Co-Packing

This production line handles pre-made pouches (typically stand-up pouches). This usually entails coding, filling, sealing, case packing, and palletizing; other services such as accessory insertion or zipper closing can also be accommodated.

This production line handles rigid packaging, including bottles, jars, tins, clamshells, and more. We can perform any of the following services: coding, filling, capping, neck shrink banding, wrap-around labelling, cap labelling, accessory insertion, and more upon request!

This production line produces filled pillow pouches. Using a roll of flexible packaging film (known as rollstock), it forms the pillow pouch, fills it, and seals it. This is often considered a great cost-reducing option, since we can skip the step of making pouches beforehand and do it in tandem with filling.

Much like VFFS, HFFS involves taking a roll of film (rollstock) and forming, filling, and sealing a pillow pouch. The difference is in the type of product this is tailored to; a flow-wrapper is fed individual pieces of a product by an indexing conveyor; think granola bars, baked goods, etc. Rootree does not currently offer co-packing services for flow-wrapping applications, but we are happy to supply the printed rollstock.

Our paddle mixer is one of our newest installations! With a 400-litre batch capacity (batch weight varies based on product) it's perfectly sized to keep a filling line supplied with custom blended product, without compromising our low minimums. Large rotating paddles provide a gentle mixing action that keeps particles intact. For mixes that need a little extra energy to thoroughly combine and break down, we have independently controlled high-speed cutting blades that can be cycled to add higher shear to the mixing action.

Blending is an upstream process to our filling lines. Ingredients are pre-weighed to customer's specifications and added to the mixing drum. Once the programmed mixing cycle is complete, the finished blend is dispensed directly downstream into our filling equipment, eliminating the cost and waste of intermediary bulk packaging and transport.

Our team will fill your packaging with your product. Our flexible plug-and-play model utilizes various machines to design a process uniquely tailored to your product. We use tools like auger fillers, vibratory scales, and piston fillers to efficiently handle and dispense your product.

Once your product is in its package, it needs to be hermetically sealed to be both airtight and tamper-evident. For flexible packaging this typically means heat sealing, but for bottles we work with tamper-evident caps, pressure-sensitive seals, labels, or shrink banding.

Whether you need to distinguish between your stock packaging SKUs or cover and update information, our specialized machines can apply labels with tight tolerances. We have the equipment to apply labels to one or both sides of pouches, wrap labels around round containers, or label the top of containers and clamshells. By default, cases are always labelled with 4×6 thermal labels.

A lot code, manufacturing date, and/or best before date are printed onto your packages. We use digital inkjet coders for the clearest codes and limitless possibilities for content. This ensures that all your products are traceable through distribution and compliant with local regulations.

Most orders over a few boxes will need to be palletized for storage or shipping. We use standard 40” x 48” pallets for all finished goods, and upon request can use heavy-duty pallets or heat-treated export pallets. Our pallets are top-sheeted and tightly shrink-wrapped to ensure maximum protection no matter where the logistics chain takes them.

In some cases, customers have limited warehouse space to keep their finished products. We invite you to take advantage of Rootree’s food-safe storage facilities. We work with companies to provide case-level fulfillment*, meaning we can store your finished goods and ship them out by the case or pallet to wherever they are needed, simplifying your logistics and reducing shipping and handling costs.

*Once you products have reached the fulfillment stage, we do not ship by the unit, or split and re-pack cases.

Uniform*, small particle size products that are not susceptible to degradation during handling. We handle these products with screw conveyors and auger fillers.

* Not necessarily homogenous

A result of the level of powder in the hopper of an auger filler and the agitation. Since auger fillers fill to a specific volume by using a certain number of rotations per cycle the amount of product fed to the auger needs to be kept consistent. At the end of a run when we are trying to use the last of the product, weights may become inconsistent since the level of product in the hopper progressively lowers. In VFFS applications this can lead to product remainders.

Free-flowing powders are powders that cannot be compressed, do not hold air, and generally flow well instead of sticking. Most granulated powders will fall into this category, as well as small round seeds. Examples are sugar, salt, quinoa, and citric acid.

Non Free-Flowing powders can be compressed, will hold air, and will clump and resist flowing. Examples are flour, protein powder, matcha powder. An easy test if you are unsure is to try to make a snowball with the product. If it is successful, the product is likely not free-flowing.

Not to be confused with granulated powder, granular products are larger particle size products that often need gentle handling. Examples include candies, loose-leaf teas, nuts, dried fruit, and capsules. We handle these products with vibratory scales for a gentle, accurate fill.

At volumes as low as 50 ml, right up to 1 litre or more, we can fill nearly any shelf-stable liquid, thick or thin! We use pneumatic piston fillers to dispense your product into its packaging with minimal exposure, using only closed plumbing systems. Liquids are typically supplied to us in liquid IBC totes, with 2’’ male camlock discharges. Your product is only exposed during the split second between filling and sealing.

The measure of a liquid’s resistance to flow. High viscosity = high resistance to flowing, which applies to thicker liquids. This is typically measured in centipoise (cP). Water is 1 cP, while mayonnaise is approximately 20,000 cp. Your product supplier will normally have this value handy, and it is necessary piece of information for us to determine whether your product will run on our equipment or if it will need some help to flow.

Degradation is when particles of a product are made smaller through processing. All handling of product leads to some level of degradation, the level of which depends on product characteristics, the equipment used, and the package size. We use minimal handling techniques to minimize degradation, however, it is impossible to completely avoid it. If degradation is a specific concern for your product, please inform your sales representative and we will provide a realistic outlook on how our process will affect your product.

This is the time between an order being approved and the finished product being available for pickup. This is typically an estimated timeline based on current capacity and order volumes and can change quickly. If you have a hard deadline on a project, please ensure it is clearly communicated. We also ask that you do not book transport until we have confirmed that a shipment is ready to be picked up.