Food repacking is a critical component of the food supply chain that often gets overlooked. Food repackers and contract food packaging both play an important role in ensuring the safety and quality of food products before they hit retail shelves.
However, the food repacking industry faces numerous challenges that demand constant attention and innovation to overcome.
The Role of Food Repackers
Food repackers receive large quantities of bulk food products and then repack them into smaller, more user-friendly packages. This process is vital for increasing the shelf life of food products while meeting the ever-changing demands of consumers.
By properly packaging, labeling, and transporting food products to the shelves, food repackers make items more easily accessible to consumers. Additionally, because food repacking boosts the longevity of products, it helps to minimize food waste, resulting in cost savings for businesses.
Regulatory Challenges of Food Repackers
A common challenge faced by food repackers is the need to be compliant with strict industry regulations. This includes adhering to specific requirements surrounding labeling, food safety, and handling allergen concerns. Common regulatory standards that food repackers must comply with include the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), FDA and USDA requirements, and many more.
How Econo-Pak Overcomes Regulatory Challenges
Econo-Pak stands apart with a quality control system that regularly undergoes independent audits. As a testament to our dedication to quality and food safety, we’ve earned the following industry certifications:
- Food and Drug Administration Certified (FDA Compliant)
- Safe Quality Food Certified (SQF Level 3)
- Organic Certified under Baystate Organic Certifiers
- Kosher OU-D (Orthodox Union Certified)
- Gluten-Free Certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America
- Costco Safety and Quality Audit Certified
Supply Chain Challenges of Food Repackers
Another area of difficulty for food repackers is supply chain management. This includes everything from managing inventory and stock rotation to transportation and distribution. Recently, businesses have seen extended wait times when it comes to procuring packaging materials, resulting in extended delivery dates for food products. Another food packaging challenge revolves around certain packaging supplies being difficult or impossible to obtain.
How Econo-Pak Overcomes Supply Chain Issues
While certain supply chain and logistics issues can be beyond control, experienced partners like Econo-Pak implement measures to make it easier to successfully navigate these challenges. Econo-Pak understands the importance of procurement when it comes to the quality of food products and offers a comprehensive range of procurement services to optimize your supply chain operations.
We help businesses overcome supply chain issues by providing the following:
- Supplier identification and evaluation
- Supply chain risk management
- Contract management and negotiation
- Performance monitoring and reporting
- Sustainable procurement
- Access to a global network of trusted suppliers
Food Repackers and Sustainability Challenges
Sustainability is also a common challenge for food repackers, especially with the increasing consumer demand for environmentally friendly packaging alternatives. To meet these demands, food repackers require materials that strike the right balance between sustainability and extended shelf life.
How Econo-Pak Is Leading the Way in Sustainable Food Packaging
At Econo-Pak, we’re deeply invested in the future of sustainable food packaging. We continue to adapt our packaging designs and materials to numerous sustainability standards, helping businesses across various industries meet their green initiatives while still ensuring safe, high-performance packaging solutions.
Market Trends and Food Repackers
Consumer preferences for food packaging are always changing, and it’s often challenging to adapt to them. For instance, consumers tend to prefer specific types of food packaging like flip-top closures over other containers. Consumers also want packaging that is sustainable, attractive, increases shelf life, and provides detailed information about the product.
Econo-Pak strives to deliver packaging solutions that align with customer preferences and emerging trends. We’ve developed a range of creative, non-traditional packaging methods to fulfill different requirements, with some of our most innovative products including:
- Edible packaging
- Minimalist packaging
- Smart packaging
Food Repackers’ Technological Advancements
A key way that food repackers can overcome common challenges is by adopting new technologies. Automated equipment and advanced inventory management technology can greatly improve repacking efficiency and streamline operations. In addition to boosting productivity, investing in technological advancements also reduces the risk of error, increases product quality, and shortens the time to market.
At Econo-Pak, we are committed to continually investing in advanced machinery to improve and add to our service capabilities. We own approximately 200 different food packaging, seasoning, blending, and distribution machines in our facility, allowing us to fulfill your repacking needs with optimal efficiency.
Overcome Food Repackers’ Challenges
Food repackers face many challenges. For this reason, it’s important to partner with an experienced provider who is capable of adapting in the face of supply chain issues, shifting consumer demands, and changing regulatory requirements. At Econo-Pak, we have over 40 years of food repacking experience and have the necessary resources to overcome nearly any industry challenge.
For more information about our capabilities, contact us or request a quote today.