End-of-line Packaging

A Feature Film
in the Making:

Heinz’s ‘Superbeans’ Star

in Shrink Pack Project

By Helmut Rath

M
OST people associate the name Heinz with at least one basic food
product, be it ketchup, sauces, canned goods, ready-to-serve meals
or baby food. Heinz products are available in more than 200 coun-
tries worldwide, usually occupying market-leading positions.
The company was established in 1869 by Henry John Heinz. It entered
the European market in 1905 with the distribution of Heinz products in
Great Britain. Since then, Heinz has become part of family life in the
United Kingdom. Today, Heinz brand products including sandwiches,
soups, pasta dishes, baked beans, cakes and baby food are produced at
eight production facilities in Britain. The largest Heinz production loca-
tion in the UK and at the same time the largest food canning facility world-
A successful venture wide is at Kitt Green near the city of Manchester. The facility focuses on
into the world of films canning baked beans, soups, bean & pasta meals and baby food.
marks Heinz’s
‘Hollywood project’ at “Good Food Every Day”
In Great Britain and indeed worldwide, Heinz products are positioned
the world’s largest food
in the premium range. The Heinz brand stands for quality, innovation at
canning facility in all levels, and healthy nutrition – a message that is communicated with
Manchester, UK. This the slogan “Good Food Every Day”. Only recently, the sugar and salt con-
premiere was made tent of Heinz baked beans, spaghetti and soups has been reduced further.
possible thanks to a Over the last 10 years, Heinz has consistently reduced the salt and sugar
partnership in test level of its products, in order to slowly accustom consumers to a healthier
new taste experience.
marketing with
Another facet of innovation at Heinz is the continuous development of
KHS Kisters. new recipe ideas. Thanks to Heinz campaigns, baked beans, for example,
are no longer just an accompaniment for breakfast. Baked beans now go

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End-of-line Packaging
with salad, chicken and fish – a wide range of recipe
variants have emerged including, for example, baked
bean bruschetta – expanding the culinary range of this
“superbean” for consumers. “Superbean” is also the
motto of the current marketing campaign that demon-
strates that the Heinz baked bean is indeed a
“superbean”. Dietary fibres, magnesium, iron and many
other nutrients – these are all available in Heinz baked
beans, which also contain very little fat and are cho-
lesterol-free.
Heinz gets into films: The ‘Hollywood project’
Product quality is one vital aspect of a good busi-
ness. The presentation of Heinz products at the point
of sale is another. Goods have to be attractive in order
to steer the communication between the brand and the
consumer in the right direction. Shrink packaging was
recently introduced to facilitate this kind of communi-
cation.
While the beverage industry has been using shrink
pack solutions for some time, this technology was not
widely applied by the food industry in Britain. Heinz
is one of the first food companies in the UK to use
shrink packs for printed brand film. The company’s
final decision for a ‘film solution’ was preceded by a
creative programme that was affectionately dubbed the
‘Hollywood project.’
The Hollywood project was one without leading
roles, requiring ensemble teamwork instead – between
Heinz, KHS Kisters, the film producer as well as cus-
tomers. The first question that had to be addressed was:
How would consumers react to Heinz products in shrink
The output of the two new Innopack SP shrink pack systems from KHS
Kisters at Heinz’s Kitt Green plant is 120 cycles/minute.
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA FEB/MARCH 2005
“The Hollywood project,” says Simon Partridge,
Heinz project manager, “confirmed that KHS Kisters
is the Rolls-Royce of packaging technology.”
packs? Only a market test could provide accurate an-
swers to this question. But how was Heinz to proceed
without an associated shrink pack machine? One thing
was clear for Heinz: Before investing in an idea, it first
had to be approved by customers and consumers alike.
On this basis, Heinz and KHS Kisters developed a
unique joint strategy: 54 pallets of Heinz baked beans
were delivered to the KHS Kisters factory in Kleve.
At the same time, five Heinz employees arrived in or-
der to unpack the cans and subsequently put through
them the Innopack SP shrink packer made available
by KHS Kisters. The result: A market test in Britain
involving 30,000 shrink packs.
The result was convincing. In a
direct comparison between the tra-
ditional multi-pack carton solution
and the new shrink pack solution,
the majority of consumers chose the
shrink pack as the more attractive
option. This consumer preference
for the shrink pack resulted in
Heinz’s decision to implement the
KHS Kisters solution. Simon Par-
tridge, Heinz project manager, said:
“At our Kitt Green plant, we already
had a total of 15 KHS Kisters pack-
ing machines, and we are tradition-
ally very satisfied with the machin-
ery from KHS Kisters. Because of
this and because KHS Kisters as a
trusted partner were very helpful for
the Hollywood project we decided
to invest in two new KHS Kisters
shrink packers”.
 End-of-line Packaging

