IPP MAY 2014

NEWS BRIEFS + + + NEWS BRIEFS + + + NEWS BRIEFS
Rexam acquires majority stake in
Middle East beverage can maker
Rexam PLC, a leading global beverage can maker,
has signed an agreement to acquire a 51% stake in
beverage can maker United Arab Can Manufacturing
Limited (UAC) for US$122m. The transaction is
subject to regulatory approvals.
UAC makes beverage cans and can ends and is
situated in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The plant has an
annual capacity of 1.8bn cans in both standard and
specialty sizes. In 2012, the company generated
EBITDA of c $29m.
Graham Chipchase, Rexam’s Chief Executive
said: “We have spoken for some time about the
opportunities in emerging markets and I am delighted
that we are seeing our strategy bear fruit with the
acquisition of a controlling stake in United Arab Can.
Serac Group acquires 100% of
shares in Agami
The French group Serac has purchased 100% of the
shares in Agami, company located in Trappes, West of
Paris. Serac Group had acquired a minority participation
in Agami's capital in 2010. Serac Group initially
invested in Agami in order to support their groundbreaking
innovation for which they held high hopes:
manufacturing polystyrene bottles from a plastic sheet
(PS).
Serac has been supporting Agami's development,
providing an outlet for their machines and assisting in
fine tuning their design. Several machines have been
delivered for small size dairy bottles. Serac believes in
the high potential of Agami's offering, which is perfectly
compatible with Serac's strategy of diversifying into the
packaging manufacturing market.
Agami's founder, Stylianos Eleftheriou, is
appointed General Manager and will lead the Research
and Development department.
RPC joins SAVE FOOD initiative
The leading rigid plastic packaging manufacturer,
RPC Group, has joined the SAVE FOOD initiative, a
joint campaign organised by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations and Messe
Düsseldorf GmbH to highlight and fight global food
loss and waste.
The initiative now has over 100 members from
throughout the food supply chain who, through
networking events and ongoing dialogue and
discussion, aim to develop solutions to tackle the
problems of food waste. Each year, worldwide, a
third of all food is thrown away or lost, while at the
same time around 842 million people are suffering
from hunger.
SAVE FOOD was launched at Interpack 2011
and since the beginning of 2013 has also enjoyed
the support of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). To coincide with this year’s
Interpack in Düsseldorf, a SAVE FOOD Congress will
again take place on 7th and 8th May, bringing
together experts from industry, the political sphere
and civil society.
RPC says the initiative ideally complements and
supports the company’s own comprehensive
sustainability programme.
“According to Incpen, food wastage in developing
countries can be as high as 50%; whereas in the
UK only 3% goes to waste before it reaches the
shops,” comments Katherine Fleet, RPC’s Group
Sustainability Manager.
“This fact demonstrates both the challenges
involved in reducing food waste as well as the crucial
role that packaging can play in achieving this. And
this is equally important in developed countries since,
as the WRAP ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ campaign
reports, of the 7 million tonnes of food and drink
thrown away from UK homes every year, more than
half could have been eaten.
“At RPC we are committed to developing a
range of sustainable packaging solutions that help
to keep food fresher for longer and the SAVE FOOD
campaign provides the ideal forum to show both
manufacturers and consumers how they too can
make a difference.”
For more information on the SAVE FOOD initiative,
visit http://www.save-food.org.
MULTIVAC and Krehalon sign
distributionship agreement
for FormShrink films
MULTIVAC and KRE-HALON are pleased to announce
the joint agreement to distribute FormShrink thermoforming
films. In this agreement, MULTIVAC is
appointed the exclusive, authorized sales distributor of
Form-Shrink films from KREHALON Industrie. The
agreement includes many markets in Europe, Middle
East, Americas, Africa and Asia.
The FormShrink packaging solution offers a cost
effective and auto-mated alternative to shrink bag
packaging. KREHALON FormShrink films are shrinkable
thermoformable films, which were specially developed
to target the shrink bag market. MULTIVAC has
developed a comprehensive line of thermoform packaging
machinery well suited to high volume, uniformed
shaped products currently packed in shrink barrier
bags. FormShrink adds value through automation,
pack cost reduction and superior “skin tight” pack
presentation. Typical applica-tions include: sausage,
cheese, cooked or dried meats, chicken, fresh meats
and many other standardized products.
Thai newcomer turns to Sidel
for country’s first high-speed
aseptic bottling line
Sidel has installed its first complete aseptic production
line in Thailand. The installation was for a new
company set up to serve the whole southeastern
region of Asia. When Thai businessman, Pongsakorn
Pongsak established the General Beverage
Company Limited in his home country, he was
entering the beverage industry for the first time. In
doing so, he turned to Sidel for the first time too, for
the supply of a turnkey aseptic PET packaging line.
GEA procomac breaks into Indian
market for aseptic PET bottling
GEA Procomac, the GEA Group’s aseptic bottling
specialist, has recently completed the first installation
of its aseptic technology for PET bottling in India. The
installation at the Amul Dairy in Gujarat represents a
step change for the company and the Indian dairy
industry in general by improving productivity while
promising to change the image of flavoured milk drinks,
drinking yoghurt and milk shakes with young consumers
in India.
MOCON donates instruments to
the food packaging group at
University College Cork, Ireland
MOCON, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of
permeation instrumentation, has announced its
support of the Food Packaging Group, School of
Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College
Cork (UCC), Cork, Ireland.
Working in partnership with
Joe P. Kerry, Ph.D., and food
packaging technologist and
senior lecturer at UCC,
MOCON will be donating
oxygen, carbon dioxide and
water vapor permeation instrumentation as well as
package integrity test equipment and headspace
analyzers. This instrumentation will be used to
further technology and innovative packaging-based
education at the university, as well as help support
the research needs of the Irish food and packaging
industries.
“We have worked with Dr. Kerry for several years
and recognize his reputation as a leader in the field of
packaging technology,” said Doug Lindemann, vice
president, MOCON. “Providing these tools to
enhance the university’s ability to further packaging
technology in this important market is a natural
progression of our relationship.”
Stora Enso Oyj : New candy
cups stand out by design
Stora Enso and AR Packaging have jointly developed
an attractive new packaging concept for
chocolate and sweets. The specially-designed
candy cups come in several exciting shapes with a
variety of closing mechanisms. The cups have
attracted lots of interest from chocolate and candy
companies seeking innovative and appealing packaging
for eating on-the-go.
"We have been rethinking cups and packaging
and the result is a totally new packaging concept. The
unique shape and closing mechanism clearly differentiate
the candy cups from traditional cups," says Wilfried
Schmahl, Segment Development Manager for chocolate
and confectionery at Stora Enso. "The concept
offers a wide range of new marketing opportunities in
several product groups, such as salted or sweet
snacks, candies and chocolate brands. The cups are
handy to use and catch the eye with their shape and
excellent print quality."
The candy cups comprise 100% renewable raw
material. The baseboard is Stora Enso's Cupforma
Special with the sugarcane-based PE-Green coating
on the inside. The PE-Green barrier provides the necessary
protection for the contents. The cups are offset
printed to achieve high-quality print results that meet
the demands of chocolate and sweets branding.
The candy cup concept was created in cooperation
between Stora Enso's designers and AR Packaging,
who tested different cup shapes in production on
their cup machines. According to Philipp Eissner, Group
Innovation Manager at AR Packaging, the general
eat-on-the-go trend and such solutions as cup
holders in cars and on bikes call for packaging
concepts with certain characteristics.
30 Innovations in Food Processing & Packaging | May 2014 | www.innovationsfood.com