Page 39 - Food&Drink Magazine October 2018

PACKAGING EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS
✷ CRAFTY MOVE
BEGA CHEESE GOES NUTS
Bega Cheese has put its stamp on the former Kraft peanut butter product following its purchase last year of the Kraft factory from Mondelez International where the category-leading product was previously made.
Aside from now carrying the name Bega, the packaging on the former Kraft range has also been “slightly ‘refreshed” by Bega Cheese.
This year the company rolled out a new variant, Dark Roast (pictured above), which sees the peanuts roasted at a higher temperature to give more of a flavoursome experience, according to Bega.
The contents of its classic products remain the same, however, and have “the same ‘never oily, never dry’ recipe, the same taste, made by the same people, at the same factory”.
The main difference with the former Kraft peanut butter range, Bega said, is that it is now owned by an Australian company, “keeping the jobs and money at home”.
Bega Cheese purchased the original never oily, never dry recipe, as well as the Victorian factory where the former Kraft Peanut Butter was made for 55 years, last year.
"Bega is proud to own and manufacture the same great tasting peanut butter that Australians have loved for 55 years in the exact same factory.
"The only change to Australia’s favourite peanut butter is that it will be sold as Bega Peanut Butter," a spokesperson said at the time.
acquire new operational capabilities and set new benchmarks.
The solution comprised an integrated vibratory product feeding station, a compact multi-head weigher and vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) combo machine, a take-away conveyor and a pallet loading station.
The semi-automatic line was designed to manage product feeding, dosing (weighing) and bagging functions.
“The line was an ideal set-up for our facilities. The high speed multi-head weigher and VFFS combo machine had a small footprint, yet could still provide an extraordinarily efficient throughput on a variety of sized bags of up to ten complete bags per second,” Patch says.
The multi-head weigher accurately weighs a consistent flow and specified weight of product at high speeds.
After weighing, the peanuts are then automatically discharged into the VFFS machine for packagingusingsophisticated flow wrapping technology.
The VFFS machine uses flexible plastic packaging material from a flat roll to form bags that are then filled with product. The formed bag is then cut loose from the film roll and passed downstream to the final stage where it’s sealed, metal detected, check weighed and packaged into cartons
for distribution.
REAPING REWARDS
The new packaging line has yielded several benefits, according to Patch, including significantly increased productivity and manufacturing cycle times, reduced costs due to lower wastage and the elimination of many inefficiencies.
Machines are controlled from a single 10.4 inch colour touch-screen HMI, which means production set-up is simpler and machines can be managed in a holistic manner, with managers gaining a
“ The high speed multi-head weigher and VFFS combo machine had a small footprint, yet could still provide an extraordinarily efficient throughput on a variety of sized bags of up to ten complete bags per second.”
centralised view of how the entire line is performing.
Patch describes the change to VFFS technology, moving to a highcontrast, full-colour uniform bag for all products, together with the use of on-demand printing as “absolutely brilliant”.
Previously, the company would have ordered six months of packaging consumables in advance and held up to 100,000 bags and labels in inventory. These days, the Peanut Van can dispense with this ‘dead stock’ model, improving cash-flow and allowing just-in-time ordering of consumables inventory.
Furthermore, the equipment’s user-friendly design has made a major difference in terms of maintenanceandcleaning.It
now takes two man-hours
to dissemble and wash-down the equipment when changing SKUs.
The Peanut Van has been able to redeploy three staff members in the packaging process area.
Patch says that the AccuPak team’s expertise and service was outstanding throughout the project.
“They are on it! Out of everything they supply, their industry and product knowledge is most important They really know what they’re doing.”
“Having a supplier with offices in the state is more than reassuring. They are really responsive, always ready with advice and rapidly source/ changepartsifrequired.” ✷
AccuPak supplied a high speed multi- head weigher and VFFS combo machine with a small footprint.
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | October 2018 | Food&Drink business | 39