Co-Packing 2: SternMaid - Partner for contract manufacturing and contract packaging

After the Hamburg-based Stern-Wywiol Gruppe was unable to find well-equipped, flexible contract manufacturers for its range of powdered foods, supplements and food additives, even after a long search, it founded its own contract manufacturing service, SternMaid, in 1996.

SternMaid GmbH & Co. KG, which was built in Wittenburg (Mecklenburg/Western Pomerania) on a greenfield site but with first-class transport links, has become one of the world's leading companies in its field since it was founded. leading contract manufacturer in Europe developed. Capacities and technologies have been steadily expanded. For example, the built-up area was successively expanded from an initial 5,000 m² to more than 16,000 m². More and more new facilities and two high-bay warehouses for 20,000 pallet spaces were added. With the latest expansion stage this year, the business unit Consumer packaging to the new, purpose-built Plant II on the opposite side of the road.

Broad range of services

Today, the company is true to its name - the word „Maid“ was used in the sense of „Maid“ The company has now chosen to offer the entire spectrum of a service provider. The company now has 300 employees and handles tasks ranging from support in the procurement of raw materials to customised solutions for mixing and refining powdered foods, nutritional supplements and pharmaceutical excipients to contract packaging, warehousing and delivery.

SternMaid handles orders of all sizes. Numerous customers, who initially only used part of the service, have switched to working closely with us, as the service provider has made a significant contribution in times of crisis. shortage of skilled labour with the client valuable personnel capacities can be freed up for the core business. SternMaid also has special technologies that the partners do not have to set up themselves.

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Convenience food is on the rise

SternMaid's greatest strengths lie in the reliable, customer-oriented realisation of projects that require high quality standards, which is also guaranteed by the FSSC 22000 food management system introduced in 2015 and the audited HACCP concept.

The Production and packaging of powdery substances are the service provider's speciality. However, the mixing technology is so sophisticated that liquid components can also be added. Typical products include food additives such as enzymes, baking premixes, hydrocolloids, stabilisers, minerals and nutrient-rich lifestyle and health products such as diet drinks and soups, lactose, whey drinks, protein supplements, beverage powders and sports nutrition, as well as pharmaceutical excipients.

„According to a survey by the European Co-Packers Association, the Food industry by far the most important core target group of co-packers. Almost 30 per cent of those surveyed are active in this area. The expertise of packaging service providers in this area is not limited to filling products. They also advise clients on market-orientated packaging solutions and can point out current trends,“ explains Mark Riemer, the commercial operations manager of SternMaid.

The segment is particularly strong Convenience food in demand. According to statista, it is expected to rise further in Germany from almost €5,800 million and an average per capita consumption of 15 kilograms in 2018 to €6,300 million in 2021.

Modern „mix & pack“ systems“

After mixing, SternMaid is able to fill and pack the products in the desired packaging according to the customer's wishes. In principle, the customer can choose between Transfer of own raw materials or the Procurement from the service provider's product range. Some customers also only order the filling of their own mixtures or mono-substances into smaller containers, whereby control sieving and metal detection are always carried out for safety reasons in order to exclude foreign substances. Ventilation and air-conditioning technology in the production rooms are designed to meet the requirements of the graduated hygiene areas. After the mixing process, the Filling in industrial containers such as big bags, sacks, drums or cardboard boxes.

Thanks to the existing different small packaging machines the products can also be filled into smaller packaging units. These include plastic, tin and composite cans, which can be individually inserted into transport packaging with a gantry robot after filling, as well as various types of bags made of paper, aluminium, PE or composite material, including doypacks with and without zippers. The small packaging systems are fed directly from big bags or from sacks, boxes or drums.

To ensure that orders are processed quickly and on time, a new mixing department for product tests, trial and commercial production mixes was also installed in the new Plant II.

[infotext icon]A key component of the company's policy is long-term cooperation with customers, which also includes optimising processes together with them, for example when launching a new product or special packaging. The company will therefore continue to invest in new machines in the future[/infotext].