DS Smith Plastics said dairy companies are looking for ways to expand the business beyond retail shelves and many are finding growth opportunities in sizing their products for industrial culinary preparations and food industry use.
Need for specific packaging
Inalpi, based in Moretta, Italy, experienced a demand from food companies for its milk, mascarpone cheese, cream and anhydrous milk fat, however, they did not have suitable 5-20L packaging to meet their needs.
DS Smith Plastics said the new packaging had to be convenient, cost-efficient, flexible to allow quick changeovers, and reasonable in terms of initial capital investment.
In addition, the commercially-sized packaging had to ensure preservation of Inalpi’s milk quality. Barrier properties and a hygienic filling process were required to ensure maximum food safety and product quality.
Production approach
To meet the demand, the Illinois-based DS Smith Plastics’ Rapak division proposed Bag-in-Box packaging and filling equipment, including a custom designed Autokap 600 series Bag-in-Box filling system with a HEPA filter, adapted to Inalpi’s processing systems.
The Rapak Autokap 600 series is a single-head semi-automatic filling machine designed for a range of fresh or stable liquid products. It is designed for both hot and cold fill of 1.5 to 20 L bags at a lower production output.
The new packaging format allowed Inalpi to use chilled filling of product in combination with irradiated bags to achieve exceptional food safety standards.