Who dares, wins

29 September 2011



Not all packaging machinery suppliers dare to venture into dairy, but those who do are rewarded with the responsibility for driving both equipment and packaging developments, writes Lynda Searby


Demanding operating conditions and stringent hygiene standards deter many packaging equipment suppliers from tackling dairy applications. However, those companies that do rise to the challenge tend to reap the fruits of their labour in the form of repeat business – buyers of dairy packaging equipment will invariably opt for a supplier that can demonstrate an industry track record.

Indeed, the robust construction of its equipment, along with experience of supplying the dairy industry were the two factors that swung the balance in favour of Yorkshire Packaging Systems (YPS) when competing for a contract at UK-based Acorn Dairies recently.

Dairy owner Graham Tweddle says: “Our old shrinkwrapper unit came to the end of its natural life and so we had to invest in new equipment. YPS was the logical choice due to its history of supplying our market and understanding our needs - quite apart from having a very heavy duty, reliable shrinkwrapper.”

YPS supplied its SS120, which is specially designed to cope with the demanding environment of a dairy. It is manufactured completely from stainless steel with low voltage waterproof electrics and features a high speed, low maintenance sealing jaw for reliable sealing at speed in a wet environment. The SS120 wraps up to 14 trayless configurations of bottles or cartons per minute.

Primary packaging projects

The demands placed on equipment become even greater in primary dairy packaging applications. Here, the larger players are at the forefront of not only equipment innovation, but also container design developments.

Tetra Pak, for example, launched the first aseptic carton bottle for milk, the Tetra Evero Aseptic (TEA), this May.

Recyclable and made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified renewable paperboard, the format is claimed to combine the easy handling and pouring of a bottle with the environmental and cost advantages of a carton.

The carton bottle is produced on the Tetra Pak A6 iLine, which has a capacity of 10,000 cartons/hour, and is said to occupy up to 50% less space, offer 25% lower operating costs and consume 50% less electricity than other aseptic bottling lines. Features include a ‘gas phase’ sterilisation technique which eliminates the need for additives such as hydrogen peroxide and injection moulding technologies that fuse the top, carton sleeve and capped neck into a ready-to-fill package.

The TEA has already been adopted by Weihenstephan, one of Germany’s largest dairies, and Corporación Alimentaria Peñasanta, the largest dairy in Spain.

Another new carton format that is catching on with milk producers is Elopak’s 1.5 litre Maxi Pure-Pak. The larger-sized carton was developed for Italian dairy Centrale Del Latte di Torino in 2009 to create differentiation in the saturated and private-label dominated Italian milk market, and since then, a further nine milk brands have relaunched in this new-sized pack.

Elopak is claiming that the larger packs retain freshness for longer, leading to less waste, and are more cost-effective than smaller packs.

The company has developed systems that enable Diamond Curve and Maxi 1.5 litre and 2 litre cartons to be produced on the same machine. Both fresh and ESL (Extended Shelf Life) can also be produced on the same filling machine.

Sustainable solutions

SIG Combibloc’s latest dairy R&D, meanwhile, has focused on reducing the carbon footprint of its cartons, and has resulted in a new aseptic cartonboard composite carton, the EcoPlusPack, that is claimed to generate 28% less C02 than standard one-litre cartons. This reduction has been confirmed by an independent lifecycle assessment conducted by the Institut für Energie und Umweltforschung (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research) in Germany.

SIG Combibloc says the container’s smaller carbon footprint is down to its composite structure, which contains more than 80% wood fibre.

The pack can be processed on SIG Combibloc’s CFA312 filling machine once a one-off adjustment to the machine parameters has been carried out. “An output of 12,000 carton packs/hour is achievable with our CFA312 filling machine,” states Cindy Haast, marketing manager Europe North with SIG Combibloc. “Another benefit is that both EcoPlusPack and the traditional combiblocSlimline can be filled on the same machine.”

Another supplier to go down the sustainability route is Oystar Erca-Formseal, an operating company of the Oystar group, which is promoting several ‘eco-friendly’ packaging solutions that can be produced on its form-fill-seal machines.

The company has developed a thermoforming machine capable of producing yoghurt pots with walls of 0.7mm, potentially cutting material use by about 20%.

It says the machine supports a wide range of materials including PLA which, as a biodegradable material, is gaining popularity as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastics, and CrushPak, a new material made by EverEdgeIP. The distinguishing feature of CrushPak for cups is that it can be compressed like an accordion, so the contents can be eaten directly without a spoon and the pack can be disposed of with minimal waste.

Aseptic filling applications

Another Oystar company, Oystar Gasti, was chosen by Premier Foods to install an aseptic cup filling and sealing machine for packaging the company’s new Ambrosia Puds range (custard together with fruit compote, crumble or jelly).

High speeds, long production cycles, short cleaning intervals and a high germicidal effect were the features Premier Foods was looking for from its new machine, according to general manager Steve Pretty. He said the company approached four suppliers but of the four, only Oystar Gasti fulfilled all its requirements.

