Discover your next big idea at PACK EXPO Las Vegas this September
Experience a breakthrough in packaging & processing and transform your business with solutions from 2,300 suppliers spanning all industries.
REGISTER NOW & SAVE

MAP expands German foodservice provider's map

Bauer Funken’s two modified atmosphere packaging systems pack salads, sandwiches, and other foods for the German market.

HANDY PACKAGING. An operator places prepared salads in rPET containers two-up at the infeed (above) of the Hera MAP system, also
HANDY PACKAGING. An operator places prepared salads in rPET containers two-up at the infeed (above) of the Hera MAP system, also

Bauer Funken is a family-run foodservice provider located in Kempen, Germany, about 30 miles from Düsseldorf. The company’s offerings have been a tradition in the area for more than 100 years.

“My parents, my grandparents, my great grandparents, they all were farmers just like me,” explains company president Georg Funken. “We produce a lot of foods, primarily precut salads like coleslaw, especially for commissaries.”

In 2008, the company turned to innovative new modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology to package a variety of foods using machinery from ARPAC-Hefestus USA, a joint venture between ARPAC LP (www.arpac.com) and Hefestus Ltd. (www.hefestus-slb.com).

One reason Hefestus was selected was its fast six-week turnaround time, about half that of German machinery, Funken says.

The company began with a semi-automatic Hefestus Athena SLB™ manual MAP sealing machine, started up in June 2008. That proved successful, and in August, the company followed with a larger Hera SLB™ automatic linear MAP sealing machine.

SLB stands for Shelf Life Booster and is Hefestus’ registered patent for MAP achieved without mechanical vacuum. The technology promises shelf life-extending residual oxygen levels of less than 1% while maintaining production speeds and operational simplicity.

“The Hefestus machines are good, reasonably priced machines that work quite well,” reports Funken.

The MAP machines have more than doubled the products’ shelf life from three to seven days and have permitted Funken to expand its market reach throughout Germany.

Started with salads

Researched List: Engineering Services Firms
Looking for engineering services? Our curated list features 100+ companies specializing in civil, process, structural, and electrical engineering. Many also offer construction, design, and architecture services. Download to access company names, markets served, key services, contact information, and more!
Download Now
Researched List: Engineering Services Firms
Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Take me there
Conveying Innovations Report