PMMI ProSource – Start Your Search
Check out our packaging and processing solutions finder, PMMI ProSource.

Virtually endless case-packing options at Barilla

Barilla America expands it Ames, IA, plant to include gluten-free pasta-making, equipping the area with secondary packaging machinery that can meet a wide range of retail customer requirements.

Finished cartons are carried by conveyor to the infeed of the case packer (right) and are picked and placed into stacks (left).
Finished cartons are carried by conveyor to the infeed of the case packer (right) and are picked and placed into stacks (left).

As retail channels continue to grow—now including grocery, club store, convenience, and dollar, among others—retailers are requiring their Consumer Packaged Goods suppliers to provide them with packaging specific to their needs. With this in mind, in expanding its Ames, IA, plant’s capabilities in 2015 to include the manufacture of gluten-free pasta, Barilla America, Inc. sought secondary packaging equipment with ultimate flexibility, and the speed to keep up with its processing lines.

The addition of gluten-free processing and packaging to the plant represented a $26.8 million investment. The gluten-free plant operates two processing/packaging lines, with end-of-line equipment chosen to accommodate a range of secondary packaging formats, including different sizes, configurations, styles, and packaging materials. Exploring equipment options at PACK EXPO International in 2014, the Barilla team came upon PMI Cartoning, Inc. and its carton- and case-packing machinery.

“We actually met them at the show by chance,” says Stu Bremer, Technical Development Manager. “We wanted to utilize a particular machine, but there were very distinct things we wanted to improve upon. We just happened to go by the PMI booth, and they had a piece of equipment there that had almost all of the improvements we wanted.”

Retailer requirements change

Building and operating a gluten-free food plant is a major undertaking. Explains Bremer, “We are GFCO-certified [Gluten-Free Certification Organization] and must meet the parts-per-million requirements for this seal of approval, which are more stringent than the federal guidelines. The people, plant, and physical design of the gluten-free plant were truly developed to provide a ‘Plant within a Plant’ environment.”

Barilla is producing five gluten-free varieties: three “short goods,” which include rotini, penne, and elbows, and two “long goods,” comprising spaghetti and fettuccine. The products are packaged in four carton sizes—three for the short goods, one for the long goods. The short goods require different-size cartons due to their different shapes.

Where variability really comes into play is with the secondary packaging. To handle retailer requirements, Barilla case-packs carton counts of four, six, eight, 12, and 16 regularly, “or whatever a customer is looking for,” says Larry Covington, Plant Director – Ames. Case styles include knockdown, wraparound, or trays, and packaging materials include E-flute, B-flute, and C-flute.

As Covington explains, Barilla uses an E-flute wraparound case for club-store channels such as Costco, BJ’s, or Sam’s Club, where the secondary packaging is printed with high-gloss, full-color graphics and is stacked on a pallet. A B-flute or C-flute wraparound case would be used for traditional grocery retailers, where cartons are removed from the case and displayed on shelf.

“When we first started producing pasta years ago, we ran 20-count cases of short goods, and that very quickly went away,” says Bremer. “Then 16 became our norm, and now it seems to be going even smaller.”

Bremer attributes the downsizing of carton counts to shelf space, where retailers are carrying more products, and to the growth of alternative channels such as c-stores and dollar stores. “They don’t want a 20-count long-goods case, they want an eight-count case,” he says. “That seems to be the evolution. For e-commerce, I think they’d love a two-count case.”

According to Covington, when looking for equipment to accommodate these different packaging formats, the challenge was to find machinery that could provide quick, easy, and efficient changeover times and run all the different materials and case sizes, while at the same time making it easy and efficient for machine operators.

Back to Basics: Understanding Conveyors for Food Processing
Discover how modern conveyors enhance food processing—boost efficiency, ensure safety, and save space. Explore the latest tech and tips to optimize your operations.
Read More
Back to Basics: Understanding Conveyors for Food Processing