Klooster replaces cardboard sleeves with printed banding

For more than a century, family-owned Klooster has specialised in smoking, processing and packaging premium fish products.

The company produces seafood under its own brand and for private-label customers. But its cardboard sleeves required considerable time, material and storage space. To create a more efficient branding process, Klooster replaced them with automatically applied printed paper bands.

The result is a flexible cardboard sleeve alternative that helps Klooster package seafood trays faster while using significantly less material.

Branding seafood trays with cardboard sleeves

Klooster’s smoked fish products were traditionally presented in trays with a printed cardboard sleeve wrapped around each pack.

The sleeve provided space for branding and product information, but applying it was a manual and time-consuming process. Employees had to slide every tray into its sleeve by hand.

That approach was particularly inefficient for Klooster’s production runs of approximately 500 to 1,000 packs. Fully automating the sleeving process would require a substantial investment that was difficult to justify for these volumes.

Klooster therefore needed a branding solution that combined automation with the flexibility required for smaller production runs and changing tray formats.

From cardboard sleeves to printed paper bands

Klooster selected printed banding material as an alternative to its cardboard sleeves.

The paper band gives the seafood packaging a distinctive branded appearance while using considerably less material. Product branding and information are printed directly onto the band, removing the need for a separate sleeve.

The solution also provides the flexibility Klooster needs. Different tray formats can be processed without replacing complete format sets, and one band width can be used across multiple products.

Changing between production runs is therefore faster and easier.

Automated banding for seafood packaging

Operators place the packaged fish trays onto an infeed conveyor. The trays are then transported automatically to the banding machine.

A pusher positions each tray before the machine applies, tensions, seals and cuts the printed banding material. The finished pack then continues along the outfeed conveyor.

Depending on the required production speed, the system can be configured with one or more banding heads. Klooster selected a double-head configuration capable of processing up to 40 packs per minute.

This turns branding into a consistent, automated step while retaining the flexibility needed for different products and batch sizes.

Twice as fast with significantly less material

Switching from cardboard sleeves to banding produced an immediate difference in Klooster’s packaging process.

Applying the paper bands is at least twice as fast as manually sliding sleeves around the trays. The precise band positioning also creates a consistent presentation and prevents the branding material from shifting during handling.

Material use was reduced substantially. Each cardboard sleeve weighed approximately 25 grams, while each printed band weighs only around 2 grams.

A single roll of banding material also replaces dozens of boxes containing preformed sleeves. This frees up valuable warehouse and production space and makes packaging materials easier to handle.

The banding process remains reliable in humid production conditions, helping Klooster maintain consistent results when packaging chilled seafood products.

A flexible branding solution for future growth

By replacing cardboard sleeves with printed bands, Klooster has created a packaging process that better matches its production volumes and product variety.

Klooster now benefits from:

• Faster packaging and branding
• Significantly lower material use
• Less packaging storage space
• Consistent band positioning
• Easier product changeovers
• Flexibility across different tray formats
• A distinctive presentation for own-brand and private-label products

“Since making the switch, we’ve thrived with a faster, more cost-effective packaging solution.”

— Jac Tijsen, Commercial Director at Klooster

Banding gives Klooster the efficiency of automation without sacrificing the flexibility and product presentation that are essential to its seafood range.