The direct marketing of agricultural products is experiencing a strong upswing. Dairy products from the region in particular are becoming increasingly popular, as more and more consumers are paying attention to sustainability, quality and regionality. The labelling of the wide range of products plays an important role in this.
For local dairies and co-operatives, this trend offers the opportunity to position themselves on the market and fulfil the growing need for proximity between producers and consumers. Puracenter AG in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, has hit the nerve of the times and shows how successful direct marketing works. 90 per cent of the milk delivered is certified organic, The majority of all milk comes from local farmers who are less than five kilometres away from the dairy.
Dairy farmers in the Vaz/Obervaz region founded the Milk Producers' Co-operative (MPG) back in the 1920s. In 1996, the co-operative took over a grocery shop and began processing the regional milk itself. In the same year, the MPG founded Puracenter AG and entered into a partnership with SPAR Handels AG. This co-operation made it possible, to maintain and expand small shops under the management of Puracenter and local products in the Spar supermarket. In addition, the purchase of the dairy products produced was guaranteed.
In 1996, the Puracenter dairy opened the First pasteurised milk produced. In the following years, the dairy's turnover and production capacity doubled. In 2011, tradition and innovation were combined and a new dairy plant and administration building were opened. Today, in addition to pasteurised milk, Puracenter AG produces high-quality cheese specialities, yoghurt, butter and cheese fondues - always under the motto: regionality and quality.
Challenges for smaller dairies
The willingness to market directly and the co-operation between farmers, dairies, retailers and consumers are crucial for success. Nevertheless, small businesses face similar challenges to large companies: Hygiene regulations, packaging and labelling must be observed become. Carlo Wasescha, Deputy Managing Director of Puracenter AG, emphasises:
„Although we are a small company, our product diversity requires numerous technical processes. The labelling of our products plays a central role in this. We have been working successfully with Leibinger in this area for several years. We started with a printer for labelling and dating our milk packaging. We later added further printer solutions for other dairy products.“
Printers for the dairy industry
The industrial printers from Leibinger ideally fulfil the special requirements of both small and large dairies. In humid production environments and with frequent and intensive cleaning cycles the printers work reliably and without any problems. Depending on the model, the printers from the specialist for labelling systems are equipped with protection classes IP54, IP56 and IP66 and can withstand harsh production conditions.
Puracenter uses both smaller printing solutions for product labelling, such as the Jet2neo for the semi-automatic filling line for yoghurt pots, and the IQJet, the most powerful printer for the fully automatic filling of milk cartons made from 100% renewable raw materials. Both printers use a Special food ink is used. This fulfils the requirements of the EU and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the labelling of food packaging.
The printing speed was not a decisive factor for the small dairy. For milk bottling plants with higher requirements, Leibinger offers the Jet-Rapid, a high-speed printer that reaches up to 806 metres per minute.
Reliability and easy handling
The high availability of the printers should be emphasised. Even after longer breaks or only during seasonal use, they print immediately in the usual quality, made possible by the specially developed Fully automatic nozzle sealing technology, also known as Sealtronic technology and installed in all Leibinger printers. The new IQJet printer is an exception to this rule. Nozzle sealing system extended to include smart ink management, the so-called IQPrint technology.
„We never have any problems during production start-up. Everything works immediately and the print quality remains consistently high. I was particularly impressed by the ease of use, as demonstrated by our new IQJet printer: it runs absolutely flawlessly. For adjustments, I simply insert a USB stick, send the data to support by e-mail and quickly receive the analyses back. The purchasing process was also straightforward: The advice was competent and the products are excellently described, so we were sure to find the right device for our business. Overall, we are impressed by the seamless interaction between service and technology, which is why we choose Leibinger time and time again.“
Chris Altthaler
Thanks to the decision in favour of this marking technology, those responsible at Puracenter AG can concentrate fully on their core tasks, while the printers reliably ensure a high level of quality. Smooth labelling provide.
From small direct marketers to large dairy groups, Leibinger has the right labelling system for every size of business. Thanks to their robustness, simple operation, high availability and low operating costs, they are predestined for labelling in the dairy industry.
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