The Cornish firm, which is based near Newquay, said the machine could wrap any type of product at speeds of up to 80 units a minute. Its growing range consists of 40 wrapped products such as speciality pasties, sausage rolls and cakes.
“The KernPack machine is helping us win new contracts due to its capacity and the ease at which it can wrap new products,” said Helen Chudleigh, Crantock’s head of packaging.
“Production has increased from 70,000 units a week to in excess of 400,000 – without the machine we just couldn’t do it.”
Record high
In the past six months, the company said production had reached a record high after winning new contracts in a variety of sectors including travel, major multiple retailers and convenience retailing.
“Our customers offer an increasingly wide range of individual bakery items to consumers and change their menus regularly, but the KernPack machine has been meeting demands perfectly,” said Chudleigh.
“The KernPack machine has opened up new sales avenues and we aim to build on this and continue to expand our product lines in these sectors,” she added. “Looking to the future, the machine has allowed the business to grow to a point where it’s almost time to open a second site in Cornwall.”
‘Impressive growth’
Pete Jolley, Kern’s general manager, said: “Kern provides flow wrappers specifically designed for bakery and food products and we’re delighted our machine is helping Crantock maximise new business opportunities and achieve such impressive growth.
“Entry level flow wrappers are perfect for a growing business like Crantock due to their blend of speed and flexibility and ability to introduce new levels of efficiency.”
According to its last set of annual figures, Crantock Bakery grew sales from £9.8M to £10.5M in the 52 weeks to September 30 2013.