jaffa_cakes.txt

Dear David,

Thank you for your interest in our two in one biscuit packaging system and your observations regarding the orientation of the last biscuit in the Jaffa pack.



The older Sigpack HSS packaging machines are fed by traditional slug (= shingled stack) building units that have the facility to turn the last product in each pack to ensure that the chocolate side is not facing the heat sealed end of the pack.



Our new “two in one” packaging system builds the slugs using a unique stacking technology (as seen in the food blog video link) which allows us to build “piles or slugs” of products with the same machine.

The flexible “two in one” system does not however allow us to selectively turn the last product in each pack.



Summary:

Packs in which the last product is inverted are produced using traditional slug building systems and horizontal flow wrappers.

Packs in which all the products are all facing the same direction are produced using the new “Two in One” technology.



Both the traditional and the new “Two in One” systems are currently in use at McVities Manchester factory.



Answers to your questions:

1.            What's the reason behind turning one Jaffa Cake around? Presumably it involves a reasonable amount of engineering on the production line, so there must be some benefit to it.
It was originally believed that the chocolate would melt if it faced the heat sealed end.
Tests conducted with the new “two in one” machine have proved that this is not the case.

2.            Is this a permanent change, or are my two examples anomalous?
Permanent.

3.            If it is a permanent change, am I extremely lucky to have found a multipack containing one column arranged the 'old' way, and two arranged the new way?
Yes you were lucky, this pack style is only produced on the new “two in one” machine. All the products should had been in the same orientation in all three packs.
Occasionally products arrive at our machine upside down and are then subsequently stacked in the opposite orientation to the neighbouring  products.
This is possibly how this unusual combination came to be.



I hope that this information will add to your enjoyment when consuming Jaffa cakes in future.

You might also want to try the various pile pack variations (3 x 1 and 2 x 2) that are similarly produced on our “two in one” machine.



Mit freundlichen Grüssen / Sincères salutations / Best regards,

Meyrick Hilton Long

Packaging Technology, Sales 1 - Europe (PACB/SAL1)
Bosch Packaging Systems AG | Industriestrasse 8 | CH-8222 Beringen | SWITZERLAND | www.boschpackaging.com
Tel. +41 58 674-6736 | Mobil +41 79 248-4983 | Fax +41 58 674-5661 | meyrick.long@bosch.com