Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - December 2008 - (Page 40)

Production Technology them with eye-catching graphics that jump off the shelf. The only challenge is on the production ﬂoor where plant managers want to do all of this on one machine to streamline costs and reduce overhead. “The trend that we see over the last 18 to 24 months involves a continued request to do different bag formats on a vertical form/ﬁll/seal (VFFS) machine,” says Jeff Almond, industry manager of snack food packaging for Heat and Control, Hayward, Calif. To get placed in the produce section today, for instance, croutons need to come in block-bottom bags. To get special treatment, Almond adds, these products need to offer something beyond the ordinary, or they’ll get relegated next to the bottles of salad dressings and bacon bits in the middle of the store. “The trend that we’re spending the most time on recently is trying to do different package styles on a conventional machine,” he explains. “The reason it’s important to these companies is the investment is signiﬁcant to go to a horizontal machine where you have a certain style of pouch. It’s about three times the cost of a [VFFS] machine. Anything that we can do on the vertical side to help them with their existing assets and give them different types of packages is what we are working on.” Photo courtesy of Arr-Tech Fits to a T To target different consumers, bakers and snack producers need to fashion their products in every shape and size. That’s no problem for the latest slicing and bagging systems, which can portion and package almost everything while hardly missing a beat. By Dan Malovany Willing to Pay More Although the economy has slowed, the typical U.S. consumer during the past couple of years has been willing to pay a price for custom products, many of which come in specially designed packaging, says Matt Stanford, vice president of Bettendorf Stanford, Salem, Ill. “With so many baked goods in the market today, we ﬁnd lots of small- and medium-sized bakers differentiating themselves through new portioning and packaging materials,” he says. The constant rollout of new products and brand expansions require faster changeovers, increased machine versatility and a greater number of packaging styles, I n the end, it’s all about the impulse purchase. For dieters, cookie producers began cranking out 100-calorie packs a few years back, and in the end, everyone followed suit. Even Hostess Twinkies Bites now come in a portion-controlled package. For the wine and cheese crowd, specialty cracker manufacturers are rolling out a number of new premium items in multicolored, stand-up pouches. Baked snack companies, likewise, are going after the health-conscious with whole grain crisps and multigrain pretzels in resealable bags. Like fashion designers searching for the next craze, bakers and snack producers are dressing up their products for the deli, snack aisle, convenience stores, natural food grocers, high-end retailers and every eating occasion by using a plethora of packaging formats, and they’re designing 40 Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - DECEMBER 2008 www.snackandbakery.com http://www.snackandbakery.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - December 2008

Snack Food &�Wholesale Bakery - December 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Now, That’s Haute! Bigger ‘n’ Better But Is It Art? New Products Branching Out Engineering Management Fits to a T Racing to the Finish The Final Word

Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - December 2008

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