Growth processed fruit and veg sector with polypropylene packaging

MikoPac is a Belgian company that is specialised in plastic packaging. These are made out of polyproplylene. "The reason we make packaging out of polypropylene is that this material can absorb large changes in temperature," says director Karl Hermans. "We serve a lot of different segments, including the fruit and vegetable sector. "Our customers mainly supply processed fruit and vegetables. This is because the fresh sector is mainly interested in PET, see-through plastic. Polypropylene is often not transparent enough for them."

Processed fruit and vegetable sector
The share in the processed fruit and vegetable sector is around 10%. In Germany more goes towards the fruit and vegetable sector. There we have a collaboration with a company who supplies salads to retailers. In the Benelux we offer packaging to companies who produce cut or frozen fruits and vegetables. We expect this to grow even more. Products often packaged in polypropylene include ice cream, cheese, dairy, baby food, meat and fish." He indicates that the opacity of polypropylene isn't a problem for most customers. "It is possible to make our products more transparent, but the clearer the packaging, the more chance of a tear. It makes the product less secure."

History
MikoPac originally started out under a different name as a coffee roasting factory in Breda around 1800. In 1908 they moved to Turnhout and grew quickly over the years. In the 70s the plastic production began to take shape. Nowadays the company is subdivided in the production of coffee (Miko) and packaging (MikoPac). As of 1998 MikoPac has been a listed company and has locations in Oud-Turnhout, Poland and Germany. This year a location will be opened in Indonesia. The main buyers are in Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Netherlands.

To size
The packaging is designed customer specifically. "We have a high level of Customer Intimacy, everything is done to size, from design to final product. The price level is higher, but the customer gets extra service. In the area of logistics we make a difference. For instance, there are lots of flavours of ice cream. They are sorted here and labelled in different languages and transported to the right countries."

Biodegradable
MikoPac uses various technologies to make their products: thermal formation, injection moulding and In-mould labelling. Karl Hermans says that plastic has a lot of advantages. "The material has no equal when it comes to weight, shock resistance and hygiene. The flip side of these qualities are that plastic is hardly biodegradable. That's why we believe it is our duty to keep the ecological footprint as small as possible. The excess in our production process is therefore recycled to new raw materials, which means we produce barely any waste." He believes that they are close to a solution to faster biodegradable plastics. "We are collaborating with BASF on a project that decays plastic on a shorter term. The big challenge in this is that the production costs are much higher."

Sustainability
Sustainability is also high on their agenda. "We limit the use of energy and the input of renewable energy sources is a must for MikoPac. The fitted solar panels on the new company hall will certainly contribute to this. The total surface is an annual yield of 425 MWH or the annual use of 100 families. The heat produced by the air pressure machines is also used to heat the production spaces, storage spaces and offices in the winter."

For more information:
Karl Hermans
MikoPac
Steenweg op Turnhout 160
2360 Oud-Turnhout - Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)14 46 27 50
info@mikopac.com
www.mikopac.com