Cheese & Dairy Industry Showing Love for Stand-Up Pouches

As you walk the aisles of the grocery store, surely you will notice how many items are now packaged in premade stand-up pouches. Everything from soup to snacks can now be found in this packaging format. Cheese and dairy are now increasingly joining this trend, with more and more companies choosing to augment their selection with products packaged in stand-up pouches.

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Why stand-up pouches?

As cheese and dairy companies seek to differentiate themselves from the competition, hold the attention of a younger consumer demographic, and position their brand as premium and small-batch, premade stand-up pouches are becoming the go-to packaging format in this industry. For good reason: These pouches not only look good, but can be pre-fabricated to any shape or size the company desires. Featuring ample surface area for advertising and designed to stand upright without assistance, this bag type acts as a low-cost brand ambassador.

Premade stand-up pouches also cater to a younger consumer demographic that was “raised on premades”, and as such, this format speaks to them as comfortable and familiar, but still compact and portable enough to fit their busy lifestyles. Often equipped with features like tear notches and zipper reclosures, the stand-up pouch is quite often seen as the height of convenience.

As the cost of eco-friendly and compostable packaging materials decreases, sustainable stand-up pouches are now more accessible to smaller companies, making them more attractive to a socially- and environmentally-conscious consumer demographic.

Automatic stand-up pouch filling machines in high demand

Vertical form fill seal packaging equipment has been the industry standard in the cheese and dairy market for decades. Established technology, this packaging machine type is still widely used for institutional, bulk, and high-volume dairy packaging. It is only fairly recently that the premade pouch filling machine has risen as the most in-demand packaging equipment type in the industry. Today's stand-up pouch packing equipment meets the demands of modern artisanal cheesemakers in the following ways:

• Automatic pouch fill and seal machines are able to run small batches
• Changeover takes less than 5 minutes
• They are easy to learn and operate
• Modern machines can fill and seal up to 200 pouches per minute
• Cost has become more comparable to VFFS equipment

Dairy contract packagers agree

For reasons of consumer demand, finished package look, and small-batch demands of their clients, cheese and dairy contract packagers highly favor pouch filling machines in their operations. After performing a survey this year of their members, Dairy Foods reports that pouch filling machines are the top co-packer-purchased equipment item, with 43% of respondents reporting using this equipment type. When it comes to contract packaging, it is all about reducing downtime and waste. Premade pouch machines excel in both of those areas and more.

Download a free guide to stand-up pouch filling machines

Learn how stand-up pouch filling machines can revolutionize your cheese and dairy operations by increasing efficiency and differentiating you from your competition. Download our free guide to pouch packing machines today.