< PreviousFlow-wraps lift shelf-life for bouillon cubesPFM has developed a new machine forflow-wrapping fragile bouillon cubes,providing improved shelf life and reducingsubstantially the cost of packagingrequired, compared with traditionalmethods. The first three machines havenow been sold to an international foodmanufacturer.Flow-wrapping with a heat seal, ratherthan fold-wrapping, provides an hermeticpack which protects the cubes against lossof moisture and flavour while also allowingless expensive materials to be employed.Chris Bolton, PFM sales and operations director, says, “Heat seal film is much less expensivethan the alufoil laminates required in fold-wrapping. Also, the cubes are individually packed instrips of five and so can be loaded neatly into shelf-ready display trays, eliminating cartons.”A key element in the design of the machine is the infeed section. It employs a vacuum infeed belt and top hold-down belt to phase each cube accuratelyinto the machine at speeds up to 700 cubes a minute.10 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netSolving a sticky problem leads to twelve-foldincrease in productionIshida technology and expertise hasenabled a South African producer of highquality raisins to grow its business by 130%per annum over the past two years.Raisins are a notoriously difficult productto pack quickly and accurately. Their stickyand wet characteristics and propensity toclump together provide a major challenge forany type of automated system. For severalyears, Fruits du Sud packed the productmanually, but this was time-consuming andnot cost-effective.The Ishida solution – a CCW-SE-214-H-CTS multihead weigher – is from the company’s economyrange but still features a user-friendly colour touch screen for easy operation and a 6 litre capacitystepper motor timing hopper capable of handling pack weights well above the required 1kg atspeeds up to 70 packs per minute. The model at Fruits du Sud features special hex embossedcontact parts which are anti-stick and enable the raisins to progress freely and quickly.Linx CJ400 providesreliability for springwater plantTwo Linx CJ400 continuous ink jet printers areworking round the clock for Australian spring waterbottler Wet Fix, which selected two coders for printingbottles and secondary packaging.Wet Fix, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, has its ownMountain Dew label, but the bulk of its business iscontract packing, servicing 200-plus labels.Unreliable CIJs were causing problems with missingand faint print, leading to manual checking of lines. WetFix wanted to upgrade its coding equipment to obtain aprofessional-looking result, and remove downtimeissues as well as product reworking and waste.The company is using one of its Linx CJ400 printersto code three lines of text, including product ID andtraceability information, onto various shaped PETbottles at 175 bottles/min The second machine codesbest-before dates and traceability data onto shrink-wrapped packs. The best-before message is large, soeasily found, while the date underneath is smaller. Burts Potato Chips savours greater efficiency withnew ERP systemBurts Potato Chips are seeing huge efficiency savings thanks to the implementation of its new ERP solution,Access SupplyChain and Access SelectPay. With aspirations to grow the business to £20 million over the nextthree years, the company needed an integrated system to provide tighter controls over its financial, productionprocessing and stock control.Mike Cosby, Finance Director for Burts Potato Chips, says, “Access SupplyChain is helping us to scrutiniseevery area of our business. It’s already saved us thousands of pounds through greater efficiency and fasteraccess to information. We no longer carry out monthly stock takes as inventory is reconciled in real-time savingus around £12,000 a year.“Access SupplyChain gives us instant visibility of production costing, enabling us to analyse and reduceproduct wastage. Not only does this have a financial benefit, it also has a positive environmental impact.”THE WORLDWIDE IMPACT TRAFFIC DOOR AND STRIP CURTAIN COMPANYwww.strip-door.netManufacturers Since 1952Freephone08000 43 40 2018 Models of Impact Traffic Doors and Strip Curtain Doors(Retail Outlets, Warehousing, Coldrooms, Bakeries, Food Preparation Facilities, Poultry Farms, Restaurants, Factories, Professional Kitchens)10:Layout 1 24/5/13 12:28 Page 1Food & Drink International 11www.fdiforum.netCookie Crumbles launches new kids bakingrangeCookie Crumbles haslaunched a new kids bakingmix range to introducechildren to the joys of homecooking. The new products –Sunny Oat & Raisin CookieMix, Awesome WholesomeBrownie Mix, Granola EnergyBar Mix, and Blueberry &Vanilla