Case Histories
Russian Central Packer and Leading Retailer Reap the Benefits of Vacuum Shrink Packaging
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Britness is a central packaging company supplying one of the leading Russian discounters, the Kopeika supermarkets.
Operating near Moscow, the company packs and prepares a daily average of 20 tons of frozen and processed meat, cheese and confectionary products for sale in self-service retail. Largely mobilized by increased retail competition, the food packer's business strategy is to diversify, increase production volumes and integrate latest food technologies.
Domestic retailers in Russia need to find ways to withstand increased competition from large foreign retail groups by improving performance and profitability. As a food packer, Britness knows how important packaging is in this effort. "If the product is poorly packed, the customer will simply ignore it, whether or not it is a premium product", explained Britness director general Sergey Khokhlachiov.
Appropriate packaging serves the essential functions of attracting consumers with an aesthetic design and convenient format, and providing retailers with the means to reduce delivery costs and increase sales.
The Solution
In 2000, seeking to reduce transport costs and improve packaging performance, Britness began working with leading food packaging specialist Sealed Air Cryovac. Several packaging solutions were tested and in July 2003, a Russian team travelled to the UK to visit Cryovac customers who were successfully using such packaging. The visit fully convinced the management to move ahead. "We have no choice but to work harder and harder, and select our partners wisely. We have begun working with Cryovac and we know we can rely on them", said Sergey Khokhlachiov.
Cryovac® BN200 permeable shrink bags were chosen to pack frozen meat in convenient consumer portions. This economic yet high performance bag offers biaxial shrink, outstanding optics, as well as high tear and puncture resistance, thanks to excellent sealability and seal strength, even at deep-freeze temperatures.
For hard cheese products, Cryovac® printed ULM top webs and TM-Ply® bottom webs were selected for their superior preservation properties along with remarkable print designs. The Cryovac® ULM series offers a lightweight film with heavy weight strengths, while the Cryovac TM-Ply® series provides a superior flexible bottom web for demanding forming applications, along with excellent sealing properties.
The Benefits
The main benefits of the new packaging solutions are safe and prolonged shelf life (thanks to barrier properties, secure seals and high mechanical resistance), which leads to transport cost savings with less frequent deliveries; and improved pack appearance, thanks to sophisticated print design, outstanding optics, and superior shrink.
For retailers, cost reductions are achieved because these packaging materials are thinner than standard thermoforming materials, while offering higher performance in terms of resistance and shelf life, which results in less product and packaging waste. "If we don't allow retailers to cut costs, they will gradually be ousted by smarter competitors", explained Sergey Khokhlachiov. In addition, attractive packs will appeal more to consumers.
Results
Cryovac provided training on equipment and materials, as well as technical support to ensure successful implementation. Since introducing the new packaging, Britness has become the first choice supplier of meat and cheese consumer packs to one of the leading retail chains in Russia.
"Cryovac packaging is the best type of modern packaging. It increases product shelf life, makes the product very attractive and aesthetically appealing. In addition to that, this packaging allows the use of eye catching and appetizing design - the printed image on the pack is very similar to the real product. All these benefits attract the customer and serve as motivation for him to buy the product that is packed in a new way", said Sergey Lomakin, General Director of Kopeika chain of supermarkets.
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