Natural Branding by EcoMark
Laser labelling for fruit, vegetables and foodstuffs
No need for labels or plastic packaging while maintaining flavour and shelf life. Environmentally friendly and productive: Natural Branding requires no set-up times, improves margins and demands minimal deployment of resources.
A Natural Branding machine labels the most diverse fruit and vegetables – with no contact, in a natural way, and without the use of additives or chemicals.
Laser engraving of fruit and vegetables
Natural Branding for fruit, vegetables and foodstuffs
We have developed Natural Branding as a sustainable branding solution for all fruit and vegetables. Fast, flexible and economical – for branding fruit, vegetables, foodstuffs, etc.
With Natural Branding, only the topmost cell layer of the skin is depigmented, and only the outermost layer of the peel is removed, so that the product is not affected or damaged. There are no restrictions at all for foodstuffs, including organic products. Absolutely no chemical additives, packaging materials or stickers are used in the procedure. This is the simplest way of responding to increasing packaging costs.
NATURAL
Branding directly on the skin of a fruit or directly on the peel of vegetables …
Our technology makes this possible. Repackaging, films, sticky labels, etc. are a thing of the past. Laser protection and the CE declaration are always in place.
ECOLOGICAL
Truly organic – as no plastic is used and only a small amount of energy is required. EcoMark Natural Branding …
This is what the organic food industry has long been waiting for.
Gentle
With Natural Branding the topmost layer of the peel is laser marked with micrometre precision. It is very gentle, harmless for everyone, and maintains the quality and shelf life of the branded food item.
How does Natural Branding work?
The Natural Branding process
The machines in the NB series have been developed based on a modular principle. The entry machine is fitted with a conveyor belt so that objects can be marked “on the fly” without stopping. The products can therefore be displayed individually or set out in containers or crates. The camera automatically recognises the position and alignment of the products. The information is transmitted to the laser in just a few milliseconds, and each product is marked according to pre-set criteria. All machines can automatically balance height differences of 44 mm (+/- 22 mm).
Depending on the space conditions or product range, the machine can be adapted to special requirements. Not only do we optimise the laser process but we also consider the processes in front of and behind the machine. With individually coordinated feed and discharge systems, we optimise the entire process and reduce the greatest cost driver, i.e. staff costs, to a minimum. We therefore offer the best solution for our customers. If the requirements change over the course of time, the machine can have further modules added subsequently.
CLEVER SOFTWARE
Many make it complicated – we prefer to make it simple for you. And we rely completely on user-friendly software. This is easy to use and enables production changes with just a few clicks. Parameters are set for this, which can be called up in a few seconds. Small corrections to new batches are carried out in the blink of an eye.
FLEXIBLE FOR MARKETING
Marketing promotions boost sales – and thanks to our machines, they can be communicated directly on the products. The same applies to promotional logos or other messages that you would like to bring to customers. We will be pleased to support you. Just ask us. We are sure to have the right solution.
LOWER CO2 EMISSIONS
Many customers ask us how much CO2 can be saved using our technology. The answer to this is very simple. Ultimately, many parameters play a part here. But we can tell you this much: one of our biggest customers made a post-calculation. With the branding of ginger alone, they were able to save 68,000 kg of packaging material in a year. This corresponds to around 310 tonnes of CO². Or 2.5 million kilometres driven in an average car.
Natural Branding in practice
The areas of application of Natural Branding
Fruit and vegetables
Foodstuffs
Natural branding laser labelling
The natural packaging alternative
The advantages compared to stickers
Marking with laser costs from 0.3 cent for a kiwi, including handling. This corresponds roughly with the procurement costs for a sticker, but the costs of attaching the sticker as well as administration costs also have to be added here. With a kiwi there is also the risk that the sticker does not adhere to the skin. Special, super-adhesive stickers are not permitted for every product. Also, the sticker usually consists of plastic, which later causes problems in the composting system.
The advantages compared to plastic packaging
The economic advantage is the clearest. Packaging weighs an average of around 20 g. A sticker is also required for marking. The packaging costs are therefore sometimes even higher then the product costs. Furthermore, there is also the problem of over-portioning if the packaging unit is sold according to weight. Losses of up to 5% may be the result. Also, a complete packaging unit has to be disposed of as soon as a single item in the package is spoilt. This means twice the loss, with 100% forfeiture of sales and additional disposal costs. The CO2footprint is lowered considerably by avoiding packaging, as each tonne of plastic saved reduces the consumption of crude oil and protects the environment.
Specially marked promotions
Flexible and fast means economical. With Natural Branding, marketing promotions bring a good return for numerous events, whether it is a cutting pattern on pumpkins for Halloween, decorating oranges with Santa Claus in December, or an Easter bunny in April. Each customer requirement can be met individually and quickly without the notorious lead times and additional costs. New logos and texts can be imported simply in just a few seconds.
Suitable products
The range of products for Natural Branding is growing. Up to now, the following products have been suitable for marking: Ginger, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, avocados, coconuts, pumpkins (Hokkaido and Butternut), apples, peppers, kiwis, limes, courgettes, pomegranates, garlic, mangoes, lemons, oranges, celeries and kohlrabi.
Solutions for you
Customisation and adaptation to existing production lines is of course always possible. Major time savings can therefore be made with few resources. We will be pleased to advise you.
The advantages of Natural Branding
Increases
SAVES
ECOLOGICAL
Ideal
FLEXIBLE
SAFE
ECONOMICAL
GENTLE
Customer opinions on our Natural Branding laser machines
We have found more than just a machine supplier with EcoMark. EcoMark includes us in the development process for Natural Branding and the system is open to all future requirements.
Its versatile application options and the easy handling makes the NB6002 from Eco Mark the ideal device for our requirements. We will continue to rely heavily on the natural branding labeling solution in the future.
Contact
YOUR EXPERT FOR LASER LABELLING AND LASER ENGRAVING
Do you have any questions, or are you interested in our laser machines? Please contact us.
EcoMark GmbH
+49 (0) 2631 8244 100
+49 (0) 2631 8244 29
info@eco-mark.de
Gumbinnenstraße 4
56566 Neuwied
Germany