Hastamat - packaging that leaves no questions unanswered

The heart of Signature Snacks beats in the centre of the United Arab Emirates. The manufacturer of waffles, crackers, biscuits and chocolate-coated dates, for example, is continuing to expand. The Dubai-based company relies on solutions from Hastamat Verpackungstechnik GmbH, Lahnau, for weighing and packaging its high-quality food products.

Multi-head weigher for weighing and distributing Signature Snacks

Not a cloud covers the sky over Dubai last December. While the temperatures in the home country of the German packaging machine manufacturer are in the low single digits, the thermometer here shows a pleasant 26 degrees. Nizar Rajoubthe founder and CEO of Signature Snacks, likes to serve visitors strong Arabic coffee and proudly serves the tasty waffles, crackers and biscuits from his factory. With a view of the top of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, less than two kilometres away as the crow flies, he says: "That's where we want to go with Signature Snacks: to the very top. Our aim is to become the market leader with our products and the highest quality food brand in the world."

Its self-confidence is no coincidence: Signature Snacks was only launched in 2014 and has grown considerably in a very short space of time. Today, the company employs 250 people and exports to 77 countries around the world - and the trend is rising rapidly. In total, Signature Snacks produces 17 different products in various flavours made. The spectrum ranges from caramel-filled wafers, dried fruit and nuts to chocolate-coated dates. There are currently 64 individual items in the food specialist's product catalogue.

"We have the highest standards for our products and provide customers with a delicate, natural flavour. Premium productthat does not contain any artificial colours or flavour enhancers," says Rajoub, outlining key components of the company's philosophy. "The customer is the judge of our food. They are the decisive factor for us when it comes to product development."

Technology for sophisticated packaging

The CEO not only demands absolute quality from the products - the packaging must also leave no questions unanswered. "For a company that manufactures products for the end consumer, packaging is an important component that is closely linked to the customer's purchasing decision," Rajoub is certain. In addition, when it comes to food, there is a particular focus on preserving the freshness and gentle handling of the products. "Only an appealing and technically flawless packaging makes our snacks a complete overall experience. Premium products deserve premium packaging."

Just how serious CEO Rajoub is about this issue can be seen just a few kilometres away from the administrative headquarters in Dubai's Investment Park. Signature Snacks has a modern industrial facility there that meets the highest production standards. It is no less busy here than in the city centre of the up-and-coming metropolis of Dubai. On the dark green, ultra-clean industrial floors, six gleaming silver machines stand in a row with the processing machines. Packaging systems from the manufacturer Hastamat Verpackungstechnik. The company from Lahnau in Hesse not only supplied complete packaging lines consisting of multihead weighers and vertical flow-wrapping machines, but also the flexible product feed systems for conveying, storing and combining the snacks.

Entire product range in tubular bags

The systems from the German speciality machine manufacturer pack the entire production volume of Signature Snacks into tubular bags. "We are talking about a quantity of three to four tonnes per hour, which are weighed, checked with integrated metal detectors and packed in different bag shapes and sizes," says Hinter, explaining the impressive figures. An important argument is the high performance of the machines has beenn. "Our partial quantity combination scales carry out between 120 and 200 weighings per minute," says the Sales and Marketing Manager. The products are transported to the scales via a centralised distribution system and then gently packaged by the flow-wrapping machines.

"Signature Snacks uses around 300 metres of conveyor technology as well as part quantity combination scales from our CP series, vertical flow-wrapping machines from the RM 250 series in various designs and a multihead weigher on a horizontal packing machine," explains Marco Hinter, Head of Sales and Marketing at Hastamat.

Teamwork leads to success

The contact between Signature Snacks and Hastamat came about at the Gulfood trade fair, the new hotspot for the food industry in the Middle East. "We then got a detailed picture of the company's performance and technical solutions and decided to work together," says Signature Snacks CEO Rajoub, recalling the start of the partnership. When handling the products, the engineers at Hastamat had a few The challenges For example, the chocolate-coated dates vary in size, which had to be taken into account in the packaging. In addition, some of the Signature Snacks products are fragile and have to be packaged in a way that is extremely gentle on the product.

Especially the Absolute customer orientation of his partner is crucial for the CEO: "Hastamat's machines work efficiently, and it's the same with the entire team behind them. They didn't just sell products, but worked hand in hand with us to make the project a success and achieve top performance." The clear communication and short decision-making processes were particularly well received by the food manufacturer from the Emirates. Marco Hinter is delighted with the praise: "We adapted our existing machine platforms to the specific requirements of Signature Snacks. There is now a close relationship of trust between the people involved."

Range of services from a single source

During and after the installation of the systems, Hastamat intensive training with the customer on site. Signature and Hastamat work closely together when it comes to servicing. "Once or twice a year, a service technician flies in from Germany for an inspection, otherwise we also use the Remote access for short-term support. We then access the system's software directly from Lahnau if required," explains Hinter. Nizar Rajoub emphasises: "Hastamat has provided us with a complete service from a single source, from individual project planning to on-site installation and comprehensive service. The after-sales team is extremely reliable and responds quickly to any problems that arise."