MAINTAINING QUALITY IN LARGER VOLUMES

HEADING TO PACK EXPO INTERNATIONAL WITH A PACKAGING QUESTION OR NEED? HERE ONE PACKAGING CUSTOMER SHARES HOW HE CAME TO THE LAST PACK EXPO WITH A PACKAGING NEED AND FOUND A SOLUTION RIGHT ON THE SHOW FLOOR.

Challenge: We have a successful retail beverage operation yet the demand for our tea-based Signature Drinks is outpacing our production capacity. How can we increase our volume and maintain taste consistency across batches?

PACK EXPO not only enabled Argo Tea to find the filling and capping systems it needed to increase its production volume, but also helped connect the suppliers it chose (Groen Equipment and Inline Filling Systems) to ease its packaging line integration.

Solution: Centralize production and replace manual operations with automatic brewing, filling and capping equipment.

“Meeting our customers’ needs is at the heart of who we are at Argo Tea. We strive to deliver what we call The Argo Experience through consistent quality and with a ‘one customer and one cup at a time’ approach. Our friendly, neighborhood cafés in Chicago feature traditional black, green or white, and herbal ‘loose’ teas served hot or iced, along with pastries, desserts and snacks.

“What makes us stand out is our line of unique Signature Drinks, which are crafted to appeal to the younger and more adventurous customers raised on Starbucks and other specialty flavored coffees. We brew these tea-based syrups in advance and then mix them with a variety of fresh ingredients directly at our cafés.

Our line of Signature Drinks has grown to include such exotic fare as Chai Latte, energizing Mate Late™, Tea Sangria™ with hibiscus iced tea and fresh fruits, MojiTea™ with cool mint and lime juice, vitamin-rich Hibiscus Steamer™ blended with hibiscus tea and apple cider, creamy Teappuccino®, decadent Chocolate Mint, and milky Bubble Tea.

“Our Signature Drink products have been so successful that we’ve needed to open four new retail cafés in Chicago . This expansion proved challenging, as it meant we had to find an efficient method to produce our Signature Drink tea syrup on a much larger scale without altering the quality of our beverages that customers had grown to expect.

“When we opened our original flagship café, the brewing and bottling of our tea syrups was accomplished manually, right on-site and on a case-by-case basis. Once we opened two additional locations, however, we found that continuing manual operations resulted in inconsistency of our complex Signature Drinks between cafés and even between batches.

“Recognizing that we needed to streamline our operations, we decided to centralize production in an 8,000 sq. ft. warehouse space and purchase new automated equipment to boost syrup volume.

“At that point, we visited PACK EXPO to look for technology that could help us improve our brewing and bottling methods, as well as ensure the uniformity of our Signature Drink syrups. Being able to meet with so many different exhibitors and get different points of view was invaluable.

The show really offers one-stop-shopping, which is incredibly convenient when looking for several pieces of equipment at the same time. It makes it much easier to figure out if the various systems are compatible and what steps need to be taken to integrate them with existing equipment.

“After evaluating all of the information we gathered during the show,

we decided to purchase two

EE-100/208/C steam-jacketed kettles from Groen Equipment, Cary , Ill. These 100 gallon kettles have self-contained electric heating units, which greatly facilitates handling. The kettles also have perforated strainers to help filter tea leaves, and the heating is quick and uniform. This equipment allows us to control quality while producing larger batches for our five locations.

“We also decided to purchase a FOFVL SAN4 Filling System and a CAPBH Benchtop Capping System from Inline Filling Systems, Venice, Fla. We chose these systems because of their versatility and heat-resistance. In addition, engineers from Inline Filling Systems worked with us and Groen Equipment to connect the filling and capping machinery directly to the self-contained kettles to optimize production efficiency for our staff. This connection allows our hot tea products to be filled and capped at high speeds to maintain optimal packaging container integrity. The four-headed filling system can also be expanded up to 16 heads to meet our future needs.

Signature drinks (from left to right) Mojitea, Chai Novanilla, Lemon Squeeze.

“The kettles and filling and capping systems now enable us to bottle, store, and ship our Signature Drink syrups to our cafés more efficiently. The equipment also allows us to ensure a uniformity of flavor that our customers have come to expect.

“With the new equipment, the amount of beverage products that our staff used to produce in one month can now be produced in less than a week. That’s been a nearly 500 percent increase in productivity. We’ve also had some additional cost-savings from our new ability to purchase ingredients and materials in bulk. We’re seeing an incredible return on investment.” 

Daniel Lindwasser
Procurement Manager
Argo Tea (Chicago, Ill.)