Muffin Mix – are hand-packed in Britain from the highest quality natural ingredients.The new baking mix range for children was developed in response to the renewed popularity of home baking and a desire to introduce more children tohome baking.Carola Weymouth, Founder of Cookie Crumbles, says the most important aspect of developing the new children’s range was to ensure the products weredeveloped from the highest quality natural ingredients with flavours capturing the taste of home baking. “It was also critical that there only be two simpleingredients to add so children are able to make the products. They are perfect for busy families who want fun and fuss-free baking.”Former Seabrook boss launches new range ofcrispsJohn Tague, the former MD ofSeabrook Crisps who took thecompany from £11 million turnover to£30 million, has launched TAGS TastyCrisps.So far the range is made up of125g Premium Hand Cooked PotatoChips in three flavours – Malt Vinegar& Sea Salt, Sweet Chilli and MatureCheddar & Red Onion – and 25gPotato Crisps which come inmultipacks of six and three flavours –Salt & Vinegar, Cheese & Onion and Ready Salted.TAGS is very much a family business. Apart from John, wife Clare and their four children,Patrick, Joe, Dominic, and Cecilia, are all involved in the companyJohn says, “We have created a unique new brand to challenge the more established brandsin the market. Our branding is deliberately aimed at capturing both today’s and tomorrow’sconsumers. Over the coming months we intend to introduce further flavours and also extendinto other snack products.”Once bitten, foreverSmittenThe UK’s love affair with a limited edition NZ Apple isdoubling with the help of Morrisons.Smitten, an exclusive variety of apple, created in NewZealand, first hit the UK supermarket shelves in 2011-resulting from the unique mix of the Royal Gala,Braeburn, Falstaff and Fiesta breeding lines creating asweet apple with a superior bite sensation, combinedwith firmness, full flavour and juiciness. Morrisons sell Smitten under a 100% exclusiveagreement with the apples available in selected storesthroughout May and June. This year, they haveordered 200 tonnes of apples which is double thevolume in 2012.Brendon Osborn, General Manager of Heartland FruitNZ says, “New Zealand has been marketing Smittencommercially for three years now, and reaction fromcustomers around the world has been overwhelminglypositive with regard to the flavour and keeping qualityof the fruit. It is proving to be a winner in all markets.”RPC Llantrisantcracks the codefor qualityRPC Containers Llantrisant hasdesigned and produced a custom-moulded 1 litre PET bottle for theDaVinci Gourmet range of coffeesyrups as part of KerryFoodservice’s move to create aglobal visual identity for the brand.The new bottle imitates the shapeof the previous 750ml size but theadditional volume offers enhancedbenefits and convenience tooperators. The choice of PET provides excellent clarity to enable the syrups tobe clearly visible and reflect the premium image of the DaVinci brand, whileoffering light weight, easy handling and resistance to breakage, all of whichare vital benefits in busy café and kitchen environments.The striking bottle design features the DaVinci Gourmet name embossedonto the shoulder of the bottle. This is used to help position the main labelon the bottle and there is an additional wraparound label on the neck.Bottling a taste of theCaribbeanGlass manufacturer Beatson Clark isbringing a taste of the Caribbean to retailoutlets by supplying a new bespoke bottlefor the Caribbean Choice range of sauces.Grace Foods UK has decided to move itsCaribbean Choice Hot Pepper Sauce andSweet Chilli Sauce from a squeezy plasticbottle into a 250ml white flint glass bottle.Beatson Clark were asked to design a newbottle for the product, due to be re-launchednext month.Lisa Leung, Brand Manager at GraceFoods UK says, “Our Caribbean Choicesauces are an exciting addition to anykitchen, combining delicious taste and valueto help you add a taste of the tropics to yourmeals.”The new container is a white flint 250mlsquare sauce bottle bespoke to Grace Foods UK with an MCA3 neck finish,designed to fit with other containers within the client’s range.11:Layout 1 24/5/13 12:29 Page 1Don’t forgetyou can now readFood & Drink International Digital Editionsnow available on iPad & iPhonewww.fdiforum.netIdeal for those who spendtime away fromthe officeonthego!Siltbuster Process Solutionsappoints new Managing DirectorSiltbuster Grouphas appointed PaulLewis as ManagingDirector of itsSiltbuster ProcessSolutions business,a new role createdfollowingconsiderablebusiness growth.The appointmentwill enable SPS torealise its fullpotential in the water