The Best Price for Buying Barrel Tomato Paste
When buying them in bulk, there are some standard specifications for tomato paste packaging
A wide variety of tomato paste packaging systems are promoted in many magazine articles, at trade shows, through commercial product brochures, etc
Throughout Europe and the Mediterranean regions, for the production of tomato paste, the most common system is the 220-liter blisters steel barrel offered by most local barrel manufacturers
Intermediate bulk systems (IBCs) have also been used on a relatively small scale for many years
In this regard, 1,200-pound plywood bins have been standard in US practice since the introduction of aseptic barrier bags
Arguably, while the th220-literary conical steel drum is more or less the standard in Europe, the 1200 kg plywood box is the standard in the US, although 200-liter units are also widely used there
In the last few years, many IBCs have been offered on the European market
For most of them, the promotional material is primarily based oncomparingh steel barrels
However, many of these comparisons are misleading, so it is time to put the conical steel drum back into perspective
Rheem Safim in Melzo (Italy) started producing conical steel drums in 1983
Initially, a 220-liter version was created with the same diameter as a standard open-head cylindrical drum
Later, the famous 194 liters tapered conservative version was released
Around the same period, Van Leer in Portugal also began producing the 194 l model
In 1987, Van Leer acquired Rheem Safim and became the only manufacturer of conical steel drums in Europe
At that time, the use of this tomato paste product was still quite limited
In 1990, Van Leer established sites in Turkey and Greece and began making conical drums in both locations
Over the years, several other drum makers began making conical drums, most recently in Egypt, where the local company Van Leer also began making them
This is not entirely true, and much development work has been done to get to this point
Expanding steel for conical drums is not a simple operation and pushes current technology in this field to the limit of what can be done
A lot of time was spent designing tools, expansion models, etc
Another aspect that had to be given a lot of attention was the inner shield
Although the inner coating is not in direct contact with the actual product, it requires special requirements, especially resistance to temperature changes, humidity, sterilization liquids, etc
Stack performance is another big issue
The market demands 4-high external storage, and at the same time, the cost of the drum must remain attractive
Finding the right drum design in combination with steel thickness took a lot of effort
Handling is another important issue
It is not difficult for drum manufacturers to palletize conical drums
Consumer depollination causes problems more often
Van Leer and equipment suppliers have developed several turning and depalletizing devices that are now commonly used by most food manufacturers
The company was also heavily involved in developing keg emptying and reprocessor systems
There is a wide range of keg emptying equipment available today
Most current drums have plastic covers, representing a significant cost reduction compared to traditional closed-ring steel covers
This also looks like a simple device
A plastic cover that fits well and can be easily removed is no mere technical achievement, given that the packaging is exposed to large temperature changes
The introduction of the 220L container model in 1997 was a significant landmark that improved container handling and transportation costs and is now widely used and can be considered the new standard for Europe
Nicolas Appert described the principle in 1795 with his champagne bottles immersed in boiling water, then perfected by Donkin, who was the first to use tin cans
Since then, the materials, techniques, forms, and processes used to preserve canned or bottled foods have advanced significantly and become a recognized success that drives the food industry worldwide among the most important business sectors – industrially, economically, and socially
to the military, the invention was provided free of charge “for the benefit of mankind
” It quickly became popular with the general public, where it was adapted and transformed to cope with extremely rapid growth
It soon became a separate industrial activity used worldwide, recording significant development in numbers
In the retail market for tomato products alone, global consumption in recent years (average of 2010, 2012, and 2014) is estimated at around 12
5 billion units per year
This estimate from Euromonitor does not consider global sales of ketchup, which probably exceed one billion units (Heinz alone sells more than 660 million bottles each year)
The global market for tomato products is currently dominated by purees or concentrated paste, with annual sales averaging nearly 4
76 billion units (b
u
) between 2010 and 2014, and tomato sauces, which exceed a total of 4
5 b
u
every year during the same period
Sales of canned tomatoes (peeled and unpeeled, whole or chopped) lag behind with “only” 3
2 b
u
sold annually
In this last category, the figures provided by Euromonitor, which were commented on at the last food news forum in June 2015, show and confirmed the observations published by the Italian interbranch organizations regarding the slowdown in global sales of canned tomatoes
These products experienced a negative growth rate (-1%), indicating a net decrease in consumption of 3,262 b
u
in 2010 to 3,134 b
u
in 2014
At the same time, retail sales of pure concentrate improved slightly from 4
72 b
u
in 2010 to 4
86 b
u
in 2014 (an annual growth rate of 0
7% over the past five years)
But the category that is currently the main driver is pasta sauces, with consumption growing from 4
27 b
u
up to 4
8 b
u
(+2
9% annual growth rate!)
Overall, retail sales of tomato products (excluding ketchup) have increased at an annual rate of 1
1% over the past five years, from 12
25 b
u
in 2010 to 12
78 b
u
In 2014
In addition to high levels of consumption, the tomato products sector has a wide variety of presentations, formats, technologies, and content in what it offers to consumers: at least six items are the main part of the selection of materials used for the production of packaging: tin, glass, cards, flexible multi-layer bags, hard plastics, paper-based products, etc
Tin boxes, which are the historical reference in this field, still present today, make up the largest part of retail packaging: over the last five years, “classic” boxes represent 42% of units sold (15
78 billion boxes)
Glass packaging (bottles, pots, jars, etc
) is also considered one of the “classics,” but was used “only” for 9
6 billion units, leaving about one retail product in every four
Cardboard packaging has only been used for product conditioning recently (Tetra, Combi’) and represents just over 16% of sales, with 6
1 b
u
sold on average each year between 2010 and 2014
