Strip tea bags are easy to use

The 4C Food Group's 0.075-oz. incense plus tea-striped composite paper packaging bag is made from a multi-channel vertical molding/filling/packaging machine.

The Total Light Tea2Go, produced by 4C Food Group in Brooklyn, New York, is affecting the way Americans drink tea. Simply pour a pack of tea into the bottle and enjoy it. 4C Foods Group has more than 30 years of experience in producing iced tea beverages. Last year, the company launched a bar-like compound bag of aromatic tea in an amount that would just brew a half-liter of tea.

The way in which powder is packed into pouches has long been commonplace, such as sugar bags placed on a restaurant table. Today, the Slim Stick® package from Technical Help in Engineering and Marketing in Marton, New Jersey, is a step closer to the packaging concept that you can take with you on the go. Slim Stick packaging is made of high-quality composite material. The slim shape makes it easy to pour the contents into a bottle. It can be put into a purse, a pocket or a sports bag. It is easy to carry around and you can enjoy it anytime and anywhere.

Robert Goetz, Purchasing Director of 4C Foods Group, said: “All of our Lightly Light Tea2Go iced tea has been packed in strips. At first, a colleague recommended THEM (Technical Help in Engineering and Marketing) to me, saying that their equipment is comparable. Advanced equipment is of course more important, but I am more interested in their experience.” THEM's laboratories and production facilities made Goetz convinced that they could fully help 4C Food Group develop a new type of product packaging. Goetz said: "Tea2Go philosophy is ultimately to be convenient, and the bag packaging perfectly embodies this concept."

Slim Stick packaging is not only an effective promotional tool, but also a cost-effective packaging method. Compared with traditional bags, it can save manufacturers and sellers 35% of the cost. At the same time, due to its high-quality structure, it can also be installed as long as it is a product that traditional packaging bags can hold. Ken Botterbrodt, Senior Associate Director of THEM, said: "The slim tubular design of Slim Stick makes it easy to load a variety of pre-quantified products."

THEM is currently manufacturing Tea2Go bags for the 4C Food Group at its facility in New Jersey. The equipment used was an FC-1000 high-speed molding/filling/packaging machine. This machine is produced by Sankyo Machinery Co., Ltd. Them is its agent in the United States. The 4C Food Group is currently purchasing a machine from Sanki Machinery to produce the same bag at its Brooklyn facility.

The FC-1000 can precisely cut the film and send it to the corresponding channel, where multiple channels are produced at the same time. The length of the strips can be adjusted by a system without replacing any parts. The system has been patented. At the same time, you can use spare tools to adjust the width of different bags. The time is digitally controlled and is more convenient to adjust than ordinary cam devices. In addition, there is a touch panel that can fine-tune the production process at any time. A lot of time settings are stored in the memory of the touch panel, which can be called at any time to quickly start or switch the production process.

The 4C bag contains 0.075 ounces of product. However, the capacity of the bags is adjustable, ranging from 1 gram to 35 grams. The length and width of the bag can be adjusted between 50-180mm and 12-60mm, respectively.

Strip packaging bags have grown rapidly during the decade

Bar-shaped bags are one of the most popular forms of packaging, with an annual growth rate of more than 30% in certain market regions. It has grown from scratch in the North American market and has only grown for 10 years.

According to a new study released by Allied Development in Burnsville, Minnesota, the strip packaging bag was first put into commercial use around the year 1970. The strip-shaped packaging bags first appeared in Japan and were produced using equipment developed by Sanki Machinery Co., Ltd., mainly for packaging solid products. Until 1990, strip packaging bags that could be used to package liquid products were successfully developed in Europe.

So far, the use of strip packaging bags in solid products still occupies a large proportion, of which the most widely used in Japan. Of course, the application of solid products has exceeded the original scope and is no longer limited to seasonings. In the area of ​​liquid product applications, strip packaging bags are mainly used for some seasonings (eg tomato ketchup, mustard sauce, etc.) and are common in some places such as Europe. The Go-Gurt Yoghurt product series launched by General Mills in the United States in 1999 also used strip-shaped bag packaging to further promote the use of strip packaging bags in the liquid product field. This also gave birth to a new type of product, which has now become a member of the strip-bag packaging product family and is generally accepted. Now pharmaceuticals, personal care and other industries are also increasing the use of strips.

