ICS

turns on automatically when an employee places each booted leg into a separate laneway and walks through holding onto handrails, while the cleaner’s multiple spinning brushes scrub water and detergent over the boots in a carwash-like motion.

Ashley notes that all workers upon exiting the production area are required to pass through a second Type 23835 walk-through boot-cleaner.

After the initial boot cleaning is complete, employees again place their hands within a second Type 23741 disinfectant dispenser before being allowed a turnstile entrance to the massive production facility boasting “enough mixing capacity to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools,” according to Ashley.

Housing a total 16 individual production lines, the plant’s manufacturing and packaging area is equipped with a diverse assortment of high-performance filling equipment, including: • Four TD Sawvel fillers; • Three Norse Dairy Systems fillers for sandwich products; • One filler from Modern Packaging Line; • One WCB Anderson hot-melt carton filler, which Ashley says is run at a rate of 1,400 gallons per hour, • Six Hoyer Addus FF fillers from Tetra Pak, which are highspeed ingredient feeders designed to ensure continuous, accurate injection of free-f lowing granulates for uniform distribution of ingredients within the ice-cream product.

• Another Hoyer Addus FF located in the R&D lab, along with a Frigus KF freezer designed to ensure low temperature variance for optimal product stability.

According to Ashley, all the production area equipment is thoroughly cleaned on a daily basis with Ecolab’s Foam Force LP solution—a selffoaming, chlorinated alkaline detergent formulated specifically for the stainless-steel processing equipment widely employed in the dairy industry.

CARTONING CASE PACKING ROBOTIC PALLETIZING END OF LINE INTEGRATION

S IN CA FO N O QR N C SC O HN DE EI FO DE R R

Flexible, rapid ROI, and ready for the future.

We put our reputation on the line with yours.SM A WCB Anderson hot-melt ice cream carton filler employs an Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 1250 terminal to monitor, control and display filling rates.

P.O. Box 890 | 5370 Guy Young Road | Brewerton, NY 13029 FOR MORE INFORMATION CIRCLE 112

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315.676.3035 | fax 315.676.2875 info@schneiderequip.com | www.schneiderequip.com

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COVER STORY After the product is filled and sealed in its designated primary packaging, it passes through one of 16 model 1610 small-character inkjet printers from Videojet Technologies to have highquality best-before date, lot number and any other required variable product information applied in crisp, legible lines of print.

“We love these Videojet coders,” says Ashley.

“Not only do they perform well in our environment, but we also get great customer service from Videojet.”

The product is next checked for weight by an Alpha Checkweigher, before moving through one of several Mettler-Toledo Safeline Power Phase PRO metal detection units—both machines supplied by Shawpak Systems—before being moved up into a giant spiral tunnel freezer manufactured by Scanima, a division of Tetra Pak.

A plant employee uses a M.J. Mallis/Wulftec WSML-200-S semiautomatic vertical stretchwrapper to secure a load of product for safe shipment to customer.

in large type right on its retail packaging, and exclusively using 100-percent Canadian milk in its production, Ashley says he is often frustrated by federal labeling regulations that do not allow the company to label its ice Continues on page 22

Freeze Frame “Measuring 75-feet-long, 33-feetwide and 28-feet-high, this is one of the largest spiral freezers in North America,” extols Ashley.

“And it’s fast too, which is important because the quicker you freeze it, the better the ice cream,” he says, noting that whereas the freezer system employed at the old plant took between 10 to 14 hours to freeze a standard two-liter carton of ice cream, the new freezer—capable of quickly reaching a core temperature of -18°C—takes only two hours from start to finish.

“The quicker freeze makes a smaller ice crystal,” explains Ashley, “which allows us to produce a creamier and smoother ice-cream product.”

The freezer unit keeps track of the order of various ice cream products that enter it, and after the freezing process the products move down a second spiral conveyor and are automatically separated by product type onto individual conveyor systems for further upstream packaging, including shrinkwrapping via one of 16 model 708 E-27 SS shrinkwrappers from Arpac Group and stretchwrapping of manually palleted loads on one of four model WSML–200-S semi-automatic vertical stretchwrappers manufactured

by M.J. Mallis/Wulftec.

Despite explicitly spelling out itself as a proud Canadian company Continues on page 22

A Tetra Pak Hoyer Rollo RM rotary machine employs Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 1250 terminal to ensure optimal control over the plant’s Lolly line.

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COVER STORY

(Above) Wooden sticks to hold the Lolly product are supplied by John Lewis Industries and added via a Lembke stick insertion system. (Left) Powered by a NORD Gear motor, a Festo MS-D series air preparation filter and regulator removes moisture from the surface of the Tetra Hoyer Rollo RM Lolly processing equipment.

THE CREAM ALWAYS RISES Continued from page 21

cream as “product of Canada.”

Tracing to a 2008 regulation declaring that any designated “product of Canada” must contain 98-percent made-in-Canada ingredients, the regulation is a sticky point with Ashley, who has no choice but to use imported simple ingredients like cocoa, sugar, vanilla because they are simply not available as Canadian-made products.

“It’s ridiculous: Why penalize anyone if there is no Canadian alternative?

“Not only do we use 100-percent Canadian dairy product,” he reasons, “but at every single opportunity we will utilize Canadian ingredients if posAlpha Checkweigher equipment provides fast, accurate weight control for all Chapman’s products.

A SEW-Eurodrive motor powers a conveyor system moving cartons of product into an Arpac 708 E-27 SS shrinkwrapper.

sible, doing so even at a higher cost if necessary.

“Hence we definitely think of ourselves as a Canadian company, even though our ice cream cannot be officially called a product of Canada,” Ashley ref lects.

But in the context of the extraordinary adversity that Chapman’s has so convincingly overcome in the last couple of years, Ashley prefers to keep such things in proper large-picture perspective.

“At the end of the day, what matters most to all of us here at Chapman’s is the knowledge that we have created the best possible ice-cream product we can and that people really enjoy eating what we make,” says Ashley.

“Even with the fire nearly putting us out of business, we always knew that it would only ultimately make us stronger and better,” he concludes. “We’re here to stay.”

