Millions of Indians have grown up with Priyagold’s biscuits, chocolate, snacks and juices over the past years. To keep their fine specialties fresh and appetizing at all times, a wide variety of BOPP and BOPET films are in use. So the logical step was backward integration: producing and converting high-quality films for inhouse requirements and to serve domestic and export film markets. And thus, the Group subsidiary Surya Global Flexifilms ordered two BOPP lines from Brückner Maschinenbau.

Shekhar Agarwal, Surya’s Chairman & Managing Director, says: “As a newcomer in film production we were looking for a partner with great experience, convincing technology and relevant references. All this we have found in Brückner – this already became clear during our first talks.”

Johann Kreilinger, Head of Sales Brückner Maschinenbau, confirms the extremely constructive negotiating climate: “Both our Indian sales team and us from Germany have felt very comfortable in the discussions: our new partners are always well prepared and target-oriented. We are really looking forward to realize the projects.”

Both BOPP lines (8.7 meter wide, one 3-layers, one 5-layers) will be placed at Surya’s new highly modern plant in the greater Nodia area, with excellent traffic connection to the Delhi-Agra/Lucknow expressway and the Delhi-Mumbai express. The first line will start mid 2022, the second one approx. one and half years later.

In a context of full-scale sorting and recycling infrastructure, Gualapack’s first-ever monomaterial polypropylene spouted pouch was proven recyclable. The results of extensive testing, carried out on several sites during the course of 2020, demonstrate that sustainability through innovation is possible.

Industry leaders TOMRA and Gualapack, both members of CEFLEX (the European platform for the Circular Economy of Flexible Packaging), joined forces to test how one of Gualapack’s innovative products, which combines monomaterial laminates and semi-rigid multi-layer components, could be automatically and effectively managed for recycling in the rigid PP (polypropylene) stream.

Gualapack is the world leader in pre-made spouted pouches and a global player in the flexible packaging industry, manufacturing laminates, caps and pouches for baby food, snacks, pharmaceutical products and a wide range of other applications. The company is fully committed to sustainability, which in the past few years has been its greatest driver for growth and innovation.

Michelle Marrone, Gualapack Sustainability Manager recalls, “It was 2018 when I first met Jürgen and TOMRA. At Gualapack, we were busy tackling the challenge of designing a monomaterial spouted pouch that had to resist hot-filling, pasteurization, and maintain its barrier properties 12 months on the shelf. But at the same time, I knew that to be monomaterial by design was not enough! It was equally important to prove our circularity by demonstrating that our pouch could be correctly identified as PP, sorted, processed and extruded on an industrial line.”

As a passionate and trusted innovation leader with 50 years of experience in circular waste management, TOMRA provides technology-led solutions and contributes proven expertise, established processes and market knowledge, which enable Circular Economy solutions through advanced collection and sorting systems.

“After development of the new pouches, and to determine whether these could be sorted with optical sorters, we added a significant amount of them to a combined separate source and mixed waste stream sorting plant for automated sorting,” explained Jürgen Priesters, SVP Business Development TOMRA Circular Economy. “The result was very good detection and accurate separation rate of all pouches. A subsequent washing and recycling trial showed that the Gualapack mono-material pouches could be easily recycled into standard products.”

As a first step, different percentages of Gualapack pouches were added to rigid PP waste, which was then processed through TOMRA’s AUTOSORT®, a sensor-based sorting machine that confirmed pouches are well identified as a PP material, with over 80% redirected to the rigid PP stream. Then, a waste PP bale with 5% additional pouches and a bale without any pouches were compared, in a back-to-back trial that took them through all the steps of a standard recycling process. First shredded into flakes and hot washed with water and sodium hydroxide at 85 °C (185 °F), then post-sorted through a second AUTOSORT FLAKE machine to further improve the quality of the material, the two bales were then extruded on an industrial scale extruder and pelletized back to PP.

Results were surprisingly good, with ink and adhesives from the pouches not impacting on extrusion, and affording high thermal stability without any odor or volatile issues. Furthermore, the pelletized materials were characterised by third party laboratories and declared comparable to PP copolymer grades suitable for injection moulding.

This key takeaway demonstrates that the Gualapack monomaterial pouches are well tolerated within a German DKR rigid PP stream and that TOMRA sorting systems, in real-life scenarios, are suitable infrastructure to correctly identify and sort monomaterial laminates, even in the presence of semi-rigid multi-layer structures. Furthermore this is a successful example of design for recyclable packaging according to the CEFLEX D4ACE (design for a circular economy) guidelines.

As the company noted, its development has been sparked by the rapid emergence of wellbeing based foods and supplements, that have heavily influenced global market trends amid the pandemic.

According to the business, its new Paradise Fruits Health division will offer a variety of innovative fruit Shapes with high fruit content and stand-alone products fortified with vitamins, minerals and extracts that can help to enhance the wellbeing of consumers.

