THE pack quality, accuracy and consistency delivered by an Ishida multihead weigher, bagmaker (Integrated Total Packing System (iTPS) and DACS checkweigher are reportedly helping start-up crisp brand Simply Roasted to ‘shake up snacking’.
Simply Roasted crisps are baked at the company’s factory in Norfolk. The company says this process, rather than frying the crisps in hot oil, delivers the same levels of crunch and flavour but with reduced fat, calories and salt.
Stuart Monk, Simply Roasted’s MD, believes one of the challenges for new brands is to build and maintain consumer confidence. Therefore, consistent pack quality and excellent seals are ‘critical’.
“With a new product, you literally get one chance to put it in front of consumers, so if the bag isn’t sealed properly or has a small leak, then our crisps may become stale and that creates a poor first impression which is unlikely to lead to a repeat purchase,” he said. “Our investment in Ishida equipment and the consistent quality seals that it delivers has therefore been very important in enabling us to build brand integrity and loyalty.”
During the firm’s first years of operation, the war in Ukraine affected the price and supplies of cooking oil, while high inflation and major increases in energy prices impacted on input costs.
“Again, as a new business, we took the decision that we could not pass these price increases onto our consumers, so we initially had to absorb them,” Stuart added. “Now with the Ishida system running at around three times the speed of our previous bagmaker, while delivering excellent accuracy and minimal giveaway, we can pack more product into more packs and these improved efficiencies have enabled us to claw back some of these costs. So, we are continuing to maintain our prices at a time when many competitors are increasing theirs.”
The INSPIRA iTPS comprises an Ishida CCW-RV 14-head multihead weigher and INSPIRA rotary bagmaker. At Simply Roasted, it is handling the company’s two pack sizes of 21.5g and 93g across seven flavours at speeds of 80 bags per minute (bpm) for the smaller size and 60bpm for the larger – well within its top speed of 120bpm.
The INSPIRA bagmaker features motor and drive technology designed to improve positional jaw control at the point of sealing, while Ishida’s rotary back seal band technology ensures ‘excellent’ back seals.
Ishida revealed that changeovers involving the same flavour can be carried out in around five minutes while the machine’s open construction means a changeover between flavours with a manual wash-down can be undertaken in around an hour, compared to up to three hours with the previous bagmaker.
The DACS-GN-SE012 checkweigher provides a final pack weight check. It features an intuitive display and Ishida’s proprietary Anti-Floor-Vibration (AFV) technology.
“The Ishida system is the Rolls Royce of bagmakers,” concluded Stuart Monk. “Ultimately, what all its features and benefits have brought us is peace of mind. Whether sending out samples to a retailer or a potential investor, or fulfilling an online order, we can have the confidence that there is nothing wrong with the packaging.”
