DELICIOUS PROSPECTS IN INSTANT FOOD PACKAGING WITH NICHROME

 

In India, and indeed, across Asia, we witness a transformational growth in the packaged food and instant food industry over the past decade or so.

Populous economies like ours are fuelling this growth owing to changing lifestyles, increasing numbers of working professionals and greater disposable incomes. Ready-to-eat instant foods are preferred as they require minimal time to cook and offer great variety. What is more, instant packaged foods have longer shelf life, so they are easy to stock and enjoy on-the-go.

With the current pandemic sweeping India, the instant food market is expected to grow further. With restaurants closed, people working-from-home, and hygiene more important than ever before, packaged instant foods offer convenience, variety of flavours and contamination-free quality for consumers.

POPULAR PACKAGED INSTANT FOODS

Packaged instant foods covers a wide gamut of products. Some of the most popular ones include:

Instant noodles
These have become extremely popular across India. Convenience and economic value have made instant noodlesa household favourite in cities, towns and villages.

Instant breakfasts
From ready-to-cook savoury oats and porridge to muesli and cornflakes; from instant idli/dosa batter to instant upma and poha - Indian retail shelves offer the consumer a range of foods to pick from.

RTE/RTC/RTS foods
Ready-to-eat and ready-to-serve foods include processed meats, chicken products, curries, parathas, chapatis,and cooked foods like palak-paneer, dal makhani, chana masala, rice dishes, etc. that consumers just heat and eat.Ready-to-cook includes cake mixes, pudding mix, gulab-jamun mix, dhokla mix, soup powders, gravy masalas, etc.

Sweet/Savoury snacks
India loves to snack! And products such as namkeen, mithai, kachori, etc. are to be found in every Indian home. When packaged well, they become attractive on-the-go food options.

NICHROME'S INSTANT FOOD PACKAGING SOLUTIONS

Nichrome is India's leading food packaging machine manufacturer, with expertise built up over four decades in the industry.

Nichrome's efficient R&D and understanding of Indian food products is matched by their cutting-edge technology and manufacturing capabilities.

Whether you want to pack mithai or biryani in airtight, thermoformed trays using MAP technology, vacuum-pack breakfast cereals, noodlesor dry snacks in flexible pouches, or package RTE/RTC foods in eye-catching stand-up packs - Nichrome has a solution for you.

Nichrome's automatic packaging machines for instant foods are all built sturdy and compact. Theyare easy to clean and maintain, and provide fast, accurate and hygienic packaging of the highest global standards. Besides its own Pick-Fill-Seal machine that uses versatile Rotary technology, to conveniently pack a wide variety of ready-to-eat foods, Nichrome offers Athena, thermoformingtray sealing machines from Tecnovac, Italy. Athena is able to seal, pack in a protective atmosphere (vacuum + gas) or with “Skin effect” all types of trays or jars.

The modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) machine extracts oxygen & carbon dioxide from the air of the trays, synchronously filling them with nitrogen or mixed air, to ensure that food does not deteriorate. Then the tray is well sealed. Ready to eat meals packed in modified atmosphere packages are guaranteed to stay fresh for at least 72 hours.

Nichrome also offers a range of HFFS machines for different food products.  With their new-gen linear technology, these horizontal form fill seal machines will bring a unique versatility and efficiency to your food packaging operations.

Discuss your instant food packaging requirements with Nichrome. For enterprises big and small, in India and abroad, Nichrome partners to add value through the entire lifecycle. Nichrome studies the customer’s requirements, goals and application challenges to deliver innovative food packaging solutions that will protect the purity of the product, improve time-to-market, and enhance the retail value of the brand.

Easysnap® single-dose units for liquid and semi-liquid products

Revolutionary one hand opening, single-dose pack for liquid & semi-liquid products 

Easysnap®  is the new worldwide standard for single dose units of liquid products, offering convenience, easy one hand opening, complete dispensing of contents and on-the-go mobility. 

Nichrome, India's leading player in integrated packaging solutions, is a company committed to providing cutting edge packaging technology for Indian industry. Pursuing this passion, Nichrome has joined hands with Easysnap Technology of Italy to bring their worldwide patented packaging to India. 

