The Belgian company, De Aardappelhoeve, wants to get in on the current convenience trend. In order to do so, they have added a new easy-to-use product to their range. This product consists of an oven, microwave, and barbecue-safe aluminum tray. It contains unprocessed baby potatoes and a marinade mix.
Before the little potatoes go in the oven or microwave or on the barbecue, the marinade is poured over, and Bob's your uncle! At the moment, there are four different flavors available: French, Italian, Greek, and Smokey Barbecue.
The products are 100% vegetarian and vegan. The baby potatoes have not been processed to ensure that none of their flavor is lost.
“We got the idea in London,” say Bart and Ruben Nemegheer of De Aardappelhoeve. “We saw the same product in all the supermarkets. From the discounters to the most expensive supermarkets. Baby potatoes with a knob of butter and herbs. You then simply put the product in the oven or microwave."
"We were, however, not very enthused about the packaging. The unpackaged butter makes a mess of things too. We went to work on this idea from London. We improved it and now that the products are currently on the shelves of various Aldi branches. These will soon be available at Okay too."
Jan Molenaar of Het Packhuys and Ruben Nemegheer of De Aardappelhoeve.
"Production is already in full swing"
Bart and Ruben went looking for the right packing line. They approached Het Packhuys, based in Tholen, the Netherlands. This company supplies equipment like dosage and packing machines. "De Aardappelhoeve was urgently looking for a packing line for this product. We could help them in a very short amount of time. In this way, De Aardappelhoeve could get started with test runs as soon as possible. They could then deliver the product," says Het Packhuys' Jan Molenaar.
"We started installing the final new line at the start of the week. It is currently already in full production. The packing line consists of a tray dispenser from Burgmetaal and different conveyor belts. It also has a Packaging Automation top seal machine and a Keymac sleever. This sleever slips the cardboard sleeves over the containers. Prins Verpakkingstechniek supplied the transferring system that is used to fill the containers with baby potatoes. It is only the tasks of adding the marinade mix and packing the end-product into boxes that have to be done by hand."
Packaging
"An aluminum tray made from 75% recycled material was chosen for the packaging. It has a top seal so as to use a little plastic as possible. The sleeve is made of cardboard and adds a nice touch to the packaging's appearance. You can still see some of the product," says Ruben.
“This line was easily connected up to the existing filling machine. It can, however, just as easily be built to suit a different taste of packaging too. You can use this line to provide plastic or cardboard containers with a top seal. The machine also has a capacity of 60 trays per minute”, adds Jan.
“This product was developed at top speed, partly thanks to Het Packhuys' flexibility and service. This good cooperation enabled us to get this concept off the ground very quickly. We could, therefore, quickly respond to our client's increasing demand. This product can already, or will soon, be found in various stores. Despite this, we have enough stock to be able to supply other interested parties too," Bart and Ruben conclude.
For more information:
Jan Molenaar
Het Packhuys
18 & 22 Ambachtsweg
4691 SC Tholen, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 653 545 576
jan@het-packhuys.com
www.het-packhuys.com
Ruben Nemegheer
De Aardappelhoeve
Putterijstraat 7A
8700 Tielt, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 477 291 784
Ruben@deaardappelhoeve.be
www.deaardappelhoeve.be