Page 50 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2019

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FOOD & BEVERAGE PACKAGING
‘White gold’ rush drives packaging
www.packagingnews.com.au
September-October 2019
Global metal packaging manufacturer Jamestrong has opened a new $15 million, future-proofed, can making facility in Auckland, catering to the burgeoning infant formula market. Lindy Hughson attended the opening to file this report.
NFANT formula has been dubbed the white gold of the ANZ region, and the attendant rush seems to be showing no signs of abating with China driving demand and growth. The industry has an esti- mated value of $32 billion per annum, enjoying a CAGR of over
five per cent. For Jamestrong Pack- aging, a market leading supplier of metal cans to infant formula man- ufacturers, this is good news.
At the opening of the company's Wiri, Auckland facility, its third plant in the region and the second in New Zealand in under two years, ANZ CEO Alex Commins said, “It’s quite incredible to be part of an in- dustry where there is an insatiable appetite for our local product.”
Addressing the invited guests, which included Jamestrong share- holders, employees and customers, Commins said stringent food safety and quality controls were integral to the Jamestrong Packaging manufac- turing regime, and a key focus when commissioning a new high care fa- cility that produces metal packag- ing intended for infant formula.
He noted that infant formula from the region was considered of green and safe provenance, and that it was incumbent on Jamestrong to ensure the safety of its end of the supply chain by investing in high care man- ufacturing of the highest standard.
“As we stand here tonight marvel- ling at modern technology, and at metal packaging at its sexiest, we reflect on the fact that we are but one part of a crucial supply chain of a life source – milk – and the nutri- ents within it that sustain life.
“However, if not properly cared for from its source to the point of deliv- ery... a precious baby human being could be put at risk. Our job within our business is clear: take all risk out of play,” Commins said.
The new plant comes just 17 months after the company estab- lished a similar high care facility in Hornby, Christchurch.
ABOVE: The new facility in Wiri, Auckland is the third can-making plant Jamestrong has opened in the ANZ region in three years.
Jamestrong also has a high care infant formula can manufacturing plant in Kyabram, Australia, which opened in 2016.
“The fact that we have opened three production facilities in just over three years speaks volumes about the trajectory of New Zealand and Australia’s infant formula mar- ket and the demand coming from international markets, in particular China,” Commins said.
He also spoke of the company’s in- vestment over recent years in high- end technology across all Jamestrong facilities.