Innovative one hand opening & dispensing system  It is a single-dose packet that opens itself when you fold it in half. No need to tear, to peel or to unscrew caps… Easysnap®  opens and dispenses product with only one hand; just fold and squeeze. It is ideal for packing all liquid and semi-liquid products. 

Packing in single-dose Easysnap®  packages is safe for consumers (always correct doses and easy to take), sustainable for the environment (reducing waste of excess product), useful for manufacturers (easy to deliver and distribute). 

Eight reasons why Easysnap® is the smarter packaging solution  

1.It is easy 

Easysnap®  opens with one hand only, without efforts. It is suitable for children, elderly and disabled people and all conditions, it is universal. 

2. It offers handy, on-the-go mobility 

Easysnap®  can be transported individually in your pocket or handbag or in greater quantities in packs without the risk of leakage or of being compressed. It has a semi-rigid bottom which is unbreakable unless folded over 90 percent. 

3.It is cheap and ecologic 

Easysnap®  has lower production costs compared to bottles, jars or thermoformed unit dose packaging, does not disperse any residue and is more easily recyclable. 

4. It is smart 

Easysnap® has an ergonomic design, versatile and stylish, which you can customize in form and graphics for better branding and retail appeal. 

5.It is hygienic and clean 

Easysnap®  dispenses the content in a clear and accurate way, there is no risk of spills or contamination of the product. There is no product contamination while opening and dispensing. 

6. It is safe for consumers  Easysnap® always delivers precise doses and is easy to administer - especially important in pharma products. 

7. It minimises wastage Easysnap® is designed to ensure that 98% contents dispensed, so there is less wastage and consumers can be more certain about quantity of contents used. 

8. It is beneficial for manufacturers Easysnap® is easy to customise, brand, deliver and distribute. The stylish pack boosts brand image, and the no-spill, no-contamination advantage makes smart business sense. 

Designed for food, cosmetic, pharma & chemical industries  Easysnap® allows no air inside and offers 100% barrier properties to maintain product integrity. Easysnap Technology can replace the production of any conventional portion pack container, including small cups, small bottles and tubes, with content from 1 to 30 ml, with many advantages in term of flexibility and production cost for units. 

Easysnap Technology machineries are designed and certified for food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.  The list of applications is endless:  

Food: ketchup, salad dressing, jam, syrups, honey, mayonnaise, spreads, melted cheese, mustard, spirits 

Pharma: ointments, liquid medications, medicated gels  

Others: toothpaste, shampoo, hair dye, hair conditioner, liquid hand-sanitizer, body lotion, liquid detergents, bath foam, cosmetic cream, moisturizers, sun creams, promotional dispenser, and many others! 

This game changer is brought to India by Nichrome. For over four decades, Nichrome has pioneered and introduced state-of-the-art packaging solutions for industries across verticals. As India's leading manufacturer of automated packaging machines, packaging systems and filling systems, Nichrome is now joining hands with global players to transform the way Indian manufacturers pack food, pharma, cosmetics and personal care products.   

For more information, contact Nichrome today. www.nichrome.com 

 

 

Nichrome RTE Packaging: Helping to ladle profits for food industries

The RTE (Ready-To-Eat) industry is booming. And why not? RTE food offers convenience and variety. It saves time and energy — elements of great value in contemporary India with its changing lifestyle, growing urbanization, increase in nuclear families and rise in disposable income.

The Indian RTE food market is dominated by Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR), GITS Food Products Pvt. Ltd., Indian Tobacco Company (ITC), Kohinoor Foods and Priya Foods.

Product innovation, branding and attractive packaging have also provided impetus to the RTE industry. The players in the packaged food industry tweak their product offerings to suit the taste of Indian consumers and launch new variants of the products to cater to region-specific demand which have widened their consumer base. The industry players also consider factors like freshness, crispiness and flavor of the product, which the consumers consider important, before launching new products. Newer preservation techniques have led to enhanced shelf life.

Nichrome’s Totpack Pick-Fill-Seal machine offers the combined benefits of variety, productivity and specialty packaging for ready-to-eat food packaging. The ready to cook packaging machine conveniently packs a wide variety of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods in eye-catching innovative shapes while maintaining freshness of the products. Advanced packaging technology enables 2 or 3 different fillers to dispense multiple types of ingredients in the same pouch.