For More Information:

A close-up of a Videojet 1610 small-character inkjet coder applying best-before dates and batch number data onto a passing carton of Chapman’s Lolly treats.

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Boehmer Box, a division of CANAMPAC Shawpak Systems Ltd. Canada Ecolab Inc. TD Sawvel Co. Inc. Norse Dairy Systems Tetra Pak Canada Inc. Videojet Technologies Inc. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. Arpac Group M.J. Mallis/Wulftec Lembke GmbH John Lewis Industries Alpha Checkweighers, div. of All-Fill Inc. Rockwell Automation, Inc. Nord Gear Ltd. SEW Eurodrive Co. of Canada Festo Inc.

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CASE-READY PACKAGING

POULTRY IN MOTION

A new packaging line helps take poultry processor from frozen to fresh success ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR PHOTOS BY PIERRE LONGTIN

K

eeping things cool has always come naturally to Central Bernard Inc. as part of the job.

Located in the Lachine area of Montreal, the 50-year-old poultry processor offers a high-quality air-chilled fresh poultry line of products designed to cater to the needs of the most quality-demanding customers through its f lagship Continental Grill retail brand, a no-name generic brand, and various value-added private label formats.

Despite the company’s current success in providing superior quality fresh chicken cuts, it wasn’t quite the vision its founder Theodore Dedes had planned back in 1962.

“My father founded Central Bernard on Bernard Street in Montreal as a small butcher shop,” company president Billy Dedes told Canadian Packaging magazine in a recent interview. “He was a testament to the notion that hard work, quality meats and fair pricing was a great way to grow a business.”

After establishing a promising customer base, Central Bernard eventually began servicing restaurants and wholesale customers with poultry, beef, pork and other meats, before narrowing its focus to just poultry processing and packaging for the retail market.

On the Move After four expansions and three moves, Central Bernard nowadays supplies poultry-based product to most major retail food chains in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

“Even with the shift in meat product offered and growth of the business, Central Bernard has always maintained our father’s reputation by providing our customers with the highest-quality at the best possible price, and we have built on that with our uncompromising and personalzed customer service,” notes Billy, who along with his brother and vice-president of operations, George, have literally grown up in the meat industry.

George Dedes, Vice-President

Billy Dedes, President, Central Bernard Inc.

Situated within a state-of-the-art 50,000-squarefoot HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)-certified facility since December of 2003, Central Bernard runs a one-shift, five-days-perweek schedule for 130 employees who help process some 150,000 kilograms of poultry each week in many varied tray-pack sizes.

“Our plant is designed to efficiently process more than 45,000 kilos of tray-packed product in one shift,” says Billy. “This plant is among the top-producing value-added poultry processing plants in Canada.”

The temperature-controlled plant environment is ideally suited for the safe manipulation of poultry products, according to the Dedes brothers.

“Our facility houses a full-time inspector from the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) and meets or exceeds all food safety protocols and standards,” says Billy, adding that all third-party audits performed by main customers regularily confirm

Danny Sedra, Operations Director

the impeccable quality of the plant’s environment.

With food safety a key issue for the food processor, Central Bernard is also currently working towards a GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) certification for SQF (Safe Quality Food) approval.

Because Central Bernard is a federally-approved poultry processing plant, all products coming in and going out are logged, monitored and tested.

“We ensure that everything—from the initial visual product inspection, the measuring of bacteria counts and the growing of cultures, to the inspection of the outgoing product—is continually monitored,” states Billy.

“Staff training is always an ongoing process, since the importance of hygiene and proper meat handling procedures must always be promoted.”

A few years after moving into its current digs, Central Bernard held discussions with Sobeys Inc., Canada’s second-largest food retailer, who was look-

Filled with fresh chicken portions, foam trays manufactured by Cascades have shrinkwrap film applied to them by an Ossid 500E leak-resistant overwrapper (left) before moving to the end of the line, where an Ossid End Seal Shrink hot-air shrinkwrap tunnel produces a neat, tightly-wrapped package at speeds of up to 60 packs per minute.

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CASE-READY PACKAGING

Workers place portions of chicken onto the Cascadesmanufactured foam tray as the product moves towards Central Bernard’s four packaging lines.

ing for a reliable supplier of fresh poultry packed in trays with a leak-resistant overwrap.

George explains: “Sobeys wanted each individually-wrapped tray to have a label containing pertinent data such as the product weight, price, barcode, sell-by date and other information.

“The only problem was that until this request, Central Bernard did not possess that leak-resistent overwrap capability.”

But being a customer-driven company quickly took care of that shortcoming, Billy recalls.

“It is always paramount to remain f lexible to meet the individual and changing needs of all our clients,” he says, explaining a 2008 addition of a new packaging line within a completely refrigerated processing area.

“Up until that time, our chief business was private-label and generic poultry packaging in both fresh and frozen segments,” says operations director Danny Sedra.

“But thanks to the orders from Sobeys growing larger, and an increase in private-label customers, we got a bit bold.”

Sedra says that after looking at the facility’s f loor space usage and the production line equipment, while evaluating where future growth might be expected to come from, Central Bernard opted to get out of the frozen-poultry business altogether to concentrate solely on the fresh product side.

Says Sedra: “After we sold our state-of-the-art individual-quick-frozen (IQF) poultry packaging equipment, we added another fresh poultry line with similar equipment and capabilities—featuring another Ossid 500E leak resistant overwrapper and an Ossid 1500 Series weigh-price labeler.”

New Start This new line consists of a station where fresh chicken parts are placed onto a conveyor, which moves them to a loading area where workers hand-place the meat onto foam trays.

The loaded trays move through an Ossid 500E leak-resistant overwrapper for a film application and heatshrink sealing. An Ossid 1500 Series weigh-price labeler then applies a label to each tray pack before it is case-packed, palletized, and shipped to Central Bernard’s customers.

According to George, Central Bernard’s workers had the system figured out within a week of operation, running the production at its top speed of 60 packs per minute.

“It was fantastic,” exclaims George.

