Volpak equips Ecuador-based food producer Incremar with pouch machinery
22 Aug 2023 --- Coesia Group’s Volpak has met Ecuador-based food producer Incremar’s needs for processing products of different weights and characteristics by supplying a specifically designed machine for packaging soup sachets, which is configurable to other products.
Volpak’s SL 170 machine, which operates a single reel of flexible packaging material, forms a pouch, fills the packaging and seals it. It addresses Incremar’s requirement for producing sturdy packaging while, at the same time, allowing practical opening and easy content access.
Incremar’s locally well-known brands, such as Tapiokita baby food, Miss Caty soups and Mulalò soy drinks, focus on quality processes throughout its supply chain, including origin and production lines. The company specializes in baby food, soups, banana and soybean meals, oat flakes, maize and soy-based beverage preparations.
“The post-COVID-19 effect, which saw prolonged periods of lockdown where people cooked at home, has revived home consumption of easy-to-prepare foods with high nutritional value, such as soups, rice and cereals,” states Volpak.
“The pouch is the ideal form of packaging for this: It is by nature flexible, easy to handle and durable, being able to be used for packaging a wide range of food products, solid and liquid. For this reason, it is the form chosen by Incremar for marketing its products.”
Volpak SL 170 is equipped with an auger filler suitable for packaging powder products.
Matching packaging to product
Volpak stresses that to produce quality food, optimizing and improving production efficiency is necessary. “As demand grew, Incremar felt the need to improve production capacity and reduce manufacturing times and operational load. Foods such as noodles, rice, cereals and maize are characterized by different weights and volumes and require a solution to ensure sturdy and practical packaging in all cases and convincing aesthetics.”
As such, Volpak provided its SL 170, equipped with an auger filler suitable for packaging powdered products such as banana flour and a volumetric filler dedicated to packaging solids such as cereals and maize.
Due to its flexibility, the company says the SL 170 can also use different kinds of packaging films – from the standard heat-sealable to 100% recyclable. The machine also features the latest “Optimate” Coesia smart and intuitive HMI version, providing low operating and maintenance costs.
“The first months of the machine’s operation revealed great efficiency and productivity that lived up to expectations without giving rise to any problems. The installation of the Volpak machine has contributed to the containment of personnel costs and the reduction of downtime, helping to increase the company’s overall efficiency index,” shares Volpak.
Furthermore, there are plans to install other units within the Ecuadorian company’s facilities to deliver solutions focused on flexibility and working from a partnership perspective.
Edited by Radhika Sikaria
