PackagingMEA (PMEA): Your participation at the Gulf Food was about recyclability and reduced plastic consumption and circular economy?
Amir Sotoudeh (AS): It’s like a complete solution. Not only the paperboard but also we need to ensure this paperboard can still maintain and enhance the shelf life and be usable in the entire process, integrating it to the thermoformer or the tray sealer. Our solution comes with 80% paper-fibre and the rest is plastic-fibre.
PMEA This means separating paper and plastic, recyclability?
AS The good part is, they can be separated.
We have a paper sheet on the paper bin and a plastic sheet on the plastic bin. It needs careful attention. It involves educating the consumer about recyclability. We see the future in this direction.
PMEA Multivac started in the ME region 2007. Since then the Middle East market has changed considerably, isn’t it?
AS Yes it has. The consumer habits have changed being influenced by hypermarkets. That’s why we have also introduced small portion packs that are less weight packages. This means reduced waste and right consumption of food.
PMEA When you talk about its technology. Are these preformed containers?
AS We have both. We have it on the roll, which can be integrated into the thermoformer. I see a lot of potential in the thermoforming market, more because it is a lot price-efficient.
We also have the capability of pre-cutting the form board, which can be packed on the tray sealer. So we
have both the technologies.
PMEA Are you displaying the forming system here at GFM?
AS No, it’s not on display at the GFM, but we certainly have it in our showroom in Dubai. We will show live demos for interested customers. In our applications centre in Germany, our customers can see the successful trials and samples.
PMEA How is your deployment? Are there supply chains for delivering material?
AS Yes we do that as an additional service through tie-ups with our partners. We supply full solutions to the customers. We generate the idea; we give them the right machine, the right material such that they have the right application for the market. This is our success in the Middle East.
PMEA At Interpack earlier in 2017, you launched the Multivac X-line thermoformer. In this market, we have many Asian players providing similar solutions. Since it’s a volume business, how do you set yourself apart from your competitors?
AS I’d say even though we have Asian players, Middle East customers are smart enough to know what is the right solution that they want, and they go with that. There could be many reasons, and one that I know of is delivering a product they want. The Asian machines fall short on that count.
PMEA Why do you say that?
AS When you look at a thermoformer, it’s not a standard machine, it’s a tailor-made solution and none of the other players are really up to the level we are.
Multivac does an in-house production of more than 1600 automatic machines per year. We have a 50% market share globally. So I will not see them as big players in the area because Middle East clients look for quality. If you see the brand leaders in every sector in the Middle East, they already have the right equipment in their facility.
PMEA What is the USP of the X-line thermoformer?
AS It delivers excellent quality with no downtime because we have a cloud connection to communicate with the machine continuously, providing the right parameters for it to function efficiently. So change of parameters does not cause any downtime. We can monitor every cycle of the process and report it back to the customer database. So they always have the live data of what’s going on, what is its downtime, what was the reason for downtime and how can it be rectified next time.
The X-line also has a lot of sensors, live communication with Multivac cloud – fully focused towards, no downtime. We are still working on it to improve especially the efficiency.
PMEA Speaking of automation, do you have any success stories of the X-line for this region?
AS We still don’t have because customers need to get really prepared for it with a good brain system in their factory or the ERP in their factory that is needed to integrate this data with. That said, a lot of companies in our region are improving in this aspect and gearing for automation.
PMEA Can you explain a bit about ‘recloseability’ of portion packs?
AS For us, the pack is a small portion pack or a single serve pack where recloseability will not come into the picture. It’s all about open and consume. This package reduces the cost. Its main aim is shelf appeal and to deliver to the consumer a safe pack until it’s consumed.
When the application is a bit different, like a sliced cheese, or sliced cold cuts, the contents can also be transferred to another container but the recloseability is an added value to the food producer to improve their brand communication. When the pack is reclosable, the pack contents need not be transferred to another container and as long as the pack is there, the brand is visible to the consumer and it stays in their mind. When you position the brand in the minds of your consumers, they will become your loyal customers. So this added value comes with a little bit more cost. These features also add the benefit of avoiding the drying of the product and maximises consumption of food.
PMEA Another feature that people are working on is MAP (Modified Atmospheric Packaging) and having breathability on the top layer for freshness. Are you also working on these lines?
AS Yes, for sure. Some products need breathability; some products like fresh meat need the anti-fog feature to maintain a clear view. We also have a technology for micro-perforated packaging so the consumer need not bother about it before microwaving the contents. This technology feature is available in-line on the machine itself. It’s called the FreshSAFE feature. This has been successful in the market because fresh products are alive and breathe and need to release their CO2 to retain colour and freshness.
PMEA Can these be calibrated?
AS Yes. It should. Depending on the surface we need to have the number of perforations to maintain their shelf life.
PMEA What kind of success have you seen with FreshSAFE?
AS We have some good customers, who already have started and are using FreshSAFE in different countries but we can still improve.