From farm to table, the food industry is working hard to deliver healthier eating and sustainable production processes.
Italian companies have long been leaders in the crafting of equipment to make high-quality food products. Today they’ve taken a similar leadership role in making healthy and sustainable products and packaging for the food processing industry.
Compostable Packaging
OMNIA Packaging Inc., the new Canadian subsidiary of the family-owned Sunino Group SpA, is a one-stop provider of innovative and sustainable packaging. This family-owned business is based in Castellamonte (province of Turin), Italy, and has been providing packaging solutions for many generations.
By leveraging the experience and expertise of the Sunino Group – which extends to several markets worldwide and counts a half-century of production – Omnia Packaging Inc. is poised to expertly serve the North American market packaging sector.
Omnia Packaging Inc. is the Sunino Group’s 11th industrial plant. Its 90,000 sq. ft. facility in Guelph, Ontario, was completed in September 2022. The company has two divisions for plastic and paper packaging solutions: Omnia Plastic and Mustang by Omnia Packaging.
It is now essential to deliver a functional product that is sustainable as well as cost effective. Omnia Packaging Inc. bridges that gap by offering sustainable, highly performing packaging solutions in paper and plastic through its brands. The Sunino Group had always prioritized sustainability; in Europe the company’s Italian parent company, Plastic Legno, received the ISCC Certification for recycled content in Q4 2022.
The Sunino family has specialized for more than half a century in injection plastic molding. It is the third largest worldwide supplier of the Ferrero Group and covers several sectors: food packaging, toys, sport accessories and gifting. Leveraging this expertise is providing Omnia Plastic with the same ability to produce high-precision, injection molded packaging solutions in plastic.
Through Omnia Plastic in Canada, the company will bring streamlined production, cost efficiency, highly repeatable and reliable processes, as well as design customization. Omnia Plastic will start mass producing its first plastic tubs by end of July 2023, focusing on reduced plastic use, with lighter walls and no tamper-evident closure, only top sealable tubs and interchangeable lids in several sizes.
Omnia Packaging has also acquired exclusive rights to an innovative technology designed and patented in Italy, Mustang Machine, that thermoforms and heat seals paper trays without the use of any glue. Its paper trays are made of virgin paper; customers can also ask for FSC paper.
Paper sheets are die cut and printed without using any oil or chemical derivatives, then thermo formed and heat sealed in paper trays used for fresh produce. This compostable, eco-friendly paper packaging will be used for fresh fruit and vegetables. The top-sealable trays guarantee freshness and shelf life for organic, conventional and greenhouse grown fresh produce. Virgin paper allows for the production of a sustainable packaging solution that is sturdy, clean, humidity-resistant and stackable.
The company will also produce IML in polypropylene using the same material for tubs, lids and labeling. The first available containers for local production will be applicable to the dairy sector, along with several open molds to provide sustainable packaging solutions for dips, sauces, soups and confectionary products. Omnia Packaging has exclusive rights for Canada and can support Canadian growers and packers operating in the Americas.
Omnia Packaging’s new facility in Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Better Drying
STALAM SpA has introduced its ARIES radio frequency (RF) dryer for industrial bakery or confectionery applications. It has been specially developed to remove excess moisture from food substrates in minutes, becoming superior technological solution for quality drying processes in many categories of food products.
RF drying is particularly suitable for bakery products (biscuits, wafers, cream puffs, crackers, rusks, etc.), unlike drying with traditional ovens, which are difficult and not very effective due to the formation of a crust during baking, surface browning and high process costs. It guarantees perfect and totally uniform drying in a few minutes without causing browning or coloration of the product. It also increases shelf-life and reduces the risk of cracks and fractures in the products.
The introduction of Aries equipment in bakery production guarantees outstanding benefits compared to traditional ovens, including higher product quality and easy integration into any production line. Aries also increases productivity, reduces operating costs and improves process control.
