A matter of attitude: Christmas trends in baked goods

Christmas is traditionally the most important and highest-selling time of the year for biscuit manufacturers. Manufacturers face particular challenges at this time of year: The production facilities have to run at full speed without errors and the packaging styles and sizes have to be adapted to the Christmas theme.

Every year at the end of August, a murmur goes round the country, because that's when they can be found on German supermarket shelves again: Gingerbread, gingerbread nuts, speculoos and the like. And once again, consumers wonder whether the food retail trade has started selling them again (and not even a little earlier than last year).

In fact, 61 per cent of Germans would like Christmas biscuits to be not on sale until November could be found. This is why only just under one in four people buy their first biscuits or cinnamon stars before the Advent season. If they do allow themselves to be tempted to buy them, then gingerbread is the Germans' favourite, followed by speculoos and dominoes. According to a YouGov survey from September 2016, biscuits are in fourth place.

Flexibility and efficiency

Bosch Packaging Technology is also taking a close look at the trends on the Christmas market: „That's why we have machines and systems in our portfolio that not only enable manufacturers to follow the latest developments, but also to stay one step ahead of them. The main aim here is to combine the required flexibility with corresponding efficiency in production, emphasises Daniel Bossel, Product Manager at Bosch Packaging Technology in Switzerland. He was instrumental in the development of the new biscuit packaging line from Beringen and is responsible for the product area of horizontal flow-wrapping systems for food and confectionery, in particular bars and biscuits.

„We want our manufacturers to be able to produce speculoos and biscuits flexibly during the Christmas season - in a wide range of sizes and formats and, of course, in the highest quality,“ explains Daniel Bossel, Product Manager at Bosch Packaging Technology in Switzerland, sums it up.

Packaging as a shop window and sales driver

In general, nutritional trends and consumer needs determine the look and feel of packaging during the year. The inclined buyer not only wants to be well informed about ingredients, shelf life and production methods - the Attractiveness of the packaging is a key reason why people buy in the first place, as scientific studies have shown. The Christmas period is no different.

The fact that the battle for attention on supermarket shelves has become tougher is shown in particular by a trend that has become more constant in recent years: In addition to flashier and more informative packaging, there are always New pack sizes, be it individually wrapped dominoes at the checkout or speculoos in handy packs of five. Added to this are „Limited Editions“, that modify a well-known and successful product, Customer loyalty campaigns such as video competitions - and, still relatively new, the possibility for customers to buy products with the own name on the packaging to be sent to you.

Double-lane two-in-one biscuit packaging system

The market therefore demands packaging machines that can handle many different formats and work quickly and efficiently. Short changeover times, packaging variability and high overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) are key factors here. „With the Two-in-one biscuit packaging system we have addressed precisely these issues. It is being used successfully by numerous customers,“ says Bossel. Bosch Packaging Technology has now presented an extension to its portfolio at interpack 2017: The new two-lane version The two-in-one offers manufacturers even greater flexibility when packaging their biscuit products. Individual, stacked and slug packs can be produced in countless variations on two webs that can be loaded and cleaned independently of each other.

The performance data has also been further increased: both conveyors together pack up to 2,400 biscuits per minute at film speeds of up to 90 metres per minute for heat sealing and up to 150 metres per minute for cold sealing. Improvements have also been made to the design, which result in less mechanical stress on the biscuit products and therefore improve their quality. The new Sigpack DHRG discharge station prepares up to 400 rows per minute of round, oval or square biscuits, which can then be fed in either randomly or in order. The design of the transport systems has also been reworked to minimise the impact on the biscuits.

Modular structure of the overall system

The modular structure of the overall system allows for both Flexible adaptation to the production situation The Sigpack PMI allows products from both lines to be efficiently merged, for example for subsequent cartoning. In the Christmas business in particular, there are additional packaging formats and sizes in addition to the day-to-day business: wafer gingerbread alone is available in seven-packs, large packs and gingerbread house boxes, among others. This also requires flexible packaging machines for secondary packaging, such as the Sigpack TTM cartoner, which can pack various products in up to 150 cartons per minute.

Packaging system for Industry 4.0

Of course, Bosch has also invested in Industry 4.0: With the optional Line Dashboard the user of the new biscuit system is in a position to be able to platform-independent Machine status, system parameters and KPIs in real time and check them. This means that not only operator changes, but also troubleshooting and ongoing optimisation become a pleasant routine in the run-up to Christmas. With its networking and information capabilities as well as its high level of accuracy, Bosch provides biscuit manufacturers with a powerful and, above all, highly variable system that will enable them to stay ahead in the battle for customer favour when it comes to packaging - the new variety of biscuits can come. Merry Christmas!