“This new line was running at twice the speed of the other lines we had at our plant at that time—lines that were also sometimes prone to hardware and software issues.

“But the new Ossid line provides real-time information directly to the supervisor’s computer,” points out George. “That was a big positive change, as previously the supervisors had to go out to the f loor to get line status information.”

Because the new line and the business with Sobeys proved to be highly successful, further changes followed.

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Multiple heavy-duty Nord Gear motors power the conveyor systems on Central Bernard’s four production lines.

The plant’s two independant processing and deboning lines and four counter-ready fresh traypack lines are all linked with an elaborate fullautomatic conveyor system.

“Skinning machines start the process by rapidly removing the skin from the meat, allowing our team of 60 or more employees to begin the paring Continues on page 26

CASE-READY PACKAGING

A Fortress Technology Phantom metal detection unit quickly scans tray-packs of highquality fresh chicken for contaminants and other foreign objects.

POULTRY IN MOTION Continued from page 25

or deboning process within seconds,” relates Billy.

“The conveyor system moves the value-added product in one direction, while the discarded remains move in the other direction to be collected for further-processing outside our facility.”

Set up to meet the specifications of Central Bernard’s customer’s needs, the boneless chicken products are then bulk or tray-packed accordingly using a MAP (modified-atmosphere packaging) system.

After weighing and labeling, the product is casepacked, palletized and shipped out to the customer.

“At Sobeys, the foam trays are taken directly from the shipping cases and placed onto the retail shelves,” says Billy.

The four packaging lines—each running at 60 packs per minute—consist of two Ossid 500E and two Ulma Galaxy tray-packing machines that were all purchased within the past three years.

According to Ossid, a division of Pro Mach Inc., the leak-resistant 500E overwrapper helps the customer save money by using between 36 to 41 per cent less film than most standard overwrap packaging machines.

One of four 9030 IP65 small-character inkjet coders manufactured by Markem-Imaje applying best-before date and batch number data to all packs of chicken leaving the facility.

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Central Bernard uses two Ulma Galaxy automatic stretch film wrappers supplied by Heat Sealing Packaging to achieve superior leak-resistant packaging for its fresh products.

The stainless-steel 500E uses a vacuum and stretching system of a positive package air removal to help create a perfectly stretched overwrap finish around the foam trays manufactured by Cascades Inc., to create tightly-wrapped, leak-resistant, end-sealed case ready packages.

“These features help ensure a f lawless end product for our chicken products,” exclaims Billy. “We have been very satisfied with the performance of our two Ossid machines.”

Able to store up to 50 different tray programs, the 500E enables operators to perform a changeover in less than two minutes, while servo-driven technology and microprocessors provide a notable reduction in downtime and maintenance.

Final Stretch The Ulma Galaxy, manufactured by Ulma Packaging, LLC, an automatic stretch film wrapper designed for fresh product packaged in preformed trays, also gets top marks from the Dedes brothers.

“Easy to use, easy to clean, and great-looking results. Our two Galaxy’s have been strong performers for us,” says Billy while also complimenting Cryovac, a division of Sealed Air, supplying film for the Ossid 500E machines and Linpac Ropak film for the Ulma Galaxy equipment.

Along with the tray packing, the company still offers a high volume of bulk-bagging services to its customers, operating four M-Tek Inc. gas-f lush machines, running with film bags supplied by Transco Plastic.

Other equipment used by Central Bernard, includes: • Two Ossid 1500 Series and two Bizerba GLMI 150 weigh-price labelers; • Four metal detection units, including two GLS 450/200 Genius+ from S+S Inspection; one Ceia THS purchased through Technopak Advanced Packaging Systems; and one Phantom system manufactured by Fortress Technology; • Four Markem-Imaje 9030 IP65 small-character continuous inkjet printers to add lot numbers, bestbefore dates and chicken handling instructions; • A Fox Packaging Services stretchwrapper; • Corrugated cartons supplied by Paramount Paper, Multi-Services GSTJ Inc. and Unibeauce Inc. “While we still do a lot of bulk format packaging, many of our retail customers have moved to a prepackaged, counter-ready and/or value-added product,” says Billy, explaining a market trend driving the way Central Bernard does business today.

Along with the company’s long-standing efforts to always provide an affordable, quality product, Central Bernard’s current processing plant is also

a testament to its key desire to operate in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner by improving its processes to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

“This is achieved through the integration within our production facility of water and energy saving equipment, high-performance waste management techniques, and the progressive elimination of CFC (chlorof luorocarbon) usage,” explains Billy.

“Our willingness to reduce the carbon footprint of our facility has led us to invest heavily in a heat recovery system that recovers the energy generated by the compressors of our refrigeration equipment to heat the water that is used to wash down the plant on a daily basis.”

Other ‘green’ options for Central Bernard customers include include packaging used to reduce the environmental impact.

“We also made a conscientious decision to move away from waxed corrugated cartons to a fullyrecyclable wax substitute carton to better serve our customers,” says Billy.

“It’s also why we are continually on the lookout for the best packaging equipment technologies on the market to provide the best solutions to meet customer needs,” sums up Billy.

“Even far into the future, our goal will always be as it has been from Day One: to build long-term customer relations based on our ability to process and supply the highest quality, value-added poultry products to our customers in a cost-efficient manner, while always exceeding customer expectations in terms of quality, food safety and service.

“For us, it’s the only way to be a successful business.”

For More Information: Ossid Pro Mach Inc. Ulma Packaging LLC Cryovac, a div. of Sealed Air Corp.

Cascades Inc. Linpac Ropak M-Tek Inc. Transco Plastic Industries Bizerba Canada Inc. S+S Inspection Inc. Ceia SpA Technopak Advanced Packaging Systems Fortres Technology Inc. Markem-Imaje Inc. Fox Packaging Services Heat Sealing Packaging Nord Gear Ltd.

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PACKAGING FOR SHELF-LIFE

REDDI TO RUMBLE New meat processor makes a splash with cutting-edge thermoforming

The Multivac R175 CD thermoformer used by Reddi Food is designed to create DARFRESH vacum skin-packs that provide leak-proof seals and extended product shelf-life.

ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR PHOTOS BY IAN JACKSON

I

t’s not easy to start up a new business when the economic market is in a downturn, especially in the established, world-renowned Alberta beef industry, where there is never a shortage of existing fierce competition. But Reddi Food Solutions Inc. has done just that, quickly beginning to carve out a name for itself in a tough market with razor-thin margins.

Located 33 kilometers south of Edmonton in Leduc, Alta., Reddi Food and its 18 employees process and pack fresh and frozen meat products such as beef, pork, chicken, lamb and veal for private-label and no-name brands to serve customers in the retail and foodservice sectors.

“Right now we have a fairly even split on our business,” Reddi Food president Wayne Porterfield told Canadian Packaging during a recent interview. “I would say that we have a 50-50 split processing fresh versus frozen meats products, which are distributed evenly between our retail and food service customers.”

Situated in beef country, Reddi Food’s output consists of 70 per cent beef, with the pork, lamb and veal portions making up the remainder.

Housed within a leased 6,000-square-foot refrigerated facility with the capacity to process approximately 30,000 kilograms of value-added products per week, Porterfield says the company’s location traces back to a unique business opportunity.

“The facility was originally conceived of as a research and product development center by the Alberta provincial government,” Porterfield recalls.

“But in 2007, the government decided to increase the facility’s use and expanded the building to create a business incubation section that allows start-up companies like ourselves to lease refrigerated floorspace and grow for a period of three to four years.”

Known as the Agrivalue Processing Business

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Incubator (APBI), the facility is more than just a multi-tenant building. While it does provide the infrastructure, the APBI also offers ample support to help new companies grow more rapidly.

At the end of a contract, the APBI hopes to have each company succeed and move out into its own manufacturing facility.

Porterfield says that Reddi Food moved into the APBI in August of 2011 and began its operations in October. “The facility is second-to-none, as far

support, cleanliness and design goes. I’ve been in many other facilities over the years and none measure up to this one.

“It is CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)registered, which allows us to ship interprovincially as well as internationally,” he says, adding that the facility also has on-site support staff including: meat scientists, quality assurance, business finance, maintenance and much more.

Continues on page 28

Kevin Fehr, Vice-President Sales & Marketing

Wayne Porterfield, President, Reddi Food Solutions Inc.

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PACKAGING FOR SHELF-LIFE

Reddi Food’s Multivac R175 CD DARFRESH thermoformer uses clear high-quality film supplied by Curwood to produce highly hygenic vacuum-skin packs.

Vacuum-sealed pouches of select Reddi Food boneless beef cuts are quickly conveyed through a Bizerba metal detection system to ensure optimal product safety.

REDDI TO RUMBLE Continued from page 27

“We are HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points)-certified which helps to ensure our products are best-in-class with respect to food safety.”

While acknowledging that Reddi Foods is a newcomer to the processed meats sector, Porterfield and his senior staff possess a combined 140 yearsplus experience in the industry, and have already garnered 23 customers.

The meat processor is currently serving customers in the retail and foodservice industry within Western Canada, but Porterfield says it has plans to market its products and services throughout Canada and internationally.

“We are also a Halal-certified company,” he adds. “We are certainly seeing a growing demand for Halal products, and we predict this trend will continue for many years to come.

Porterfield notes. “And, with initial projections of sales approaching $2 million for Year One, in five years time we would like to see our sales pushing $50 million, and operating our own building.”

While some might consider Porterfield’s statement to be a lofty dream, Reddi Food is attempting to position itself to make it reality, as it continues to significantly grow its market share.

“It’s all about the pennies,” says Porterfield. “The meat-procesing and packing segment is a very tough business, and a lot of our measures are to the one-hundreth of a penny based on a per-kilogram of product.

“That’s why we need to do it right the first time to maximize our potential.”

Porterfield acknowledges that because it is still a new company, started a mere six months ago, establishing peaks and valleys in terms of its own production is difficult at best, but he says the company experienced a large growth spurt in March, and based on customer orders, sees more

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PACKAGING FOR SHELF-LIFE

After passing through a metal detection unit, a Reddi Food employee hand-packs product A worker reaches for an adhesive-backed label, printed by a Bizerba GLP box labeler, to into a corrugated carton manufactured by Norampac, a division of Cascades Inc. apply to a passing carton of meat products headed for shipping.

of the same in April and May. With business continuing to look up, customers are increasing their orders for the 100-plus SKUs (stockkeeping units) Reddi Food is currently producing.

“Of course what really helps is that we also have some very capable equipment to help our production line easily handle the requst of our customers,” says Porterfield.

Porterfield says his many years of experience in the industry means he realizes that how a packaged product looks and performs is equally as important to the customer, as well as the consumer.

To that effect, the company looked for a thermoformer meat packaging machine that could perform multiple functions and grow with the company.

“The choice wasn’t too difficult for us,” muses Porterfield. “We chose a Multivac.”

Described as compact and powerful, the Multivac R 175 CD is a thermoformer designed for small- to medium-sized batches, which creates the state-of-the-art DARFRESH vacuum skin packaging (VSP) using special films to envelope the product and seal over the entire surface of the pack like a second skin to preserve its shape, texture and product integrity for a high-quality look on the store shelves.

“Our new Multivac DARFRESH system has been working great for us and our customers,” Porterfield enthuses.

“The DARFRESH packaging machine makes a vacuum-tight retail pack that gives the fresh meat products a longer shelf-life,” he says. “As well, we are able to produce a package that is very appealing to the consumer visually.”

While the actual DARFRESH process is not exactly a new technology—Multivac and Cryovac, a division of Sealed Air Corporation Continues on page 30

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PACKAGING FOR SHELF-LIFE REDDI TO RUMBLE Continued from page 29

first developed it some 20 years ago, it is still a young concept in North America’s meat business.

The DARFRESH VSP process begins with the chamber being evacuated of air while the top film web is drawn up to the ceiling of the dome, using the heat from there to gently wrap itself over every contour of the product.