Stalam has also introduced a food defroster for the rapid tempering and defrosting of meat, alternative proteins, seafood, vegetables and other food products. The compact Coldwave+ achieves defrosting in minutes rather than hours/days, even for large product blocks and, if necessary, directly inside packaging used for storage (carton boxes, polyethylene bags, etc.).
The process speed and uniformity minimize product degradation. There’s no deterioration of sensorial, chemical or physical properties. Defrosting is carried out continuously, with significant logistics advantages in product handling and production scheduling.
Aries system at the post-baking stage
Transforming Grains
RE PIETRO Srl, founded in Milan over 90 years ago, has developed the Popping Machine RO-EVO to transform cereals (like rice, corn, wheat and buckwheat and legumes) into puffed cakes or very thin popped and no-fried snacks to meet growing consumption trends.
Using the new popping machine adds value to the raw material, maintaining its taste and freshness, and also offers customers a product with a wide choice of flavors and shapes. As a healthy alternative to conventional bread, they provide a versatile carbohydrate supply during meals, a crunchy snack or a decoration for dishes and desserts.
Once a mold has been chosen and installed, the popping machine consistently transforms cereals and/or micro-pellets into cakes or snacks. Its efficiency and flexibility allow it to produce a wide range of products as required, using only one press. The machine is equipped with a hydraulic system that produces the high pressure needed for expansion of the cereals or micro-pellets. From the HMI it is possible to set up each production phase, to save the recipes and check any malfunction using an efficient diagnostic system.
Supporting the Industry
A number of Italian trade associations provide guidance and support for the companies involved in creating equipment for the global food industry. These associations include: ASSOFOODTEC / UCMA, the Italian Association of Machinery and Plant Manufacturers for Food Production, Processing, and Preservation, and FEDERUNACOMA, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation. These associations and their member companies work to build awareness about the quality and productivity of Italian-made equipment in North American and global markets.
The continually evolving advance of electronic technologies into Italian agricultural and food processing equipment is improving the quality of the food we eat, the choices we have as consumers, the sustainability of the food processing and packaging machines the industry uses, and the productivity of food and beverage processors. More than 90 percent of the machines created by this Italian industry segment are now exported around the world.
Preserving health through healthy eating
Arden Zinn always believed that you are what you eat, and that eating fresh and natural foods would make you feel better physically and mentally. When she founded Arden’s Garden, she was dedicated to producing juices and extracts from all types of fruit and vegetables.
She turned to SMI SpA the Italian maker of the ASW 50 F Ergon automatic shrink wrapper, to help realize her dream and protect her natural 100% cold-pressed juices, which are made without adding preservatives, water, dyes and sugars. But live juices must be extracted in the correct way, using extractors capable of keeping their properties active.
Arden’s Garden produces a wide range of cold-pressed juices, a system that does not use heat, oxygen or other pasteurization methods that can damage the nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. The Atlanta-based company also makes other foods, such as raw, nutrient-rich vegan snacks made with nuts, rolled oats, kale, cashews, almonds, peanut butter and chocolate.
Since Arden’s death in 2020, her daughter, Leslie, has continued her mother’s legacy. Arden’s Garden is also focused on environmental sustainability. In the manufacture of smoothies, for example, straws are not required as the containers have lids with spouts. Plastic containers and bottles used by the company can be recycled.
To meet the needs of such a varied production, the company uses the latest generation SMI systems, which are flexible and adaptable to the needs of a constantly evolving market, using innovative technical solutions that allow simple, fast and economical format changes. The compact shrink wrapper installed at the Arden’s Garden plant easily adapts to end-of-line logistics conditions. It is equipped with a single lane infeed system and includes a film cutting unit with direct drive motorization that improves cutting precision and simplifies maintenance.
Atlanta is also home to SMI USA INC., the subsidiary of SMI SpA that since 1999 has been present in the United States to meet the needs of customers in North America.
SMI equipment and Arden’s Garden cold-pressed juices
Filed Under: Sponsored Content
