Fresh seafood: processed and packed immediately

A coveted location directly by the fishing port of Nanfang-ao in Yilan County, Taiwan. Seafood in its freshest form, creative recipes and the highest quality, as well as technological standards. This is how Cheer Foods, market leader in the domestic fish processing industry, likes to be described. More than 2,000 tons of its specialities are exported to China, Hong Kong, South East Asia and America by the innovative and traditional family company.

The product range of Cheer Foods is colourful and diverse. The varied recipes are developed specially for the particular target markets. The products are supplied to hotels, restaurants, catering businesses and operators of night markets, as well as to hot pot chains, where the traditional East Asian fondue is the focus of sociable meals. Cheer Foods was founded in 1986. The number of employees has since risen to around 75. “Our location in the fishing port of Nanfang-ao is a great advantage. We are able to process the freshest and best seafood immediately,” explains CEO Jerry Lee. State-of-the-art technology and the highest quality standards guarantee the delicate products arrive fresh and appetising at the customer. This is because food safety and hygiene have the highest priority throughout the entire process chain. With its CAS certification and various quality management systems such as HACCP, Cheer Foods is able to meet all the required international guidelines.

Innovative pack design supports the development of new markets

Since the beginning of 2016 the company has been packing its seafood on a MULTIVAC R 245 thermoforming packaging machine. “Our products not only look great, they also taste
excellent. We also extend this quality requirement to the packaging,” explains Jerry Lee. “We wanted the aim of the project to be an easy-to-open pack with a design similar to the packs, which we had seen at MULTIVAC Japan. Basically our intention was to open a new market for convenience food with this pack.” In short: the company wanted the packaging for the squid, sea urchin bottarga, fish balls and cherry prawn crackers, as well as all the other tasty snacks to lift the products from the level of the conventional Taiwanese products and to present them attractively at the point of sale.

The result is impressive and all expectations were met, “even though this packaging procedure was completely new to us,” adds Jamie Chen. The attractive film packs set the scene perfectly at the point of sale. And they have been very well received by consumers. Another benefit: the shelf life of the speciality products, which spoil very easily, has been extended significantly.

Efficient packaging procedure

But it was not just the packaging itself, which was the focus of attention for the family company. Cheer Food also wanted to improve the productivity and efficiency of the packaging procedure. It was for this reason, Cheer Foods decided not only to invest in a new thermoforming packaging machine, but also to adapt this to the individual requirements of the company and of the packs to be produced. The loading area of the thermoforming packaging machine was therefore extended, allowing up to six staff to load the products manually into the pack cavities. This meant the output of this very productive machine could be increased still further.

The R 245, which is very efficient in its use of resources, is a fully configurable model that is ideally suited to these specific requirements. It is equipped with the proven drawer system for the simple change of forming and sealing die parts, as well as hinged side frames and a film quick-change system. This enables the machine to be converted quickly to other pack formats, which has a very positive impact on the flexibility of the packaging procedure.

Quick delivery, outstanding service

Jerry Lee is particularly pleased that the robust packaging machine is very easy to operate, and that its installation was completed very quickly. “This was particularly important to us. We needed the machine at short notice. And MULTIVAC was able to guarantee this for us.” It took just a few weeks from the first idea to the point where the machine was delivered by MULTIVAC Taiwan. The Service team then only needed one day to put the R 245 into operation on site and to make all the important settings. Training of the staff also proceeded very smoothly. “We are very satisfied with all aspects. The decision in favour of MULTIVAC was absolutely the right one. The machine has met all our expectations, the packaging result is excellent and the service outstanding,” says the CEO in conclusion.