The machine operates in 36-hour shifts at speeds of 228 cups/min. On average, the filling deviation is 0.5g over the entire run. Sterile air over-pressure in the system prevents germs from penetrating into the plant and the germicidal effect achieved is said to be higher than the industry standard of >log 5.

Microbiological safety is always a top priority for buyers of dairy filling equipment, as milk-based products are a fertile breeding ground for bacteria.

As GEA Procomac’s aseptic product manager Monica Melloni says: “Microbiological safety is what our customers mainly require from a filling line.”

In addition, she says sustainability is important. “Beverage producers choose environmentallyfriendly technology that allows reduction of water, energy and chemical consumption.

“Moreover, nowadays, space saving is of great importance: in times of economic crisis, investments in new manufacturing plants become increasingly significant in terms of floor space costs, so compact solutions are in great demand.”

The Unibloc ECOSpin wet PAA (peracetic acid) based aseptic filling bloc is GEA Procomac’s response to the sustainability challenge. The filling line is claimed to use 30% less water, 25% less steam and 15% less power, and occupy 20% less floor space than the previous generation.

GEA Procomac says this is down to a considerable reduction in rinsing time and footprint. It has installed four Unibloc ECOSpin lines at Yinlu in China this year, for filling milk-based products into 0.35, 0.5 and 1.5 litre PET bottles.

Interpack innovations

At Interpack, GEA Procomac previewed a concept that promises to significantly reduce the total cost of ownership for aseptic bottle filling.

It claims the ABF (Aseptic Blow Fill) is the world’s first rotary aseptic blow moulding machine with an integrated aseptic filler and capper. Its principle is to sterilise the preform, not the formed bottle, with hydrogen peroxide at the exit from the oven, then blow the preforms with sterile air in a sterile environment and maintain this sterility throughout the filling and capping process

This, says GEA Procomac, minimises the use of chemicals, eliminates the need for bottle rinsing, enables a simpler and smaller layout, and reduces energy consumption.

Another dairy bottling innovation launched at Interpack was Serac’s bloc for ultra-clean packaging of refrigerated products such as pasteurised/ESL milk, drinking yogurt and juices.

The bloc was designed in partnership with Urola, a Spanish company that specialises in PET stretch-blow moulding. The system integrates the Urola URBI linear blow moulder and the Serac H2F ultra-clean rotary weigh filler-capper in two configurations – one capable of 6,000 bottles/hour and the other based on an output of 9,000 bottles/hour. It can produce PET bottles ranging from 100ml to two litres in size with one single neck finish (usually 38mm) for a plastics screw-cap.

According to Serac, the bloc is a very compact line with a small footprint, partly because cap decontamination is carried out using ‘pulsed light’ technology which is a dry and compact solution. The first bloc line will soon be delivered to a customer in Russia.

Responding to reclosability requirements

Besides sustainability, reclosability is a major trend in dairy packaging, and one to which Italian packaging equipment company PFM has responded by designing a flow wrapper that allows cheese wedges or blocks to be packed in reclosable bags or conventional pillow bags – both with MAP.

The new dual-purpose Scirocco PB is based on PFM’s existing Scirocco inverted MAP flow wrapper, but is able to produce the company’s Pocket Bag pouch style, reclosable via a pressure sensitive label, as well as standard pillow packs. According to PFM, changeover takes less than 20 minutes.

The high speed MAP capability comes from a number of electronic and mechanical enhancements, but particularly a new design of sealing jaw. This has been designed by PFM to allow gas-tight hermetic seals to be achieved reliably at elevated speeds, using a gear-based cam system in place of the traditional springs that hold the sealing bars against the film for the required period.


Premier Foods’ Ambrosia Puds are packed on an aseptic cup filling and sealing machine from Oystar Gasti Ambrosia Puds Elopak’s 1.5l Maxi Pure-Pak is catching on with Italy’s dairies Maxi Pure-Pak Oystar Erca-Formseal has developed a thermoforming machine capable of producing yogurt pots with walls as thin as 0.7mm Oystar PFM’s Scirocco PB is designed for packaging cheese wedges and blocks Scirocco PFM’s Scirocco PB can produce both conventional pillow packs and reclosable pouches Packs A high germicidal effect is a key feature of the aseptic cup filling and sealing machine Oystar Gasti installed at Premier Foods Gasti SIG Combibloc’s EcoPlusPack aseptic cartonboard composite carton was engineered with sustainability in mind EcoPlusPack The Tetra Evero Aseptic is produced on the Tetra Pak A6 iLine, which has a capacity of 10,000 packs/hour Evero Aseptic Launched this May, the Tetra Evero Aseptic is said to be the first aseptic carton bottle for milk Milk Launched at Interpack, the Urola-Serac bloc was designed for ultra-clean packaging of refrigerated liquid products Urola-Serac

EcoPlusPack EcoPlusPack
Milk Milk
Urola-Serac Urola-Serac
Gasti Gasti
Ambrosia Puds Ambrosia Puds
Evero Aseptic Evero Aseptic
Oystar Oystar
Scirocco Scirocco
Packs Packs
Maxi Pure-Pak Maxi Pure-Pak


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