Hoffmann Neopac injects US$4.5M into tin packaging line for infant nutrition

06 Jan 2022 --- Infant food, nutritional, and well-being packaging specialist Hoffmann Neopac is upgrading its manufacturing facility in the Netherlands with a €4 million (US$4.5 million) investment to create a tin production line for baby milk powder products.

Newly installed and operating in a segregated room for food-grade compliance, the new line is already servicing a major customer in the baby milk sector, says the company.

“The new dedicated baby milk powder tins line at our facility in the Netherlands further cements Hoffmann’s standing as a European specialties producer in the metal packaging sector,” says Mark Aegler, CEO of Hoffmann Neopac.

“For the future, we continue investing heavily in decarbonizing our production sites and products, thereby reducing our overall impact in the steel packaging supply chain.”

Hoffmann manufactures its tin supplies through production standards applicable for major markets like the EU, US and China. The US$4.5 million investment creates the capacity to expand its baby milk powder tins production to 118 million pieces per year.

Currently, the line is producing 99 mm diameter cans with volumes of up to 400 g. The newly dedicated room also has space for a second production line to accommodate continued growth.

“For the future, we continue investing heavily in decarbonizing our production sites and products,” says Hoffmann’s André Seiler.Metal movements
The expanded capacity and new environmentally sustainable product lines also come with a newly reorganized leadership team. To ensure alignment across its two tins production facilities in Switzerland and the Netherlands, Hoffmann says it has streamlined its executive structure to hold responsibility over the entirety of its growing metal packaging business unit.

Hoffman joins a growing number of packaging manufacturers using metal as an environmentally sustainable alternative to plastics.

Last year, Crown Packaging Europe emphasized the environmental benefits of using metal in place of plastic in the expanding ready meal market.

The company’s marketing and communications manager Lorena Osella discussed with PackagingInsights the importance of metal in the ready meal sector, how policy changes impact the market and what the future will hold.

The company notes the ready meal market has witnessed substantial growth in recent years, rising 27.4% in Europe year on year in 2020.

Safety and hygiene
With fears over the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, PackagingInsights also investigated how packaging materials can ensure safety for infant nutrition products.

Amcor, AR Packaging, Danone, Gualapack and Wipak gave insights into how environmental sustainability can be coupled with hygiene baby food packs.

Crown’s chief technology officer Daniel Abramowicz also spoke recently about the essential role of metal packaging in preventing food waste – one of the world’s biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Edited

By Louis Gore-Langton

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