and waste water effluent treatment market.SPS has over the past four years, been providing complete, high quality,cost effective and tailored mobile or permanent water treatment solutions toclients such as Premier Foods, Heinz, Chivas Brothers and Welsh Water.Paul brings with him to the new role more than 21 years’ experience as adesign consultant in the water industry, most recently at Grontmij wherePaul has been responsible for a number of high profile design and constructframeworks, working alongside a number of water companies and theircontractor partners. Paul inherits a team already recognised as technicalexperts in treatment process design, which through his appointment is nowsupplemented by his operational experience.Faerch Plast’s latest key appointmentsset to secure new business opportunitiesin the north Færch Plast is consolidating itsposition as a leading manufacturerwith the appointment of two newBusiness Development Managers.Tasked with bringing in newbusiness in the North West region,well-known figure, Steve Gogerty,chaired and ran industry body,Canned Food UK, and brings 25years’ experience in the packagingindustry gained in sales andmarketing. Steve says, “I’m delighted to becoming in to an industry that isgrowing, vibrant and fast moving. It isclear that consumer behaviour haschanged dramatically over the last tenyears as single serve ready mealshave become an integral part of our diet. Faerch Plast’s products are at thecutting edge of those changes.” Joining Steve is Giles Fawcett whose previous roles at PuresepTechnologies as Technical Services Manager and Business DevelopmentDirector, make him well-placed to generate business in the North East. www.fdiforum.net12 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.net12:Layout 1 24/5/13 09:03 Page 1Exploring newmarketsFood & Drink International 13www.fdiforum.netIMPORT & EXPORTWith as much help as there is out therefor companies, expanding the brand thesedays couldn’t be easier. Concerns overdifficulties when facing legal hurdles orred tape can be allayed if firms look in theright places.The International Food & Drink Event,recently held at London’s ExCeL, showedan immediate example of this. Running abrand new Export Advice Centrethroughout the exhibition and conference,it gave practical advice in association withexport consultants to companies seekingto grow their profit margins throughexport markets.Simon Waring, Managing Director ofthe consultancy Green Seed UK says,“The Export Advice Centre is a reallyexciting venture for us. “Our experts have all operated in thefood and drink industry in their marketsfor most of their careers, making themwell placed to offer advice on eachmarket’s intricacies. We enjoyed meetingboth exhibitors and visitors to learn moreabout their products, as well as their plansto further their international reach.”The Export Advice Centre providedadvice on exporting to North America andEuropean markets, including the UK,Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany,France, Italy, Spain, Portugal,Switzerland, The Netherlands, the Nordiccountries and the USA. When it comes tothe UK market, the food and drinkgrocery and foodservice sector remainsattractive despite the tough economy.Therefore, there is a growing interest inexporting to the UK by companies lookingfor opportunities outside their domesticmarkets.To underline this, the Food and DrinkFederation recently reported total UKfood and non-alcoholic drink exportsremained at £12.1 billion in 2012 – in linewith 2011.Strong growth in exports of value addedfood products (+3.7%) and despitestaying at 2011 levels, food and drinkexports remain resilient compared toexports from other UK industry sectors,which fell by 4.5% overall.Safety firstOne hurdle companies can often comeup against when it comes to dealing withother countries is food safety. Wade inwithout checking or knowing unusuallegislation and it could end up with yourproducts being embargoed or not reachingsuppliers in time.PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ARTENSExploring newmarketsWhen entering the export market, often knowing whatmeasures need to be made is the first hurdle forcompanies.15 13-15:Layout 1 24/5/13 09:04 Page 113-15:Layout 1 24/5/13 09:04 Page 2Food & Drink International 15www.fdiforum.netIMPORT & EXPORTTo aid exporters, a new online tooldeveloped by UK scientists andresearchers gives food and drinkingredients suppliers, manufacturers andretailers easy access to the world’s mostup to date food safety information. Called HorizonScan, it provides a rapidoverview of potential and emerging foodsafety issues to help keep the industryabreast of threats to consumer wellbeingand loyalty – and protect brands frompotential