The Horizontal Form Fill Seal (HFFS) machine is a sturdy, cost-effective solution with multiple filler options. The RTE Filler facilitates the packaging of products such as Palak Paneer, Dal Makhani, Butter Chicken, Biryani, Gravies, Matar Paneer, Punjabi Chhole, Punjabi Kadhi, Rajma Masala, etc.

The Linear/Gate Weigher can be used for vegetable seed packaging while the Servo Auger Filler is suitable for powders like ORS, Pharmaceutical Powder, Spice Powder, Milk Powder, Coffee, Health Drinks, Instant Mixes, Premixes, etc. Multi-Head Weighers are used for snack & Namkeen packaging. Piston Fillers transform the machine into a ketchup packaging machine, ideal for viscous products like pastes, pickles, soup, sauces, ghee, etc.

Other filler options include Cup Filler (for sugar, rice, pulses, etc.) and Gravity Filler/Flow Meter (for liquids like milk, lassi, oil, juices, wines, etc.).

The high-precision Totpack PFS packaging machine is controlled through a PLC with touch-screen interface, and supports a variety of pack/pouch formats. Packing material for preformed pouches include heat sealable laminates like PET/PE, Paper/Alu-foil/PE, Alu/PF, PET/Alu-foil/PE or Co ex films.

All these features and advantages have made Nichrome’s PFS machine the preferred choice of players in the processed food industry – serving speed, efficiency and flexibility to make operations smooth and profitable.

Visit for more: www.nichrome.com

Heat-Open-Eat! The Super Convenience of RTE Food

It’s never been so easy to put together a delicious meal! Shop shelves are overflowing with packages of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) food – and the variety of cuisines and dishes grows everyday as food companies introduce new items to tempt the consumer’s appetite. Parsi dhansak; Punjabi chole, Rajma-chawal, Matar-Paneer and Dal Makhani; South Indian Rasam, Sambar-rice, Lemon-rice and Bisibelebhath; Nawabi Kaju-halwa or Biryani – the choices abound.

Contemporary urban Indian lifestyles, with working women, nuclear families, higher income levels, long commutes and paucity of time for cooking, are firing this market. This type of food saves time and labour. It has extended shelf-life and is available off the market shelves – so demand grows at a healthy pace.

What’s more, these products provide variety and are tasty to eat. The advancements in food processing and packaging technology have made it possible to protect the flavours and extend the shelf-life of these products. So buyers feel more confident about the quality and hygiene aspects of such foods.

RTE FOOD PACKAGING

A key performer in this success story is Nichrome’s Pick-Fill-Seal (PFS8) machine. For ready-to-eat food packaging and ready-to-cook food packaging, this Horizontal Form Fill Seal Machine from Tot pack, Spain is an 8 station packaging machine with Versatile Rotary Technology, providing multiple pouch shape packaging solutions to many industries. 3-side seal, 4-side seal, and standup pouch, stand up with zipper, stand up with spout or even customized shapes – the PFS8 offers all formats.

The PFS8 machine is sturdy and compact, operator friendly, easy-to-clean and maintain. The high precision machine is controlled through a PLC, with the latest synchronized motion Servo System. It is available in hygienic Stainless Steel Construction as an option.

Nichrome’s Pick-Fill-Seal machines present an advanced variant of packaging technology that enables 2 or 3 different fillers to dispense multiple types of ingredients in the same pouch. The machines conveniently pack a wide variety of ready-to-eat foods in eye-catching innovative shapes while maintaining freshness of the products.

A special advantage of this European trendsetter is its versatility. It offers multiple filler options for diverse applications. Besides the RTE Filler for foods such as Palak Paneer, Dal Makhani, Butter Chicken, Biryani, Gravies, Matar Paneer, Punjabi Chhole, Punjabi Kadhi, Rajma Masala, etc., there is the Multi head Filler for packaging dry products such as Snacks, Dry Fruits & Nuts, Confectionaries, High Count Biscuits, Namkeen, Soya Chunks, Pasta, Shortcut Vermicelli, and Frozen Foods & Dry Fish.

With a Piston Filler, the PFS8 transforms into a ketchup packaging machine, and also packs other viscous products like Pastes, Pickles, Sauces, Soup, Curry, Fruit Pulps, Ghee, Vanaspati, and Edible Oil.

