Food & Drink Process & Packaging Issue 27 2020 | Page 14

In the case of Belsia, when the company first approached us, it was not yet producing a significant enough volume to warrant the purchase of new equipment. However, we remained in regular contact, providing advice and establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust so that, when ready, Matthieu Maisons turned to Ishida to invest in a new potato chip packing line.” As Matthieu Maisons confirms: “We appreciated that an international company like Ishida was willing to give equal consideration to the needs of a young company like ours.” COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY In 2018, after an assessment of three manufacturers, Belsia chose Ishida to devise a complete turnkey line with a small footprint, with Ishida assuming full responsibility for the entire installation Ishida the ‘natural’ choice for artisan potato chips and its performance. an Astro bagmaker equipped with special processed potatoes, combining excellent stripping plates which clear the seal area equipment reliability and minimum During the 1990s, Ishida devised an before sealing to ensure excellent pack downtime for product changeovers with quality and close to zero film waste. In accuracy to within one gram of the target addition, Ishida has supplied a bucket weight, thus avoiding overfills. All these elevator that feeds the potato chips to benefits combine to provide substantial the weigher and a throat metal detector, savings for the company and a short positioned between the weigher and the investment payback integrated snacks packing solution, featuring a weigher mounted directly over a VFFS bagmaker to deliver valuable space savings. The multihead and bagmaker work in perfect harmony to deliver the The collaboration between Belsia, a quickly became a great success, highest speeds, efficiency and pack bagmaker, to identify and reject any metal high-quality artisan French potato chip reflected by ever-increasing volumes – quality, without compromising Ishida’s contamination before the potato chips are manufacturer, and Ishida, world leader 50 tons of potatoes processed in 2016, bagged. Belsia is packing both 150g and in weighing and packing line solutions 150 tons in 2017, 300 tons in 2018 and proven precision and accuracy. for the food industry, underlines the 500 tons planned for 2019. care and support that the company can provide to help small start-up AN ON-GOING COLLABORATION companies achieve a foothold in the market and build a foundation for The first contact between Matthieu sustained growth. Maisons and Stéphane Woigt, regional Equally important, the line is scalable and therefore will be able to support Belsia’s 40g bags on its Astro bagmaker. ongoing development of its potato chip The new Ishida installation, which is according to Clémence Maisons. A FULLY INTEGRATED SOLUTION At Belsia, the line comprises a 10-head operating at 30 packs per minute for the Ishida CCW-SE series multihead weigher 150g bag format, has enabled Belsia to with polished stainless-steel hoppers and increase production to 800kg per day of range to deliver “a new flavour each year”, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Matthieu Maisons concludes: “In addition sales manager at Ishida, took place to the reliability and speed of the line, Based in Beauce in Northern France, during an exhibition in Paris and a we also appreciate its ease of use thanks Belsia was established in 2015 when dialogue was maintained during Belsia’s to the intuitive touchscreens. Changing Matthieu and Clémence Maisons early years, during which time the the bagmaker film reel takes only a few decided to devote 10 hectares of company relied on second-hand packing minutes and daily cleaning is easy. In our the family’s 160-hectare farm to equipment to process around 400kg of business where a production stoppage growing the Lady Claire potato variety, potatoes per day. can very quickly cause problems, we are able to work with confidence because whose intrinsic qualities are ideal for the production of high-end potato “At Ishida, we do not have large or small we know we can rely not only the Ishida chips. First marketed in 2016 to local customers,” explains Stéphane Woigt. equipment but also on Ishida’s fast- supermarkets, the potato chips, which “Instead, we have companies seeking response after-sales service.” are hand produced using 100% natural the most suitable and reliable solution ingredients in four tasty varieties, for their specific application. 14 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk www.ishidaeurope.com FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk 15