Sweet temptations

25 February 2010



As Packaging Today discovered at ProSweets Cologne in February, plenty of companies are diversifying into chocolate and confectionery, and anyone with their hand already in ‘the sweetie jar’ wants even more. Joanne Hunter reports.


Chocolate, confectionery and snacks are irresistible for consumers, and packaging and related services are bursting into the category to grab their share of a vibrant market.

A quest for key trends revealed white and green to be à la mode. In the retail environment, the colour combination signifies purity and all things ecological. Stora Enso, listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for nine straight years, chose ProSweets to announce the arrival of Ensocoat, its latest ‘whiter, brighter’ board aimed at premium chocolate and confectionery markets that use special effects such as embossing and hotfoil stamping.

The commercial currency of ‘white and green’ was highlighted in a Brandpack presentation. Stephan Bestehorne explained the demographics of LOHAS consumers, the kind top brands want to impress. LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) is a tag applied to ‘conscious’ shoppers with recognisable behaviour patterns, high ideals and expectations of quality. The well-attended talk reflected the level of interest in investing products with perceived greater value for health and the environment.

A ‘teach-in’ on reclosable packaging was delivered by Pacproject, an initiative of the international cartons specialist Mayr-Melnhof (MM). Experienced technologist Tim Bourne advised account managers and designers how to save their company money by thinking where, when, why and for whom a reclosure device is really necessary. An additional complication and an added cost to manufacture, will consumers be prepared to pay a premium for the added convenience?

ProSweets exhibitors were all strategically targeting new business and networking with customers. Tony Strutt, area sales manager at Marden Edwards, a film wrapping technology specialist, says he tours the world to be where his present and future customers will be. Here, he was showing the ‘before and after’ effects of using the Shrink Tidier, end of line equipment that irons out wrinkles in the film for better on-shelf appearance of a carton pack.

Hard to miss was the big, orange-liveried Schubert conveyor set up to pick and place foil-wrapped chocolate rabbits into trays. Not obvious to the uninitiated was that the Transmodule system marks, in the words of Gerhard Schubert, ‘an important world first’. This new, high-tech transport device is designed to use less power as it moves cartons between robotic packing operations, and uses vacuum suction to secure loads to the moving ‘carriages’. The boss of the front-runner in top-loading machinery (TLM) thinks the technology is up to 10 years ahead of Schubert’s nearest competitors. Further innovations are conveyance by electronic induction, the ability to angle the trays safely for easier filling and the automatic ejection of a malfunctioning carriage unit.

PWR Pack, part of the Bosgraaf Group based in The Netherlands, presented its robotic handling technology for confectionery and other food applicationschecking that filled and closed product has all required components. PWR Pack’s managing director Peter Mellor revealed he would be launching the company’s UK arm at the Total Processing and Packaging 2010 exhibition in May, at the NEC Birmingham.

A first-timer at ProSweets, Heuft inspection technology, well-known in the beverages sector, is breaking into the confectionery market with units for checking that filled and closed product has all required components.

A&R Carton says it has scooped a lenticular technology innovation with 3-D, eye-catching appeal for brand owners, in an exclusive agreement with a start-up business in Sweden. “Confectionery has shown interest in the concept from day one,” said Ralf Mack, director premium packaging segment at A&R. He explained how important it is to develop a box together with a specialist machine maker such as Mohrbach. This is easier to do with smaller brands than with fast moving consumer goods companies, says Mr Mack. Precise specifications enable a machine to run at the highest possible speeds, and Mohrbach’s ‘small, innovative’ machines are integral to building up A&R Carton’s USP (unique selling point).

QCarton from Latvia is a a WorldStar packaging award winner, proving that ‘low cost’ can mean high style and high quality. Complex packaging made in Eastern Europe can be expertly printed and erected by hand, to give outstanding on-shelf differentiation. “We are small, private, flexible, personal and close to the customer,” said Tadeuss Surgofts, purchasing director. “Expectations of quality are as high in eastern states,” he continued. “We are Europeans, and we like to show we are competitive and that European customers can trust us.”

Cortepack, of Italy, presented the benefits of an integrated service, from raw material to the finished printed packaging. Its business areas are paper and board and flexible plastics. Customers like to deal with just one supplier, says company boss Camillo Ribola.

Aiming to revolutionise the world of pastries in wholesale distribution ANL plastics launched sleek, transparentmCubb-x blister packaging, which creates crystal-clear areas on all visible sides of the pack and is rigid for stacking. For pastries and other moisture-containing products an anti-fog treatment is provided. Suitable for dry biscuits and chocolate, the standard version is made from APET.

Packshot Creator animation software shows packaging concepts in the round, for better communication in-house or between suppliers and clients. It is already in 3,000 companies in Europe including L’Oréal and its packaging partners, says Ulrich Kintru, area manager for the developer Sysnext. Packshot now features integrated PC connection, touchscreen control and the ability for the first time to show a pack moving vertically and horizontally.


Schubert's 'world first' transport device designed to boost the efficiency of its automated packaging machines. Schubert

Schubert Schubert


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