A UK-based organic veg box company has increased packaging capacity and transitioned to fully compostable paper following the installation of two vertical form fill and seal machines.
Riverford, which delivers around 70,000 boxes of fresh produce each week, installed the new machines at Wash Farm in Devon in March 2025. The machines replaced older equipment that used air and suction cups to form bags holding up to 2.5 kg of potatoes.
"Our throughput target is 25 bags per minute," said operations manager Dave Gillon. "With the old machines, we were lucky if we were getting ten bags a minute from one machine. So, that's 20 bags a minute with two machines, but failure rates brought that down to around 15 bags a minute. When you're trying to do 110,000 bags a week, that's quite a challenge!"
© GIC
The company previously installed a bagging machine at its main site to pack salad and leaf crops, including spinach, mixed salad leaves, rocket, and wild garlic. Since 2021, this machine has been adapted to handle home-compostable materials, as plastic is no longer used for fruit and vegetable packaging.
"We worked very closely with GIC on that transition, and it was the strength of the working relationship that we established during that process, and the fact that the VFB4 is such a reliable workhorse, that led us back to them in early 2025 when we decided to upgrade."
The new machines can operate with additive-free paper and allow bag size and capacity to be adjusted without changing materials. The equipment is capable of handling up to 75 packs per minute across various formats.
"At the moment, the GIC4100 is delivering 35 bags a minute, which is more than double the output we typically achieved with the previous two machines combined," Dave said. "Equally important to us is the fact that the paper we can now use is 100% paper. There are no additives or plastics in there, and the machine seals it reliably every time."
Packaging efficiency has also improved. "Before the GIC machine went in, we needed to store 56 pallets of paper to produce 50,000 bags," Dave said. "The new approach means we only require 12 pallets to produce the same amount of bags."
The machines also include inline printing, removing the need for pre-printed labels.
Following installation at Wash Farm, the company replicated the setup at its Peterborough site in June 2025. Initially used for potatoes, the machines now also pack Brussels sprouts and sweet mixed peppers.
"Recently, the team packed 120,000 packs in five days and didn't go over an eight-hour day," Dave said.
Source: Packaging Scotland