damage caused by food supplychain contamination issues. The systemis the brainchild of Leatherhead FoodResearch, the Food & EnvironmentResearch Agency, and industry advisorswho developed the tool to reflect today’sincreasingly global and complex supplychains for foodstuffs and commodities.With reports from major foodimporting countries as well as smallerstates, the tool puts power into the handsof manufacturers, processors and retailers.Professor Tony Hines, MBE, Head ofCrisis Management at Leatherhead FoodResearch, says, “In twenty years of crisisand incident management I have alwayswanted an alerting system that does thework for me. For supply chainmanagers with multiple ingredientresponsibilities and complexinternational supply chains, orcompanies looking for new supplyoptions, HorizonScan enables you toconduct top line investigations and bealerted to the issues very quickly.”Registered users access HorizonScanonline, where they can find information onissues including microbial contaminants,residues of veterinary drugs and pesticides,mycotoxins, allergens and heavy metals.With total flexibility to suit the needs ofindividual processors and retailers, userscan back-check emerging threats over thepast fourteen or 31 days and assessinformation on specific countries orsuppliers.Combine this with a software packagelike Exportmaster’s document productionand export management facilities and youmight have a winning combination.Exportmaster delivers efficiencies for costand time savings and operationaleffectiveness for improved sales andprofitability by managing every stage ofthe export chain. This can range fromchecking shipping documents, commercialdocuments, issues with customs anddeclarations and even tracking progress. A recent company to take onExportmaster software to improve theiroperations was a company known forsterilisation monitoring and control whoinstalled a system called ShipShape tohandle export data generated by aSage500 ERP system.Similarly this kind of software can aidlogging in products at multiple sites,meaning you can keep an eye on what ishappening where in real time.When approaching the export market,caution is always advised, but withsystems in place and with assistance withinitial contact, success can be within reachfor many.PHOTO: ROBERT KNESCHKE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/If you have a unique product that has globalappeal, tying in your existing software toexport-specific systems could mean costsavings on a huge scale.Whenexploring new markets, caution is always advised butwith systems in place and withassistance with initial contact,success can be within reach for many.13-15:Layout 1 24/5/13 09:04 Page 3Used 1 Vans & Servicesfrom Mercedes-BenzA new standard in used vanswe think you could get used to.To find out if we’ve got the Used 1 Qualifying Van you’re looking for, check out our national used van stock on our website stock locator. It’s our online gateway to our dealer forecourts.www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/vansThe Used 1 Quality Label - the mark of a truly great van16:Layout 1 24/5/13 08:58 Page 1Food & Drink International 17www.fdiforum.netWAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTIONNo manufacturer can avoid the need toapproach warehouse management on allfronts. From technology to safety andfrom traceability to cost savings, no onearea can be neglected. As a result, joiningup all forms of warehouse and distributionstrands makes perfect sense and there areoverarching benefits to doing so.Safety from the floor up With so many products passing throughwarehouses, it’s not only volume andweight that need to be considered when itcomes to safety. Environmental factorsalso come into play. Dust control is animportant element to keep an eye on as abuild-up could cause people to inhaleharmful products or, even worse, anexplosion. Installing flooring that helpswith these matters can be highly beneficialand it’s not simply ease of cleanliness anymore. Innovative companies have soughtto also create flooring that can providechemical resistance, resistance to slippingand other safety features like improvedadherence to cleaning products andextremes of heat and cold. Use of polyurethane and epoxy resinfloor coatings mean that safety isimproved significantly for both operativesand external staff who may be on site forcontract work. Having a long-lastingmaterial will also improve operations,meaning less downtime if floors need tobe changed every few years. A whole hostof these floor types are also quick toinstall, often ready to be used within 24hours of installation. Shipping outWith recent scandals regarding horsemeat appearing in products it was notdestined for, the