sealers101

Given the wide variety of sealers we carry (over 150 different types), it is not surprising that our sealers are used in a variety of different industries: industrial, food, healthcare, confectionery, coffee/tea,  and now we can say the entomophagy industry.  Simply put, entomophagy is the eating of insects and Cowboy Cricket Farms uses our W-300T double impulse sealer to package their cricket protein powder.  Cowboy Cricket Farms approached us with their custom made bag and asked us to help them find a sealer that would seal their bag.  Given that the bag has side gussets meaning that the sealer would need to seal four layers of material on the edges, we recommended our W-300T Double Impulse Sealer.  This sealer is perfect for the bags that Cowboy Cricket Farms uses as a bag with side gussets  must be sealed with either a double impulse sealer or direct heat sealer.

See below for a video demo:

We carry the largest stock of heat sealers, but if you do not find what you are looking for, don’t fret as we can help you with custom options.  Our expertise is second to none and our customer service team is here to help you.

We are excited that our sealer is being used in this amazing venture of Cowboy Cricket Farms.

About Cowboy Cricket Farms

Cowboy Cricket Farms LLC. is an emerging industry leader in the entomophagy (edible insects) market in America.  Cowboy Cricket Farms’ product  is 100% Acheta domesticus (common house cricket) farmed locally in Belgrade, MT, right outside of Bozeman.  Crickets naturally have high protein, iron, and amino acids content in a very small package.

There is a need for edible insects in our country now and in the future.  Cowboy Cricket Farms’ crickets provide a sustainable alternative to many other animal products such as beef and chicken at a fraction of the environmental cost and in a way that can be grown to benefit the expanding population of our planet.

In the US we have been slow to adopt eating insects due to the negative connotations that bugs have for many people.  Luckily many people are starting to see the light and are making insects a part of their life and nutrition.  Unlike other protein sources like beef, pork, or chicken insects take little room to grow, little water to survive, and little food to thrive.  They also produce considerably less waste and damage to our precious environment.  It is estimated that producing crickets is 20X more efficient than cattle, produce 80X less methane than cattle, and require 6X less feed than cattle.  All to produce the same amount of protein.

Learn more at https://cricketcookie.com/

The goal of our industry highlight articles is to provide actionable ideas with current trends that you can use to help your start up customers make packaging decisions.

This industry highlight blog post will focus on the tea industry which is now a $12.0 billion industry (2016) in the United States according to the Tea Association of the USA.

Tea is the world’s second most popular drink after water.  While there are a variety of teas, black remains the most popular with 60% of the global production, followed by green tea.  The growth rate for tea is fairly steady driven primarily by specialty or artisanal tea products.  As Sealer Sales is a One Stop Shop of Sealing Equipment & Supplies, we can help your customers with both the pouches and heat sealers for packaging tea.

Tea is a Growing Market in the US

The tea industry is now a $12.0 billion industry in the United States according to the Tea Association of the USA.  In 1990, the tea industry was $1.85 billion.  Primary factors driving growth per the Tea Association of the USA:

• Health – According to FMI’s 2016 U.S. Grocery trends, shoppers are looking for healthier diets and understand the health benefits of tea over sugary drinks
• Natural Foods – Younger consumers demand foods that are “less processed” and with no artificial ingredients. Tea is a simple natural food
• Variety & Availability – Consumers are excited to try new and differentiated flavors. The growth of tea shops has encouraged consumers to try different tea varieties
• Sustainability – Consumers are seeking foods that minimally impact the environment. Social and economic sustainability are being recognized as equally important

Whole leaf teas are increasing in popularity with consumers, especially millennials.  The demographic is open to experiencing and sampling innovative new flavors.  The Tea Association of the USA expects interest in whole leaf teas to grow.

Packaging Requirements for the Tea industry

We can offer both flexible packaging as well as heat sealing equipment for your tea customers.

Tea requires protection against light and moisture. We would recommend our foil stand up pouches for loose leaf tea, particularly those with strong flavor or aroma. We also offer one-side clear and window pouches for your tea customers that would like to show the texture, shape or size of their loose leaf tea.

The density of the tea leaf differs from coffee which is why we offer a wide selection of sizes so you can find the perfect fit. Stand-up pouches comes standard with a tear notch for easy opening. Zip-lock feature is offered as an option on the 1oz and 2oz size and comes standard starting with the 4oz size and up. The convenient zip-lock feature will allow customers to re-close the bag after each use.

For companies just starting out, we suggest choosing a bag from our stock option program and placing a label on the bag.  We can recommend some great label companies with super low minimums. We can also work on quotes for custom bag specifications or suggest really great manufacturers to work with, but there will be minimum quantities (estimate approximately 20,000pcs to start).  If your customer does want to go the custom route, please have your customer fill out this survey.

Once the pouch has been selected, the pouches must then be filled with your product and heat sealed to prevent the bags from being tampered with.  To seal your pouches, we offer a variety of heat sealing equipment that can meet your needs.  Whether you are just starting your production and looking for basic and affordable units or faster production volumes with the option to print a date code or expiration date on the seal line.

Our most basic and least expensive sealer is our hand sealer – if you are looking to do to seal about 15 packages per minute, we would suggest this option.  Our newest direct heat sealer, WNS-200D direct heat sealer, is also a good option for sealing pouches.  With its sleek and compact design, the WNS-200D is great for smaller work spaces.   Our WNS-200D is equipped with a digital timer which creates a consistent and reliable seal each time –  the sealing arm is easily activated and will not result in operator fatigue.  Otherwise, our band sealers will be our most efficient method for sealing plastic bags.

Band sealers operate via conveyor.  The operator would feed his or her bag into the machine and release.  The band sealer will then take the bag via conveyor through the sealing process.  Some of our band sealers are equipped with printers so you are able to print a lot code or expiration date on them. Operator would just have to feed the bag so the process is much less tiring than a hand sealer.  Here is a video demo of how our band sealer operates.

Do you have a tea product that needs assistance with packaging options?  If so please contact us and we would be glad to assist you.  If you already have your bags and need a heat sealer option, we can test your bags on our band sealers and send the samples back to you along with a video demo.  Just contact us!

Don’t forget to visit us at the Tea Expo next week!

Come visit us at the World Tea Expo June 13-15, 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Sealer Sales will be at Booth #737 to answer any questions about your packaging projects.

We are introducing an addition to our popular line of W-Series Long Hand Sealers.  The newest model, WN-7510H is a 30″ hand sealer with a 10mm (0.39″) seal width compared to the standard 2.7mm seal width.  The wider seal width allows the sealer to seal thicker materials (up to 20mil total thickness) in additional to creating a professional looking wide seal.

Same reliable features as our other W-Series Long Hand Sealers

• Longer seal length (30″) for specialized sealing needs
• Impulse sealing meaning no warm-up time
• Heavy duty construction for industrial use

Wide Seal – 10mm / 0.39″