PACKAGING manufacturer Coveris has been recognised by cereal giant Weetabix with a Supplier Innovation Award.
The accolade is linked to the firm’s supply of cereal liners, Cereal+. The awards recognise suppliers who have delivered ideas and opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation.
Coveris supplies Cereal+ liner manufactured at its polyethylene extrusion site in Winsford, Cheshire, for Weetabix products including Alpen, Crunchy Bran and Weetabix Minis.
Cereal+, made from fully recyclable polyethylene for bag-in-box packaging, is manufactured using co-extrusion technology.
In a sustainability project, Coveris Winsford worked with Weetabix to downgauge its cereal liners and reduce the amount of flexible film packaging by 10%. Prior to the switch and subsequently, there were challenges packing one specific Weetabix product line owing to the cereal properties. A collaborative review resulted in a change to the Cereal+ formulation, developed and validated by Coveris’ film science lab, which resolved the challenges and reportedly achieved an uplift in packing efficiency and productivity between 87% – 149%.
Weetabix marketing director Francesca Theokli presented the award, saying, “It gives us great pleasure and huge thanks goes to Coveris for identifying opportunities for improvement and being innovative with their solutions for our business.”
Sujoy Bose, Coveris Winsford MD, commented, “We are very proud to receive the Weetabix Supplier Innovation Award 2024 recognising our efforts and proactivity supporting operational efficiencies and packaging sustainability. As a long-term supplier to Weetabix, this is a great example of a collaborative relationship with aligning performance and environmental values.
“Through our technical team, film science lab and co-extrusion capabilities, we have the technology and expertise to make innovative changes to our film formulations for maximum benefit and minimum impact, supporting our No Waste sustainability vision. Congratulations to the whole team at Coveris Winsford!”
Coveris recently announced an expansion of its barrier films capabilities to produce vacuum skin packaging (VSP) for meat, fish and dairy sectors. The expansion is supported by a multi-million pound investment including the opening of a dedicated manufacturing hall and installation of VSP conversion equipment.
