Vegeterian food manufacturer Wholebake faced a challenge when it needed to handle multi-packed products, including flapjacks and high-energy bars, in a new packaging format.

The company’s mix of automated and traditional bakery means that production capability can range from short runs to 40,000 bars a day, and it therefore required a flexible machine that could also cope with high volume.

So it turned to Leeds-based PFM Packaging Machinery to find a solution for this latest dilemma. PFM recommended its Swift flowrapper and this has now been installed at the Wholebake site, based in Corwen, North Wales.

FAST MOVER

This latest piece of equipment can operate at up to 100 products per minute and has allowed the company to bring the new multi-packed packaging, previously contracted out, in-house. The move has allowed Wholebake to upgrade its packaging and has resulted in substantial savings in labour costs, says PFM. As well as operating at high speed, the Swift flowrapper also provides ease of use with accuracy and reliability, claims the firm.

Wholebake, initially formed in 1984 in a small farmhouse kitchen, now employs 25 staff and operates from a 15,000sq ft factory with two production lines. Previous purchases from PFM comprised a PFM 50 flowrapper, supplied and installed in April 1989, and a PFM Hurricane flowrapper, installed in March 1997.

VEGETARIAN DEMAND

Wholebake’s products are approved by both the Organic Food Federation and the Vegetarian Society and are available in retail stores nationwide including one of the UK’s leading supermarkets. The company prides itself on installing the best possible technology to handle the ever-increasing demand for healthy vegetarian meals and snacks.

Founder and director Steve Jones says: "I would certainly recommend PFM. We have again received very good service, with a cost-effective solution that perfectly suited our flowrapping needs."

Responding, PFM’s sales and operations director, Chris Bolton says: "The flowrapper purchased by Wholebake is an extremely versatile, compact and reliable machine, capable of running at a higher speed than many of its market rivals, so it was the perfect choice to meet the company’s requirements."

The Swift flowrapper is just one of a range of over 40 machines from PFM including multihead weighers, horizontal and vertical form fill and seal packaging machines. n