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Achieving options and operations advantages

Dutch meat processor improves packaging efficiency and flexibility to meet growing, changing product demands.

vital versatility. The vertical flow-packer offers versatility to produce a broad range of bag widths and lengths.
vital versatility. The vertical flow-packer offers versatility to produce a broad range of bag widths and lengths.

Giebels Meat Products, Helmond, Holland, is a processor and packer of top-quality sausages, spare ribs, and ready-to-heat-and-eat packaged meals for the retail consumer market. The Helmond plant produces a total of 3군 kg per hour (about 7귔 lb)—including 1ꯠ kg per hour of sausages, 1겨 kg per hour of spare ribs, and 1겨 kg per hour of ready meals.

In 2005, Giebels recognized the expanding marketing opportunities in the ready-meals category and decided to invest in new packaging equipment to accommodate a line of bag-packed, frozen ready-meal products. The new product line includes chicken- and beef-based selections packaged in six different bag sizes to serve both consumer and foodservice markets.

Choosing the right equipment

For its previous heat-and-eat packaged meals, Giebels had been using a thermoform/fill/seal tray packaging system. But with the tray system, Giebels estimated that more than 20 packs per hour on average had either defects or weight inaccuracies. These incidents resulted in production interruptions and increased labor requirements to rectify the situation.

“We have virtually eliminated the packing defects and weight inaccuracies.”

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