Heinz’s relationship with The respective product

KHS Kisters dates back to groups are then fed to a drag
the early 1980s. At that time, chain to bring the can forma-
one of the main trends in the tions in the machine pitch.
beverage and food trade was The units thus formed are
a move away from enclosed fed towards the film cutter
secondary carton packaging station. Via a vacuum con-
towards tray shrink packs. veyor system, film from the
During this process, KHS lower part of the machine
Kisters had already success- travels towards the product
fully acted as a “companion formation. The vacuum is
for innovation”. created via a special fan. An
electronically controlled
Shrink packs offer dancer ensures optimum
aesthetic benefits film tension. A servomotor
and cost savings is used for driving the reels
In addition to the modern of plastic film. The film
image and high attractive- wrapping process is adapted
ness of shrink packs as con- to the particular product
firmed by British consumers, packing height and length.
film packaging has further The printed films are posi-
general benefits. One deci- tioned exactly by servo
sive advantage is significant drives and special sensory
cost savings. Compared to equipment.
multi-pack cartons, packag- After it is wrapped in
ing costs can be minimised. The shrink pack solution offers numerous film, the pack is conveyed to
Added to this is the argument advantages. In addition to minimised packaging the shrink tunnel by a speed
costs, these include high packaging stability and
of environmental friendli- environmental friendliness. compensation belt. This
ness based on the lower speed control is necessary in
weight of the secondary packaging materials. Moreo- order to adapt the speed of the packs from the machine
ver, the packaging is very stable. This not only makes speed to the shrink tunnel speed without exerting ex-
transport easier, but it is also more difficult to remove cessive strain on the loose plastic film wrapper.
individual cans from the compact shrink pack. From a The first step in the shrink tunnel is to seal the sec-
marketing point of view, shrink packs facilitate numer- tions of film underneath the pack. In a further step, the
ous design variants. Both unprinted film or a variety pack is inflated with hot air at controlled temperatures
of printed films may be used alone or in combination. so that the subsequent shrinking process can be initi-
ated. The temperatures in the shrink tunnel are adapted
Shrink packing at 120 cycles per minute to the quality of the particular film and to the size of
The output of the new Innopack SP shrink pack sys- the pack.
tems from KHS Kisters is 120 cycles/minute. The two In addition to the machine equipment, KHS Kisters
shrink packers process 16 oz (453.6 g) cans and wrap also supplied packaging material know-how, in this
them to produce 4- or 6-packs. The shrink pack sys- case for choosing the appropriate shrink pack film
tems are flexible and enable further options to be im- material. The film quality and thickness required for
plemented at a later stage, if required by Heinz. These this Heinz application was reliably assessed based on
machines can easily handle additional can sizes or dif- extensive practical tests at the KHS Kisters plant.
ferent can shapes, for example. Parameters for new
formats can be entered via the operator panel. Modularity permits insertions, shrink pads
The Innopack SP shrink pack system from KHS and user friendliness
Kisters basically operates as follows: As they enter the The new KHS Kisters shrink packers are equipped
machine, the cans are distributed to lanes by funnel- for the integration of three insert function units into
shaped guide rails according to the accumulation prin- the production process. If Heinz – at some point in the
ciple. They are initially divided into product groups future – were to decide to include thin products such
by a servo-controlled grouping unit. as phone cards or CDs into the shrink pack, this would

FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA FEB/MARCH 2005

End-of-line Packaging

then shrink-wrapped and moved

through the shrink tunnel.
All new KHS Kisters machines
feature a modular design. The modu-
lar construction further simplifies line
conversion measures. By adding ap-
propriate modules, each shrink packer
can thus easily be converted to a pad
shrink packer or a tray shrink packer.
At the same time, pad shrink packers
or tray packers can also be converted
to tray shrink packers. Consistent de-
velopment of the KHS Kisters pack-
aging technology according to the
modular concept also allows for low
spare part stocks as a large number of
machines parts are standardised. Op-
erating personnel also become famil-
iar with different machines quickly
due to their identical control functions.
“Our operators are particularly enthu-
siastic about this simplicity, which
ensures high availability and offers
short learning curves,” says Simon
Partridge of Heinz.

Success through targeted

simplicity
Mr Partridge adds: “Thanks to in-
novative packaging technology from
KHS Kisters, the Hollywood project
has become a real “star project”. Once
again, we were confirmed in our opin-
ion that KHS Kisters is the Rolls-
Royce of packaging technology.”
Apart from big projects such as
The new KHS Kisters Innopack TSP tray shrink pack system, which Heinz’s “Hollywood film”, KHS
combines two trays to form a twin unit prior to film wrapping. Kisters also installed at Kitt Green in
parallel a new tray shrink pack system.
be possible without problems through the integration This involved the new Innopack TSP tray shrink packer,
of the insertion system module and with only minor which combines two trays to form a unit before they
modifications to the rest of the machine. are jointly wrapped in film.
An existing KHS Kisters pad shrink packer dating Over a century ago, Henry John Heinz coined a
back to 1987, which used to act as a tray shrink packer, guiding principle that remains applicable to this day:
is installed downstream of the two KHS Kisters ma- “To do a common thing uncommonly well brings suc-
chines. The conversion was achieved quickly, demon- cess.” This philosophy, which has accompanied Heinz
strating the high flexibility even of the older machines. as it grew into one of the world’s top food companies,
In the pad shrink packer, the shrink packs are trans- in one that complements KHS Kisters’ own approach
ferred – after an appropriate gap is formed by the di- of providing targeted simplicity in the optimal execu-
vider unit – via drag chains directly to the pad sup- tion of vital operations.
plied from the lower part of the machine. Each pack Enquiry No: 037
has room for 24 cans. Either six 4-packs or four 6-
packs can therefore be placed on a pad. The packs are Helmut Rath is Manager of KHS Ltd, UK.

FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA FEB/MARCH 2005