Award-winning salmon supplier enhances production line with additional packaging investment

With a strong heritage and over 20 years experience in sourcing the finest fish, family-owned company JCS Fish produce a variety of top-quality seafood products. The Grimsby-based company supply an extensive range of salmon and trout to catering, wholesale and food service customers across the UK. They also distribute products nationally through their retailer brand, BigFish, via a network of traditional independent retailers and through online distributors, such as Ocado.

JCS Fish process head-on, gutted fish from their BRC AA-grade factory at Grimsby docks, which arrive daily from their Scottish and Scandinavian suppliers. From boneless fillets, steaks and portions, to flavoured and smoked fillets, JCS Fish are fully equipped to supply fish in every form imaginable.

With a top-tier product, comes top-tier packaging! JCS Fish have a strong reputation for being one of the best fish suppliers on the market, so it is essential they package their products using the best-in-class equipment and achieve the highest possible results.

Prior to their investment, JCS Fish used a standalone competitor traysealer to skin pack their products in pre-formed trays, which over time became too slow and inefficient to keep up with the increased demand. Being a natural product, each piece of fish varies in size and shape, which made it even more challenging to achieve uniform products and a high standard of pack presentation.

The fish supplier knew it was time to find a new process that would improve the performance of their production line and increase throughput, and knew they could trust MULTIVAC to help find the best solution.

JCS Fish became a customer of MULTIVAC UK when they invested in their first R 215 thermoforming packaging machine just over 3 years ago, and since then they have been familiar with the company’s reliability, machine durability and comprehensive after-sales service that was on offer.

Having discussed their ongoing issues with Regional Sales Manager, Mark Skelton, the family-run company worked closely to come to the decision of selecting the R 105 thermoforming packaging machine to replace their aging traysealer and upgrade their packaging process.

From compact machines to high-output packaging machines, MULTIVAC’s unique range of thermoformers offers the most cost-effective solution for every requirement. Although the entry-level range may be compact, they offer a high level of flexibility and with the ability to run both rigid and flexible films, they can be tailored to meet customers specific project needs.

The R 105 is an entry-level thermoforming model for the production of Multifresh™ vacuum skin packaging, with the option to also produce vacuum and MAP packaging. MultiFresh™ vacuum packaging uses materials which enclose the product without tension, like a second skin. This seals to the entire surface of the lower web while the upper web passes through a heating station to activate the film properties. Better yet, MULTIVAC offers a comprehensive range of materials specially designed to suit the requirements of the machine to ensure optimum results.

The increased flexibility of the R 105 thermoformer also allows options for a quicker format change which enables JCS Fish to produce high-quality packs easily and consistently, resulting in a reduced downtime. In addition, the compact thermoformer also only requires a small footprint in comparison to the previous traysealing packaging solution and the throughput speeds have doubled since changing to the R 105 thermoformer!

The team at MULTIVAC UK worked closely with JCS Fish to ensure a smooth installation of their new thermoforming packaging machine. The project was completed in just under 4 months with no negative impact on production.

With continued demand for their award-winning fish produce, JCS Fish are currently looking to relocate their production facility to a bigger site that will allow them to fulfil increased production volumes. At over 20 years old, the company is not looking to slow down any time soon!

‘MULTIVAC have provided a great service and installation! Our new investment has greatly improved throughput, reduced labour and maintained a consistent product quality,” added Luke Gallagher, Factory Manager at JCS Fish.

JCS Fish can now reap the benefits of investing in a MULTIVAC machine with a wide range of exclusive aftersales services that are perfectly tailored to their requirements, throughout the entire lifecycle of their MULTIVAC machine. From preventative maintenance, machine optimisation inspections and retrofits, through to remote assistance, live support, OEM spare parts, express repairs and our technical helpdesk, THE Technical Services team at MULTIVAC UK will continue to support the success of JCS and ensure maximum satisfaction.