The Irish dairy co-operative Lakeland Dairies produces StickPacks for UHT milk using machinery manufactured by IMA Hassia. The technological leader in FFA processes for StickPacks delivers its third SAS-series forming, filling and sealing machine to Ireland shortly.
The market for StickPacks continues to grow rapidly. They are extremely easy for consumers to handle and manufacturers benefit from lower material costs. Compared to conventional cups, they can reduce a producer's packaging needs by up to 50 percent. This has a positive influence on storage capacity, transport volumes, and the occurrence of waste, as well.
These are the reasons that Ireland's second-largest dairy co-operative is also increasingly turning to this consumer-friendly packaging. Lakeland Dairies has already had its second aseptic StickPack FFS machine manufactured by IMA Hassia for packaging ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk installed to its production site in Killeshandra. The machines run in three-shift operation with 12 lanes and produce 43,000 StickPacks per hour, each. A further aseptic StickPack machine has been orders just now.
The machine sterilizes the flat foil on all sides using active packaging degermination (germs eradicated >log 5) and feeds it into the sterile area. A cutter then notches the foil in strips through to the seal layer. The packaging is subsequently formed into duplex StickPacks under sterile conditions using a special forming shoulder and then sealed on three sides. Lastly the StickPacks are filled with UHT milk, also in the sterile area, using dosing equipment specific to the product.
