Packaging Automation exports to Africa

Packaging Automation​ has won a contract to supply heat sealing machines to Africa, where they will be used to ensure fruit exported back to Europe remains fresh.

Two PA182 machines, a PA182MAP-F gas flushing machine and a PA217 machine, together with 16 sets of tools, are the first purchases from Packaging Automation by Blue Skies Products. Although it has an administration base in Northamptonshire, Blue Skies has its operational base firmly centred on the African continent - in Ghana and Egypt.

Blue Skies general manager George Hutton explained: ''We produce ready-to-eat fresh fruit salads at source as opposed to processing fruits in the UK which have been imported as whole fruits. We have a factory in Ghana that prepares tropical fruit - pineapple, mango, passion fruit and papaya - and a factory in Egypt that prepares temperate fruits such as grapes, melon, citrus and strawberries. Our products are flown on a daily basis to many European countries ready packed in sealed pots. In the UK our produce is sold in the major supermarkets under their own brands, and to caterers."​

PA claims that there is a significant advantage both to Blue Skies and to consumers in using this method. The fruit is packed when at the peak of its freshness, which means its taste and its shelf life is enhanced.

Hutton continued: "It is easy to get replacement parts and PA is prepared to fly an engineer out to our factories if necessary. It is reassuring to know we have this level of support as the machines are working in punishing conditions with very high humidity levels.''​

Packaging Automation was established in 1963 and is currently the UK's leading manufacturer of heat sealing machinery for the food industry.

For further information about Packaging Automation's heat sealing equipment contact znaql@nyybggnaqnffbpvngrf.pb.hx​.