Flexibility & speed for long-life food products
Arla Foods Saudi Arabia is opting for a state-of-the-art CFA 812 filling machine from SIG for its long-life products in the Middle East region. The installation of the food filling technology from SIG will provide Arla with format, volume, product, and design flexibility, plus unmatched speed in its production process.
With SIG’s food filling technology, it will be the first time Arla Foods Saudi Arabia has produced and filled its food portfolio in aseptic carton packs locally. The unbreakable and lightweight aseptic carton packs are claimed to bring many advantages, including the retention of premium quality, taste, and aroma of liquid food products, plus all-natural nutrients, vitamins, flavors, and colors. The packaging material blocks out light and air, ensuring products can be stored for a long time without the need for refrigeration or preservatives.
SIG’s CFA 812 filling machine provides Arla with high flexibility without compromising on speed, with an output of 12,000 combibloc and combifit packs per hour, in volume sizes from 500 to 1,000 milliliter. In the future, there is also an opportunity to upgrade the filling machine for combistyle carton packs.
For food companies like Arla, flexibility and efficiency mean having the right production and filling set up in place, with the fastest possible changeover times for formats, volumes, and designs, plus the ability to handle multiple products. With the CFA 812 from SIG, volume change can be realized in just two minutes.
With opportunities offered by SIG’s flexible food filling technology, Arla will initially expand its local food portfolio in the Middle East region with 22 SKUs in combifitMidi 500 milliliter and 1,000-milliliter carton packs. Arla’s products will include whipped and cooking cream, tomato, bechamel, lemon, sour cheese, mushroom, and curry sauces, as well as a variety of soups.
Henrik Lilballe Hansen, vice president and managing director of Arla Foods, KSA said, “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to improve our product offering. Choosing aseptic carton packs from SIG ensures we stand out on the shelf and provide our MENA consumers with highly convenient, attractive, and sustainable packaging solutions.”
Arla Foods was particularly impressed by SIG’s unique filling and sleeve technology. SIG carton packs are delivered to customers as flat-packed sleeves with the long side already sealed. Closed at the bottom during the filling process, products are filled into the top-opening package and ultrasonically sealed above the filling level and not through the product. This prevents pieces of food from getting trapped in the sealed seam and causing leaks or contamination.
Abdelghany Eladib, president and general manager Middle East and Africa region at SIG, said, “Our flexible aseptic food filling technology will help Arla Foods to adapt to any sudden market changes and react to future consumer needs and preferences. Our carton packs are among the most sustainable packaging solutions available for food and beverages, while also being extremely efficient for transport logistics and distribution.”
The partnership between SIG and Arla Foods Saudi Arabia offers true product innovation and differentiation, delivering innovative product and packaging solutions that enable businesses to satisfy ever-changing needs.
SIG is a systems and solutions provider for aseptic carton packaging. It works in partnership with its customers to bring food and beverage products to consumers around the world in a safe, sustainable, and affordable way. Its unique technology and innovation capacity enables it to provide its customers with end-to-end solutions for differentiated products, smarter factories, and connected packs, all to address the ever-changing needs of consumers.
Sustainability is integral to its business and it is going Way Beyond Good to create a net positive food packaging system. Founded in 1853, SIG is headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland. The skills and experience of its approximately 5,900 employees worldwide enable it to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of its customers in around 70 countries. In 2020, SIG produced 38 billion carton packs and generated EUR 1.8 billion (approximately Rs 15,454 crore) in revenue. SIG has an AA ESG rating by MSCI, a 13.4 ESG Risk Rating (low risk) score from Sustainalytics and a Platinum CSR rating by EcoVadis.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.
The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.
Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.
As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.
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