The top web is then heat-sealed to the bottom web to create a hygienic and visually appealing pack that customers like Reddi Food demand.

While the meat processor generally runs the Multivac R 175 CD at around six cycles per minute, he is quite pleased with the results.

“Our customers like it,” exclaims Porterfield.

“While the skin provides a leak-free pack, it is also easy for the consumer to open, with an easypeel corner.

“And with such tight skin surrounding the meat—and the air removed via vacuum—the Multivac gives us a package that guarantees a long shelf-life.”

Along with a hygienically secure pack, the durable Multivac R 175 CD is also a highly hygienic system—built from stainless steel featuring its patented hygienic chain guide design, lift units, motors, valves and cabling. The thermoformer is also constructed with smooth sloping surfaces without the pitfalls of recesses, corners or sharp edges, making daily clean-ups easy to perform properly.

Says Porterfield: “It really is easy to clean.

The interior of the Multivac and all of its parts are fully accessible thanks to the easyopen side panels so we can clean all of the parts of the machine thoroughly.”

The Multivac R 175 CD also features: full operator safety systems; a simple-to-use 7.4inch color touchscreen control panel; a production data acquisition and storage memory for up to 200 recipes; technologically advanced electric lifting systems; and Among its many products, Reddi Food packages seasoned beef patties (left) in a lidded full f lexibility in the use tray, and veal cutlets and lamb loin chops in vacuum skin-packs placed in black trays. of cutting systems, packaging formats and materials. the Reddi Food meat products.

“The results we have achieved from the R 175 “We offer a black tray and a white tray, but really CD have been fantastic,” says Porterfield. “When the color is just a customer preference. These barwe have enough business, and the one we have rier trays are used in conjunction with oxygen and is at capacity, I could see us purchasing another carbon-dioxide gases in each package to suppress machine from Multivac.” bacteria growth and maintain the beautiful red Porterfield says that after sampling films from a color of the product,” explains Porterfield. few companies, Reddi Food is now running with While the black-lidded trays are being used film manufactured by Curwood, a part of the by the Multivac thermoformer, Porterf ield says Bemis Company, as it that Reddi Meats has begun testing the whiteprovides what he conlidded tray packs on a Ross A10 tray sealer from siders the optimal results Reiser Canada. for his needs.

Porterfield says he has been quite impressed with Bizerba is another the results from the Resier A10, but as a new comequipment manufacpany, he is waiting for customer orders to catch up turer Reddi Food has to capacity before adding more jobs to its sked. chosen for its reliabilHe adds that the company is also in the process ity, says Porterfield of purchasing two more pieces of equipment from noting that he has a Reiser: a Vemag HP15 vacuum filler and a GB240 GLS metal detection portioner for ground products—equipment that unit and a GLP box Reiser has allowed Reddi Food to test in its prolabeler, and is currently cessing plant for the past four months. looking to purchase a Despite being a new player in the meat processing GLMI price labeler. market, Reddi Food already has a very mature out“The GLP labeler look in the way it conducts its day-to-day business. is easy to use,” notes “Yes, we have financial targets to meet, but our Porterfield saying that daily focus is on quality, food safety and service Reddi Food uses it to levels,” he notes naming “zero product defects” as add product data like the main target, along with service levels measured weight, barcodes, bestby on-time delivery and order fill rates. before dates, product “For us, shelf-life and eye appeal are very importname and more. ant aspects of our products,” sums up Porterfield.

“It takes seconds to “But just because we are a young company now, it add a new roll of labels, doesn’t mean we can’t act in a mature manner. and because no tools are “We have an excellent starting ground to prove required for set-up and ourselves with this government-leased facility, maintenance, our overand we have state-of-the-art equipment like the all costs are reduced.

Bizerba, Reiser and Multivac machines.

Cryovac has been sup“And, along with providing high-quality cuts of plying the bags, trays meats in great packaging, Reddi Food is ready to and Lid 1050 lidstock for succeed.”

For More Information: Multivac Canada Cryovac, a div. of Sealed Air Corporation Curwood, a div. of Bemis Company, Inc. Bizerba Canada Inc. Reiser Canada Norampac, a div. of Cascades Inc.

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CANADIAN PACKAGING • APRIL 2012

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NOTES & QUOTES

Officials from Motoman Robotics and HACC cut the ribbon at last month’s MERIT center opening ceremony.

 Motoman Robotics, Dayton, Ohio-based subsidiary of industrial automation technologies group Yaskawa America, Inc., has officially opened up the company’s new MERIT (Motoman Endorsed Robotics Instructor Training) center at the Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) in Harrisburg, Pa., as part of the school’s launch of specialized training programs in the industrial robotics field, comprising basic programming, advanced programming and maintenance courses. “We are very excited about collaborating with Harrisburg Area Community College and manufacturers in eastern Pennsylvania,” says Doug Schenher, vice-president of Motoman Robotics’ customer satisfaction group. “We view HACC as an extension of our Motoman training department. With an installed base of over 1,000 robots in this area, this is a significant win for the regional workforce and manufacturers, because increasing the skills of the workforce in the areas of robotics and advanced manufacturing enables companies to achieve new levels of productivity and profitability.”

 Mason, Mich.-based Dart Container Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lake Forest, Ill.-headquartered foodservice takeout packaging producer Solo Cup Company for approximately US$1 billion. “Our acquisition of Solo will allow us to provide even greater value to our customers in the future,” says Dart Container chief executive officer Robert Dart, adding the transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of this year pending regulatory approvals. “It will enable customers to purchase a wider range of products, made from a greater variety of materials with varying functional and environmental attribute—all from a single vendor,” states Dart. “Both companies have an extensive history in the industry and will bring together valuable experience, traditions and complementary, high-quality products.”  Protective packaging products, materials and systems manufacturer Sealed Air Corporation has been recognized as “the most admired company in its industry and one of the most admired companies globally for innovation and social responsibility,” according to the Fortune magazine’s ’ annual survey published last month, which ranked the Elmwood Park, N.J.-based company— original inventor of the famed BubbleWrap brand of protective cushioning (see picture)—first among the top 10 companies in the packaging industry. Conducted by The Hay Group international market research consultants, the annual Fortune Most Admired Companies

survey also gave Sealed Air the top ranking in seven of the nine categories in which companies are evaluated—including innovation, people management, social responsibility, management quality, financial soundness, quality of products and global competitiveness—as well as placing it first among the most admired companies based in the stare of New Jersey. “To receive the recognition of our peers reaffirms the dedication our 26,300 employees around the world have displayed to our core operating priorities, which incorporate being innovative and socially responsible,” says Sealed Air president William Hickey. “We have committed our company to a path of invention to help increase accessebility to food; to keep that food fresh, safe and secure for people around the world; to safeguard human health; and to protect the valuable goods we ship every day. Through our SmartLife initiative, we are also providing solutions that enhance sustainability across the supply chain by helping to optimize the use of raw materials, to conserve energy and water, to reduce waste, and to provide consumer convenience.”

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PEOPLE  Cincinnati, Ohio-headquartered material handling and end-of-line packaging systems manufacturer and integrator Intelligrated has appointed Tom Sullivan as national sales manager for the company’s Real Time Solutions order fulfillment systems prodSullivan uct line.

Global Paper and Industrial Converted Products unit and Ronald Leach as vice-president of the recentlyexpanded Global Protective Packaging segment.

devices and software technologies, has appointment Daniel Peloquin as president and Leonce Fraser as vice-president of services and projects.

 Purchase, N.Y.-headquartered beverage and snack-food group PepsiCo, Inc. has appointed John Compton as company president, and Brian Cornell as chief executive officer of the PepsiCo Americas Foods business unit.

 Datalogic ADC, Eugene, Ore.-based manufacturer of barcode scanning equipment and other related Auto ID (automatic identification) technologies, has appointed Joe Guy as vice-president of solutions for the company’s Automatic Data Capture business.

 The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), Newton, Conn.-headquartered international association of plastic industries professionals, has appointed Willem De Vos—former chief executive De Vos officer of prominent plastic and thermoformed products manufacturer Vitalo Group—as the organization’s new chief executive officer.

Melo

 Ceres, Ca.-headquartered rollfed labeling technologies and equipment manufacturer B&H Labeling Systems has appointed Rodrigo Melo as assistant global field service manager, based at the company’s B H Labeling Mexico subsidiary in Mexico City.

 Printing press technologies manufacturer manroland sheetfed GmbH of Offenbach, Germany, has appointed Alfred Rothlaender as interim president, to oversee the company’s current corporate restructuring and transition.  Pleasanton, Ca.-based industrial robotic systems manufacturer and integrator Adept Technology, Inc. has appointed Robert Malley as vice-president of global operations.

Lorei

Ramsdell

 Laminations, a specialty division of Great Northern Corporation specializing in laminated paper products for packaging, shipping and warehousing applications, has appointed Corey Nugent as engineer of new business development.

Pelligrino Malley

 Hartsville, S.C.-headquartered packaging products manufacturing group Sonoco has appointed John Colyer as vice-president for the company’s

 Eriez, Erie, Pa.-headquartered manufacturer of separation, vibratory, inspection, metal detection, X-ray inspection, materials feeding, screening and conveying equipment for packaging, material handling and other industrial applications, has appointed Craig Lorei and Christopher Ramsdell as technical sales representatives, and John Blicha as marketing communicaBlicha tions manager.

Nugent

 Key Technology, Inc., Walla Walla, Wash.-based manufacturer of automated food processing, inspection and sorting systems, has appointed Steve Pellegrino as vice-president of sales.

 Schneider Electric Canada, Torontoheadquartered supplier of industrial automation and power management and distribution controls,

Guy

 Toray Plastics (America), Inc., North Kingstown, R.I.-based manufacturer of polyester, polypropylene, and bio-based films for f lexible and rigid packaging, lidding, graphic and industrial applications, has appointed Chad Hedden as director of sales for the company’s Hedden Lumirror polyester film division.  Perrysburg, Ohio-headquartered glass packaging products manufacturer Owens-Illinois, Inc. (O-I) has appointed Georgette Verdin as vice-president of global talent management and organizational development.  Blake Moret, senior vice-president of control products and solutions at the Milwaukee, Wis.-based industrial automation technologies and devices Rockwell Automation, has been elected to serve a two-year term as vice-chair of The Manufacturing Institute, Boca Raton, Fla.-based affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) mandated to provide leading-edge information and market intelligence services to U.S.-based manufacturers to improve their global competitiveness.  Anthem Worldwide, the brand development division of globally-operating corporate branding and marketing services provider Schawk, Inc., has appointed Deborah Smith Read as creative director for the company’s San Francisco office.  Food packaging and processing equipment manufacturer TNA Australia Pty Ltd. of Sydney, Australia, has appointed Dave Townsend as group project manager.

Townsend

 Inca Digital, Cambridge, U.K.headquartered manufacturer of largeformat inkjet printing technology, has appointed Marq Prentice (below left) as director of operations and Mark Noble as senior customer support manager.  U.K.-headquartered corrugated and plastic packaging product group DS Smith Plc has appointed Gareth Davis as the new chairman of the company’s board of directors.

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EVENTS May 3-16

June 6-7

Sept. 28-30

Düsseldorf, Germany: DRUPA 2012, world market fair for print, media, publishing and converting technologies by Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. At Düsseldorf Trade Fair Center. Contact Messe Düsseldorf North America at (312) 781-5180; or go to: www.drupa.com

Chicago: Sensors Expo & Conference, industrial sensors and sensor-integrated technologies exhibition and forum by Questex Media Group LLC. At Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. To register, go to: www.sensorsexpo.com

Ottawa: World Without Packaging Waste, national conference by PAC-The Packaging Association. At Fairmont Chateau Laurier. Contact Lisa Abraham at (416) 646-4640, or via email labraham@pac.ca

June 18-22

Atlanta, Ga.: 2012 SuperCorr, corrugated industry exhibition and conference by TAPPI (Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industries) and AICC (Association of Independent Corrugated Converters).