Bodo Mittmann, Chief Sales Officer comments: “Over recent years there has been a noticeable growth in demand for easy to consume and functional products that boost wellbeing. In fact, according to the 2020 NBJ Supplement Business Report, the global nutritional supplement industry saw its highest growth in over 2 decades, with a 12.1% increase.

“There is no wonder then, that consumers are looking for more innovative and `better for you` foods to be available on the market. Our new Paradise Fruits Health division has been developed to extend our support and product offering in this field and will provide our new and existing customers in the health and wellbeing sectors with the support they need to meet these latest trends.”

Paradise Fruits Health has already developed a range of fruit Shapes designed specifically to provide food supplements carried by a plant-based matrix that can be called almost functional confectionery. The recipe contains a higher fruit content than many other similar products available on the market and can be fortified with vitamins and minerals as well as other ingredients such as caffeine, creatine, or extracts.

Bodo Mittmann adds: “Unlike much other vitamin-infused confectionery, our new Shapes fortified with vitamins and minerals are high in fruit and without gelatine so not only offer a convenient and delicious way to end pill fatigue but are even more appealing to health-conscious shoppers. The launch of these new Shapes will be the first of many we have planned to support our customers in developing products to meet the consumers desire to eat healthily and, at the same time, to pursue sensible and individual nutritional supplementation.”

New Paradise Fruits Health’s Shapes are available in bespoke fruit and vegetable flavouring combinations, are free from artificial colours and preservatives, are EU-allergen-free, palm oil free possible, halal and kosher possible, gluten-free and suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets.

The Shapes can also be specified in four options that can be altered to suit the customer’s needs or wishes. This includes, generations – suitable for adults, multivitamin fruit Shapes for vitality. Universal, aimed at all ages from 3 upwards, fortified with  with vitamins and minerals. Its Health Benefits series is also designed for ages 3 and above, ideal for providing an added daily boost of vitamins, minerals and extracts, addressing individual supplementation. Finally, its Active range is for those with more active and busy lifestyles, fortified with caffeine, vitamins and minerals.

Paradise Fruits by Jahncke is a global supplier of naturally healthy and delicious food ingredients. The company is a trusted part

Second, our customers are asking for variety pack solutions anywhere from 2 to 7 flavors with unbalanced counts inside either bags or cartons. This requires a high level of technology and flexibility.

Third, our customers are looking for ultimate flexibility within their machines. Capabilities to run both horizontally packed products as well as vertically packed products within the same machine.  Different types of bags from Pillow to Stand-Up-Pouch to doy-type bags.  All with quick and easy change-over.

How have these trends evolved over the past few years?

These trends have quickly evolved over the past few years especially in the need for shelf ready and variety packing.  Most all applications have some form of each of these two aspects contained within the scope of work.  Automation suppliers must be quick on their feet to adapt to these new requirements.

How do your packaging machines address some of these top trends driving the industry?

BPA is historically at the forefront of technology in the secondary packaging industry.  We provide two specific machines that tackle the need for shelf ready display: Our Gantry 300 capable of both horizontal and vertical packaging up to 150 products/min as well as our new high speed Spider 300v also capable of both horizontal and vertical packaging, however, up to 300 products/min and 50 cases/minute.

Blueprint has also invested in our variety pack technology which is application specific. Typically, we are singulating product from some form of manually loaded WIP containers.  We run the product into either a vision guided system or an indexing collating system.  We then pick and place the products into either some form of lug (typically for mother bag loading) or directly into the packaging container (typically for cartons).  These systems are also integrated with a carton former and sealer or a flow wrap style bag former.

What do you think will be a focus for snack producers in packaging over the next five years?

I feel that new, more flexible automation innovations will expand the variety pack opportunities for our customers.  Higher speeds combined with more flavor flexibility will be key requirements.  We have positioned itself well to partner with our customers to help them achieve reliable, cost justified, flexible technology to take variety packing to the next level.

It is ideal for customers that require higher capacity output than our impulse vacuum sealers. Typically, customers requiring more than 15 bags a minute find a greater return on investment by choosing a continuous band vacuum sealer. Our satisfied customers include producers of coffee, snacks, pre-baked goods, electronics, medical products, and fresh or dried food, produce and meat.

The MPS 7103 can operate as a stand-alone sealer or be paired with a synchronized conveyor for a more automated system. Bags less than 2 lbs. are easily sealed without a conveyor. The MPS 7103 provides high quality, hermetic seals on all moisture-barrier bag materials and is capable of sealing bags up to 12 ml in thickness or 6 ml maximum when gusseted at required production speeds.

The vacuum and nitrogen flushing equipment removes oxygen and creates a moisture-free package, resulting in longer shelf life, product integrity, and protection against discoloration. For snack products, a gas flush only system can create a cushion-like buffer against damage.

All of our MPS 7100 bag sealers can be equipped with an optional bag top trimmer, emboss coder or inkjet printer. Designed for 24/7 operation, these sealers are suitable for all production environments.