importance of traceabilityUsing radio frequenciesmeans more accuracy indata recording inwarehouses, which can saveuntold amountsPHOTO: INDIGO SOFTWAREIns and outsManaging warehouse and distribution alongside manufacturing operations is critical. With so many options tostreamline management and technology speeding up processes cost savings are available to all.18 17-21:Layout 1 24/5/13 13:17 Page 118 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netWAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTIONIntelligent image-based code reading has successfully replaced laser scanners in complex barcode reading applications for years. Now this premium technology is available for 1-D oriented barcode reading applications, delivering read rates above 99%.Upgrade your laser barcode scanners now. Visit us at www.cognex.com/tryit for a FREE 30 DAY TRIAL!Try it, Buy itMeet the DataMan 50. The tiny image-based barcode reader that brings big performance to 1-D barcode reading applications.Read it. Don’t Scan it.has taken on an increased level of importance within the wholesupply chain. When approaching this issue from a warehousingor distribution angle, it’s important to choose the correct softwareand equipment for the job. Scanning systems have improved at an incredible rate over thelast few years. The reading of barcodes, how easy it is to accessand how this is interpreted has changed. No longer are daily orweekly reports the norm. Up to the minute data is oftendemanded by manufacturers as a matter of course. Whether this is in the warehouse itself or as it leaves, it reallyis important to keep track. New systems we’ve seen offer fantasticlink-ups between interfaces and operating systems thattraditionally conflict, meaning a more joined-up way of working.The issue of picking for example has become a lot simpler, withradio frequency terminals and linked-up inventories and tracingsoftware meaning mistakes are rarely made and when they are,they are flagged up to managers or duty staff instantly. Thismeans less money lost on needless instances of products beingmissing, in the wrong place or mistakenly moved. Even the issuesof operator error, failure to record data in real time and poorinventory accuracy are being addressed with attention paid in thedevelopment of vision, control and functionality during softwaredevelopment.When it comes to tracking transport, there are a whole otherset of options available and at Food & Drink International, we’vebeen impressed with flexible services which are now becoming thenorm. With the ability to access information anywhere at anytime and the option to use a pay-as-you-go style service in manycases it’s an area we are seeing increased growth in. It’s a greatway to avoid queues building up at your loading area. These not17-21:Layout 1 24/5/13 13:17 Page 2Food & Drink International 19www.fdiforum.netWAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTIONCall 0161 483 1232 to speak to our teamfood and drink innovationCampden BRIMADE IN THE UKHygienic surfaces for food & drink environmentsFoodsafeImprovedhygieneSeamlesssurfaceCampden BRIapprovedonly wastemanpower inlong, intensiveperiods, but alsoputs you on a backfoot with suppliers andother clients if theirlogistics hubs or deliverymethods are hampered by inadequate planning. Softwaresolutions are now also coming with options to plan mutual orcollaborative booking systems so multiple sites can arrangedeliveries or loading and unloading periods with ease. Thisreduces overtime costs and waiting expenses too, so is worthlooking into.An example of this recently was a major beer producerexperiencing massive growth and having this hamper its supplychain organisation. It’s often situations like this that throw upsuch challenges and the producer reacted by automating labour-intensive processes and reducing pressure on what they found tobe more limited resources than they were used to. Using asoftware system that automated manual processes andstreamlined communication of data traffic became a priority. The manual process of placing shipping orders by fax, emailand spread sheets were replaced with a modern transportmanagement tool. Previously, the manual processes and lack ofvisibility often led to misunderstandings and errors that resultedin delays in confirming bookings, transport execution, anddealing with queries. The process was even more challenging inPHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ALEXEY FURSOVInstalling a floor that will be readyfor use within around one day 20 New systemswe’ve seen offerfantastic link-ups betweeninterfaces and operatingsystems that traditionallyconflict, meaning a morejoined-up way ofworking17-21:Layout 1 24/5/13 13:17 Page 3Next >