Contact Kristi Ledbetter of TAPPI at (770) 209-7319, or go to: www.supercorrexpo.org

May 7-9

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Argenplás 2012, international plastics fair by Reed Exhibitions. At Centro Costa Salguero. To register, go to: www.argenplas.com.ar

Seattle, Wash.:TAPPI Place 2012 Conference,

by Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). At Grand Hyatt Seattle. To register, go to: www.events.tappiplace.org

Sept. 11-13 Chicago: Labelexpo Americas 2012, labeling technologies conference and exhibition by Tarsus Group plc. At Hotel Transamerica. Contact Camilla Colborne at +44 (0) 20 8846 2731; via email ccolborne@labelexpo.com; or go to: www.labelexpo-americas.com

May 9-11 Montreal: SIAL Canada 2012, North American food marketplace exhibition by Comexposium.

Concurrently with the SET Canada 2012 food processing, foodservice and retailing equipment and technologies exhibition. Both at the Palais des Congrès. Contact Julien Paquette at (514) 289-9669; or go to: www.sialcanada.com

May 15-18 Barcelona, Spain: Hispack, packaging and logistics technologies exhibition

by Fira Barcelona and Graphispack Association. At Gran Via exhibition center. To register, go to: www.hispack.com

May 22-24 Philadelphia, Pa.: EastPack, packaging technologies exhibition

by UBM Canon. Concurrently with MD&M (Medical Design & Manufacturing) East, ATX (Automation Technology Expo) East, Atlantic Design & Manufacturing and Green Manufacturing Expo. All at Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Contact Lonnie Gonzales at (310) 996-9418; or via email Lonnie.Gonzales@ubm.com

May 22-25 Munich, Germany: AUTOMATICA 2012, international showcase of automation technologies for medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries by Messe Munchen International. At the New Munich Trade Fair Centre. To register, go to: www.messe-muenchen.de

June 4-5 Washington, D.C.: 2012 Corrugated Industry Fly-in, joint conference by the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC) and the Fibre Box Association. At Hotel George. To register, go to: www.aiccbox.org or www.fibrebox.org

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Oct. 2-5 Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Pack 2012, packaging technologies exhibition and conference by Japan Packaging Institute ( JPI). At Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center. To register, go to: www.tokyo-pack.jp

FrEE PrODUCT INFOrMATION

May 14-16 Montreal: Montreal Manufacturing Technology Show (MMTS), by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). At Place Bonaventure.

Contact Gail Bergman at (905) 8861340; or go to: www.mmts.ca

Oct. 1-4

For further information on either advertisements or editorial in this issue, please circle the appropriate numbers below.

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IMPOrTANT: Please complete the following questions What is the primary business at your location?

Which of the following do you plan on purchasing within the next 12 months?  Advesives  Checkweigher  Machine Vision  Adhesive Applicator  Colour Label Printer  Metal Detector  Bar Code Equipment  Conveyors  Modified Atmosphere  Capper  Filler Packaging Machinery  Cartoners  Ink Jet Equipment  Palletizer  Case Packer  Intermediate Bulk Containers  Pallets  Case Sealer  Labeler  PLC’s, Sensors, Controls Approximate number of employees?

Is this company a:  Package User  Custom Packager  Package Maker  Supplier

 Print & Apply Label Applicator  RFID Equipment  Robotics  Scales & Weighing Equipment  Shipping Containers  Shrink Film  Shrink Wrapper

 Strapping Equipment  Stretch Wrapper  Stretchwrap Film  Shipping Containers  Tape  Vacuum Packaging APrIl 2012

12-04-10 3:20 PM

SLEEK GEEK PACKAGING ALL PART OF THE GAME

F

or a newbie attendee to the Mecca of all high-tech trade shows— the Consumer Electronics Association’s annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) extravaganza in Las Vegas, Nev.—walking the seemingly infinite number of halls and aisles spread throughout the famed Adult Disneyland was an unforgettable experience of futuristic gadgetry running wild. The sheer breadth of product categories and open-ended range of merchandise price-points ensured that all the key electronics manufacturers, distributors and buyers from around the world had all their target consumers covered— in some cases offering a compelling example of how the displayed product ought to be packaged in the most efficient, secure and engaging manner.

Gaming headsets are all the rage these days in the $70-billion-plus global video gaming industry, where the likes of Elsmsford, N.Y.-based Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. are happy to help themselves to their cut of the action with the new line of Call of Duty: MW3 Ear Force Limited Edition gaming headsets—specialty gear for those who avidly play out the end of days on their PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Designed for use on Activision’s wildly-popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 first-person shooter game, the sets are offered at four graduated price levels, with the top-tier Delta version using imposing packaging muscle to sell high-end features such as 7.1 channel surroundsound, customizable pre-sets, voice prompts, wireless chat and other must-haves of virtuous virtual

warfare. Packaged in a ruggedly sleek, rigid clearplastic briefcase, the headset is held firmly in place with an intricately die-cut layer of solid green containerboard, while a paperboard overwrap around the case lengthwise creates a compelling billboard effect with subtle holographic artwork and intense battlefield imagery.

Along the same lines, the GX line of computer gaming peripherals from Genius KYE Systems Corp. of Taipei, Taiwan, also delivers a direct hit with the cleverly-packaged Maurus device—a high-speed, first-person shooter mouse enabling gamers to wage war right from their computers.

Clearly aimed at the male youth target demographic, the multifolded paperboard box is ingeniously formed in the shape of a tank’s body, deftly decorated with no-nonsense graphics of tanks, radar screens, rivets and wire-mesh to set the stage for epic military heroics. Using a contoured softplastic shell to hold the Maurus in place like a gun turret is also a nice interactive way to allow the browsing passersby to feel the shape of the product without opening the package.

