Sealpac equips EU cheese producers with material-saving and product protecting machinery

01 Mar 2024 --- Packaging technology company Sealpac is adapting to the dairy segment and offers producers, such as Wildberg Käserei and Queijos Santiago, latest applications that combine product protection with efficient production, simplified logistics and an attractive presentation while using fewer consumables.

With its traysealers and thermoformers, Sealpac supports cheese manufacturers with packaging solutions that can distribute and market customers’ products. Sealpac highlights two recent examples from Switzerland and Portugal. 

The EU has the world’s largest annual consumption of cheese, according to recent statistics. Manufacturers are competing for consumers with their specialty products. Sealpac says that the solutions to success are as diverse as the product offerings on the dairy shelves.

Thermoformer packaging 
Wildberg Käserei based in Zürich, Switzerland, positions itself in the luxury segment with handcrafted cheeses in around 25 different varieties. The company primarily produces in smaller quantities for local customers, including specialist retailers and delis. 

Wildberg recently chose a Pro thermoformer from Sealpac to improve product appearance by enhancing the packaging. 

Sealpac’s Pro thermoformer for vacuum packaging and sealing-only applications.The thermoformer is tailored to small and medium-sized companies and offers flexibility and performance on a small footprint. The space-saving Pro uses economical consumables and energy and has a modular design. The basic Pro machine is suitable for running flexible and rigid film, both for vacuum packaging and sealing-only applications. 

Depending on the customer’s wishes, various modules can be added to run other packaging solutions, such as MAP, skin or shrink packaging.

CEO Roland Rüegg at Wildberg Käserei says: “Previously, we sold our cheese in pre-formed vacuum bags. The packaging did not look very professional and required a lot of plastic. We wanted a more attractive, material-saving solution and a more efficient packaging process.”

With the new Pro thermoformer, the pieces of cheese are now packaged from a reel of “highly” transparent bottom film using Rapid Air Forming. The machine manages particularly thin film that is easy to print, for example, with product information, an organic label or a brand logo. 

FlatSkin for shelf life extension 
Queijos Santiago, headquartered in Malveira, Portugal, produces Portuguese cheese specialties. The Portalegre site produces regional specialties made from goat or sheep milk under the Queijos Santiago umbrella brand. 

Recently, the Portuguese company chose Sealpac’s innovative FlatSkin solution to highlight a product range of cured cheeses. With this packaging system, a highly transparent barrier skin film fixates the cheese directly onto the flat cardboard carrier, which is coated with a polymeric protective layer. 

A peel tab simplifies the opening of the skin pack. After taking out the product, the thin polymeric layer is easily removed from the cardboard for separate disposal. FlatSkin combines extended shelf life with plastic reduction. It also offers “excellent” branding opportunities because the cardboard carrier can be fully printed on both sides.

“Our brand image stems from our premium products that require a long maturation period and are treated with particular care by us, but we also emphasize this with the packaging that we selected. The special FlatSkin solution preserves the aroma and sensory properties of the cheese, hence extending its shelf life,” says João Santiago, general manager at Queijos Santiago.

“In addition, the packaging is a true eye-catcher. We designed the product carriers of the current cheese selections with typical Portuguese tile prints, which have attracted a lot of attention at retail. We also use the fully printable cardboard carriers for detailed product information about our cheese specialties.”

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim