New Zealand’s iconic Chelsea Sugar Refinery has embraced the opportunity to reinvigorate the baking aisle, with new packing technology that began operations in June.
The new machinery produces an upright shelf-friendly format that has been welcomed by retailers and shoppers in both New Zealand and Australia.
Getting the bespoke new packing machine operational was not without its challenges though, including the requirement to also act as contingency packer for Sugar Australia’s retail products. The new equipment, including case packer, was installed by the end of June and was fully operational by October. The project delivered a considerable amount of technology change from the previous machines and required a dedicated team effort from employees across many departments.
“The need for us to expand our packaging capability was clear”, says Roy Millar, sales and marketing manager at New Zealand Sugar.
“Our operations team faced many challenges and with perseverance and kiwi ingenuity, the machine is fully operational and we’re thrilled with the results.”
Meeting the challenges has brought many processing and commercial benefits for Chelsea. Processing efficiencies have been improved as the new machine can pack the entire range of Chelsea’s granular sugar products, into a variety of pack sizes and formats.
The new upright packaging has a number of benefits in store. The upright bags significantly increase product visibility and differentiation. The ability to display the products upright provides more promotional display opportunities for the company and benefits the retailers by reducing the in-store labour required to maintain tidy shelves. The new format has increased durability, resulting in less sugar dust on shelves and unsuspecting shoppers.
With the popularity of cooking and baking shows on television there is a renewed excitement in home baking. Generations of New Zealanders have grown up with Chelsea and the wide range of Chelsea products. The new technology that allows packaging improvements provides an opportunity for the Chelsea brand to connect with new and aspiring home bakers.