To no one’s surprise, audio headphones were the single most prolific product category at the CES 2012. With countless exhibitors f logging headphones ranging from $9.95 cartoon-gimmick ear-buds up to a pair of $900 over-earphones with active noise cancellation, it took a little extra packaging sizzle to make the Aftershokz Bone Conduction Sport Headphones from VoxLinc,

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

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Alpha Checkweighers

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Atlantic Packaging Product Ltd 4

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Boehmer Box

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Farm Credit of Canada

29

108

Flexlink

9

118

Harlund

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107

Intelligrated

121

Labelling Technologies

32

116

Multivac

28

101

Omnifission/SMI

115

Ossid

25

123

Owens-Illinois

36

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R E Morrison

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111

Robert Reiser & Co. Inc.

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110

Schneider Electric

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112

Schneider Packaging

20

122

SEW Eurodrive Co. of Canada

35

114

Shawpak

23

109

Stein

10

105

Tsubaki

104

VC999 Packaging

102

VideoJet Technologies Canada

3

106

WeighPack Systems

7

21

8

LLC—enabling sports enthusiasts to wear the set around the back of their head with the speakers resting on the bone just in front of the eardum—get their share of the show limelight. Incorporating novel bone-conducting sound technology to let joggers enjoy music while still being able to hear the traffic around them, the Aftershokz headphones drew plenty of attention by stacking rows of black boxes straight up to the eye level—with their seethrough tops allowing a good look inside, and the muted black-white-and orange color scheme projecting instant passerby curiosity.

Photos by Elena Langlois

CHECKOUT ELENA LANGLOIS

Top marks also to Vantage Point Products Corp. for the display tower used to showcase its new Beanpad—an iPad holder that snaps onto the back of the device and uses a Velcro strip to adhere to a mini beanbag that can conform to a smooth table surface or right onto a lap to give users the most comfortable use of the device.

With a rather large show booth to fill, this display gave attendees the opportunity to quickly ‘get” the essence of the product with the simple, elegant white boxes with blue type and large product images hung onto posts in an octagonal arrangement—making the product visible from every angle. It’s one thing to see a product package on its own, but having multitudes of them add up to something more than just a sum of all parts is a packaging feat in its own right.

Elena Langlois is a Toronto-based freelance writer and technology enthusiast.

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CANADIAN PACKAGING • APRIL 2012

12-04-10 3:20 PM

MECHANICAL DRIVES

SEVERE DUTY CORROSION PROTECTION

F-SERIES the SNUGGLER ®

Parallel Helical Gearmotors SEW-Eurodrive’s F-Series parallel helical gearmotor lives up to its name as the ideal drive for tight space conditions. This compact drive, with its multiple mounting configurations, is a rugged alternative to right angled gearmotors.

SEW-Eurodrive has introduced a new line of aseptic gearmotors to meet the high levels of hygiene crucial to the production of food and beverages, as well as the stringent demands of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. SEW has solved this challenge with the aseptic design of helical, parallel shaft helical, helical-bevel and helical-worm gearmotors made entirely of smooth stainless steel, cooled by pure convection cooling — eliminating conventional fan and cooling ribs, which prevents the build-up of germs and bacteria on the surface and allows for easy regular cleaning.

CORROSION PROTECTION PRODUCT RANGE Power ratings from 0.34 to 2.0 HP Can be mounted directly onto R, F, K, S-Series gear units in all standard positions

F-SERIES PRODUCT RANGE Power ratings from 0.05 to 336 HP Output speeds from 0.06 to 464 rpm (based on 4 pole motor) Output torques to 159,300 lb-in.

Hard Working.

Easy Cleaning.

K-SERIES Helical-Bevel Gearmotors SEW-Eurodrive’s K-Series right angle helicalbevel gearmotors deliver maximum performance and reliability with 95%+ efficiency and high torque density. Durable gearing designed for long service life makes this drive an ideal choice for demanding around-the-clock applications.

K-SERIES PRODUCT RANGE Power ratings from 0.05 to 615 HP Output speeds from 0.05 to 326 rpm (based on 4 pole motor) Output torques to 442,500 lb-in.

S-SERIES Helical-Worm Gearmotors SEW-Eurodrive’s S-Series right angle gearmotors offer helical-before-worm gearing combining durability with power-packed performance in a compact design that requires no motor belts or couplings.

Our NEW stainless steel gear unit

S-SERIES PRODUCT RANGE Power ratings from 0.05 to 46 HP Output speeds from 0.05 to 257 rpm Output torques to 35,400 lb-in.

New Food Industry Solutions from SEW-EURODRIVE AC MOTORS and Brakemotors SEW-Eurodrive’s squirrel-cage motors and brakemotors deliver exceptional performance and reliability combined with low maintenance.

Designed for continuous duty under tough service conditions, these low-noise brakemotors are used wherever fast, safe braking is a major application requirement.

TorqLOC’s corrosion-resistant, stainless steel design makes it the perfect choice for production line wash-down environments.

In harsh, wet and demanding processing environments, only the tough survive.

Maintaining 24/7 productivity and stringent hygenic standards is critical.

That’s why SEW-EURODRIVE offers a rugged and reliable range of products and integrated solutions that stand up to the rigorous uptime demands and high washdown pressures of the food industry. From bakeries and bottling to meat and poultry processing, SEW has solutions that are tailored to meet your specific application challenges in hygiene, performance and price.

AC MOTORS PRODUCT RANGE Power ratings from 0.25 to 100 HP

Driving the world

TorqLoc®

2-, 4-, 6-, 8-, 4/8-, 2/6-, 2/8-pole plus others Integral brakes to fit all frames

Toronto (905) 791-1553

Montreal (514) 367-1124

Vancouver (604) 946-5535

www.sew-eurodrive.ca

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10.25”

TM

#GlassIsLife

CHEFS KNOW GLASS IS A TRUE FOOD LOVER. “Everything begins with taste,” says chef Geir Skeie. “Nothing should interfere with that experience.”

That’s why the Bocuse d’Or winner prefers glass for his preserved foods.

“Glass is inert. It doesn’t transfer any flavor to my ingredients or to the finished dish. Only the food speaks.”

GlassIsLife.com makers of food-loving, flavor-preserving glass packaging

© Owens-Illinois, Inc.

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