Page 40 - Packaging News Sep-Oct 2020

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CONTRACT PACKAGING | www.packagingnews.com.au | September-October 2020
Multipack Food sees growth in current climate
Sydney-based contract packaging company Multipack Food’s recent expansion at its Ingleburn facility has more than doubled its throughput volume in six months. Kim Berry spoke to commercial director Brad Devine about growth in a time of pandemic.
Our focus has always been to be on the front foot with new or interesting white-space products in markets that are about to boom.”
six new clean rooms; three more liq- uid sachet lines; and a third vertical form, fill, and seal pack line.
“We’ve added a fantastic horizon- tal sachet line as well. It’s a high- speed processing line that produces consumer-friendly packaging with an easy tear top. There are notches in the side of the packet and it’s also easier to pour.
“We had it purpose built – we waited until we had enough volume to make it worthwhile, and we’re already looking to add more capacity. It has been very popular,” Devine says.
MF completed the fitout internally, with Devine saying it had the inhouse capability. Without any new design elements, it was a straightforward process. “It was very similar to what we’ve built previously,” he says.
MF opened its 3400 square metre Ingleburn site in 2015. It is fully accredited with a suite of equipment offering its clients blending, mixing, packaging, and filling lines for wet and dry product (powders, granules, solids, liquids, pastes, gels).
Packaging format options include pouches, spouted pouches, sachets, stick packs, bags, pillow packs, bag- in-box, buckets, cans and bottles.
The success of its beverage shots packaging offering has resulted in the addition of a fifth filling line, specifi- cally to lead the way in this channel.
“Our goal has always been to be an industry leader. Our success during such an uncertain time is very encouraging. We’re already scoping our next additions to the factory,” Devine says. ■
FOR Multipack Food (MF), 2020 has been a busy year. Commercial director Brad Devine told PKN Covid-19 has had no negative impact on the business.
“Our focus has always been to be on the front foot with new or interesting white-space products in markets that are about to boom. That has held us in good stead,”
Devine says.
“All our clients and the products
we pack are in the fast-moving con- sumer goods space that end up of supermarket shelves or in the meal kit/ready meal sector. We’ve never targeted the foodservice space and that has played in our favour this year when you consider the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on that sec- tor,” Devine says.
FINDING THE GROWTH POINT
Two markets MF has focused on are the burgeoning functional beverage
space and components for meal kits. Devine says that with 2020 being the year of the pandemic, meal kits and other products that require home
meal preparation have skyrocketed. “We have all changed our eating habits to be more home-based, ide- ally healthier but also quick and easy, the meal kit segment has simply stepped up to fill that need,” he says. In January, market research com- pany Nielsen said meal kits were estimated to be worth more than $300m in annual sales, with a 40 per
cent growth rate compared to 2018. Devine agrees, saying pre- Covid-19, MF was seeing growth at around 30-40 percent. That doubled during the first couple of months of restrictions and has settled back to
the 30-40 per cent mark.
SIZING UP
With this and other successes, MF has recently expanded. It has added
Over the past several years, Multipack Food has been expanding, upgrading
its existing facilities and opening new ones.