Other Fillers include the Gravity Filler for liquids like milk, juices, health drinks, wine, etc.; the Linear/Gate Weigher for granular products like Tea, Sugar, Rice, Pulses, Seeds; the Servo Auger Filler for powders like ORS, Pharmaceutical Powder, Spice Powder, Milk Powder, Coffee, Health Drinks, Instant Mixes, Premixes, etc.; and Cup Filler for free flowing powders & granular products.

For players in the RTE and RTC business, Nichrome offers the expertise and experience to partner for success. Visit www.nichrome.com

How Retort Packaging is Transforming the Ready To Eat Food Industry

While convenience food has been prevalent and popular in the developed world for years, its presence in the Indian market is comparatively recent. However, due to its many advantages, it is becoming increasingly popular. This type of food saves time and labour, has extended shelf life and is easily available – so with more and more couples going out to work, rise in income levels, change in food habits and lifestyles, and the Indian market for convenience food is growing in leaps and bounds.

Retort Processing is the preferred method of Ready-to-Eat food packaging, packing meals in durable pouches. Retort packaging is a unique form of stand up pouch used for cook-in-a-bag meals and sides, such as soups, rice, sauces, and pasta dishes. It maintains the shelf-life, texture and nutritive value of the food.

Ready-to-use retort pouches are flexible packages made from multiplayer plastic films with or without aluminum foil as one of the layers. Unlike the usual flexible packages, they are made of heat resistant plastics, thus making them suitable for processing at a temperature of around 121°C. The food-grade materials used to construct this type of packaging undergo a sterilization process that extends the shelf life of the product inside while boosting the durability of the package itself. After going through a retort machine, the food package is able to withstand high temperatures, making this the perfect solution for microwavable meals.

These retort pouches possess toughness and puncture resistance normally required for any flexible packaging. They can also withstand the rigours of handling and distribution. The material is heat sealable and has good barrier properties. Because of their strength, flexibility, and light weight, retorts pouches have become a widely used alternative to traditional methods for preserving and retailing food.

Indian food like palak paneer, dal fry, curry rice, pulav, vegetables Biryani etc. are retort processed because they are low acid food with moderate to large size particles; hence it is easy to remove oxygen from the head-space by gas flushing.

In India, 3-ply laminate consisting of PET/Al Foil/PP is commonly used for packaging of ready to eat retort packed food. The product packed in such laminates has a shelf-life of one year. The other materials generally used in retort pouch structure includes nylon, silica coated nylon, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and polyvinyledene chloride (PVDC). These materials have high moisture barrier properties and are used successfully for packaging of ready-to-eat high moisture Indian food.

Ketchup Packaging Machine

Nichrome’s Pick-Fill-Seal (PFS) machine is an innovative packaging solution for ready-to-eat food packaging and ready-to-cook food packaging. Nichrome’s PFS machine conveniently packs a wide variety of ready-to-eat foods in eye-catching innovative shapes while maintaining freshness of the products. It enables 2 or 3 different fillers to dispense multiple types of ingredients in the same pouch.

Nichrome’s RTE food packaging machine is the preferred choice for its sheer versatility, easy-to-clean design and cost-efficiency.  This Horizontal Form Fill Seal machine provides a cost-effective solution with multiple filler options like Visco Filler, Servo Auger Filler, Volumetric Cup Filler, Multi-Head Weighers, Indexing Type Bucket Conveyor, etc. 

It is the ideal machine for products such as Palak Paneer, Dal Makhani, Butter Chicken, Biryani, Gravies, Matar Paneer, Punjabi Chhole, Punjabi Kadhi, Rajma Masala, etc. It is also a ketchup packaging machine that efficiently packs other products such as Ginger Garlic Paste, Sauces, Ghee, Instant mixes, Nutraceutical, Namkeen, Seeds and even liquids such as Milk, Juice, Lassi, Oil, etc.

It also supports a variety of pouch formats such as the pre-made 3-side seal, 4-side seal, stand-up pouch, stand-up with zipper, Doy pack with side spout, or even other pouches with customized shapes. So for food manufacturers aspiring to make the most of the exciting potential of the fast-growing RTE/RTC market in India, partnering with Nichrome is certain to yield healthy profits.