There are many factors that have driven the consumption of strips. One of the most important is its unique shape, which plays a key role. The shape of the strip-shaped bag determines that its opening is small, easy to control and will not be scattered. Simply tearing one end of the strip-shaped bag, that is, tearing it well, it does not matter, the final opening will not be too large, still can easily pour inside things. In addition, the performance can be further improved by using movable nozzles, easy tearing, and combination packaging. A combination package is usually composed of two parts, each containing different ingredients but can be matched with each other, such as yogurt and fruit combinations.

Advantages of strip packaging

Strip packaging is an efficient design. The savings in material costs and price advantages can completely offset the lack of fill rates.

The strip bag packaging products can bring convenience to end users. Pre-quantified foods are very convenient to use, and the strips are usually filled with one or more products for one use, so this advantage can be fully realized. For example, solid beverage granules can provide exactly the amount needed to brew a bottle of beverage. In the future, the pharmaceutical industry will further leverage the advantages of pre-quantitative strip packaging for a range of pharmaceutical products. In addition, the strips are easy to carry, easy to store and can be opened without using any tools.

In addition to handling coated paper for solid condiments, the current bar-shaped bag packaging machine can handle other, more complex films. Can produce higher sealing packaging, such as composite packaging containing aluminum foil or glass coating. This means that it can meet the sealing requirements for medicinal gels, cough syrups, puddings, solid beverage granules, epileptic drugs and many other products. Increase the filling speed by increasing the passage on the bag making machine. Each machine can install up to 26 channels.

Technological advances in dosing are of great significance. Due to the ability to precisely control the dose of the drug, the error does not exceed 1 gram, so the strip packaging bag has received the attention of the health care industry. Numerous health products packaged in strips, including cough syrup, painkillers, epilepsy drugs, and antacids, are currently available or will soon be available.

Pill technology is another quantitative dispensing technology that is widely used in health products. Pelletizing technology makes the medicament into tiny, uniform-sized spherical particles that can be taken orally without the use of water. In addition, the ingredients of the product are easily decomposed and therefore do not cause any irritation to the consumer's digestive system. The dosing system calculates the number of spherical particles and loads the appropriate dose of the product into a strip pack.

The filling speed of the strip bag machine can be increased by increasing the number of channels. At present, the general machine has 8 to 10 channels and can provide up to 26 channels.

Forecast optimistic outlook

The development prospect of the strip packaging bags is bright, and it is expected that the growth rate of various products from 2005 to 2010 will reach 10.1%. At that time, the consumption of sliver bags will soar from 196.7 billion to 318.8 billion. Among them, packaging bags for solid products will account for 85% of the total market share, mainly due to its earlier development and relatively mature technology. Of course, the market share of strip packaging for liquid products is also increasing, albeit at a relatively slow rate. The market share of packaging bags for liquid products will increase from 14.9% in 2005 to 15.9% in 2010.

Solid foods are obviously the largest category of products. From 2005 to 2010, the average annual growth rate will reach 8.9%. The amount of solid condiments (sugars, sweeteners, salt, pepper, etc.) is so large that other types of products pale in comparison. If the solid seasoning is removed from the solid food category, the average annual growth rate of the solid food other than the seasoning from 2005 to 2010 will reach 16.1%, which is much higher than the solid seasoning (average annual growth). The rate is 7.8%). In fact, other types of products will also grow rapidly: liquid foods will grow by 9.1% annually, health care products will increase by 20.4% annually, and other products will increase by 22.7% annually. Condiment/sauce products will be the fastest growing liquid foods with an average annual growth rate of 8.8%.

The average annual growth rate of strip packaging bags in North America is expected to reach 16.5%, including the following: 17.8% for solid foods, 5.8% for liquid foods, 30.5% for health products, and 37.5% for other products.

The information in this article is from "Stick Pouches, Global Markets, Economics, and Technologies - 2006 to 2010", published by Allied Development Corp.

Source: Packaging Expo