Snacks & Confectionery
Snacks & Confectionery
GIC has been designing, installing, and servicing vertical form fill and seal packaging machines for four decades. UK-made to the highest standards, GIC’s machines play an essential role in some of the country’s largest suppliers of snacks & confectionery.
GIC machines are designed and built in Gainsborough to exacting standards. We are a gold-level partner in the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetworkTM programme, and all our component suppliers are hand-picked for quality and reliability.
Irrespective of whether you are packing pop-corn, nuts, baked snacks, wrapped or unwrapped sweets, we can design a machine customised to your requirements. We back up our engineering excellence with operator training and comprehensive service and maintenance plans to ensure hassle-free ownership.
Our vertical form fill and seal machines offer the optimum combination of effectiveness, reliability and low cost of ownership backed by first class technical and servicing support.
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Key Considerations
When it comes to confectionery, the importance of packaging cannot be overstated. Getting the format and packaging right is essential.
If you’re a growing confectionery supplier considering upgrading your packaging machinery or investing in your first automated line, there are several things to consider.
The first step in selecting the right VFFS packaging machine is understanding your particular snacks or confectionery’s characteristics. Different types of products, such as nuts, baked snacks, hard or soft confectionery, either wrapped or unwrapped, have varying consistencies, shapes, sizes, and fragility. All these factors will influence the VFFS solution.
Selecting the appropriate packaging material can be essential for preserving the freshness and quality of confectionery. GIC VFFS machines can accommodate a variety of materials, including standard OPP films, laminates, and paper. When choosing the material, you and your packaging material supplier will need to consider various factors, including barrier properties, seal integrity, and aesthetics. Transparent films are often preferred for confectionery to showcase the product and entice consumers, while barrier films can prolong shelf life.
Snack and confectionery products come in various shapes and sizes, and the chosen bag style and size should align with the product’s dimensions and your presentation preferences. Popular bag styles for confectionery include pillow bags, DOY, quad, block bottom and euroslot.
GIC machines vary in terms of their speed and capacity. Your desired hourly throughput will influence the machine’s specifications. Faster machines may be necessary for high volume production but may limit your pack style options. You also need to think about how easy it will be to change from one product and pack style to another.
Correct product handling is crucial to prevent damage and ensure the consistency of your products. Our GIC machines can be equipped with gentle product handling systems, to minimise product breakage and maintain product integrity during packaging.
The way the product is presented to the VFFS machine also needs to be considered.
The quality of the seal is important in preserving the freshness and shelf life of snacks and confectionery. GIC machines offer various sealing options, including heat sealing, impulse sealing and constant heat sealing.
Today, many consumers prefer recyclable packaging. GIC VFFS machines are at the forefront of this technology and can run recyclable, biodegradable, compostable and paper materials.
For Snacks & Confectionery
GIC CUB
- Maximum pack size150mm
- Maximum speed40 packs per minute
- Pack formatsPillow, Gusset, Block Bottom
- Packaging materialsAll suitable heat-sealable materials, including laminates and polyethylenes. Optional impulse sealing
GIC 2100 – Intermittent Variants
- Maximum pack size250mm & 400mm
- Maximum speed90 packs per minute
- Pack formatsPillow, Gusset, Block Bottom
- Packaging materialsAll suitable heat-sealable materials, including laminates and polyethylenes. Optional impulse sealing
GIC 3100 – Continuous Motion Variants
- Maximum pack size250mm & 400mm
- Maximum speed150 packs per minute
- Pack formatsPillow, Gusset, Block Bottom, Quad, Doy
- Packaging materialsAll suitable heat-sealable materials, including laminates and polyethylenes. Optional impulse sealing
GIC 4100 – Intermittent Variants
- Maximum pack size250mm & 400mm
- Maximum speed90 packs per minute
- Pack formatsPillow, Gusset, Block Bottom
- Packaging materialsAll suitable heat-sealable materials, including laminates and polyethylenes. Optional impulse sealing
GIC 8100 – Continuous Motion Variants
- Maximum pack size250mm & 400mm
- Maximum speed150 packs per minute
- Pack formatsPillow, Gusset, Block Bottom, Quad, Doy
- Packaging materialsAll suitable heat-sealable materials, including laminates and polyethylenes. Optional impulse sealing
Free Site Appraisals
Irrespective of whether or not you currently rely on GIC vertical form fill and seal packaging machinery to keep your production line flowing efficiently, we offer free site appraisals.
Our experienced engineers will visit your facility and provide an accurate overview of the current condition of your packaging machinery, service and maintenance requirements, available software and hardware upgrades and opportunities to improve operating efficiency.
To request your free site appraisal, email us or call +44 (0) 1427 611885