Printing for Food & Beverage: The Solution for High-Speed Packaging

The Need for Reliable Coding in Food & Beverage Packaging

In fast-paced food and beverage manufacturing environments, precise, high-speed coding is non-negotiable. Whether printing expiration dates, batch numbers, or barcodes, continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers offer the most efficient solution for marking a variety of packaging substrates in any orientation.

The ability to print anywhere on a product, across diverse packaging types, is essential to ensuring regulatory compliance, consumer safety, and brand reputation.

Why Coding Is Critical in the Food & Beverage Sector

Accurate coding and marking are vital for:

• Traceability – Ensuring products can be tracked through the supply chain in the event of a recall

• Food Safety Accreditation – Meeting industry requirements for traceability, shelf life, and batch identification

• Consumer Confidence – Providing visible, legible expiry and best-before dates to help consumers make informed decisions

• Brand Integrity – Avoiding fines, returns, or delisting by major retailers due to illegible or missing codes

Whether you're a multinational brand or a small-scale producer, having a robust coding system in place is essential to operate in today’s regulated markets.

Common Applications in Food & Beverage Coding

• 🥫 Drinks bottles and cans

• 🥛 Dairy cartons and bottles

• 🧊 Retail Ready Packaging (RRP)

• 🍖 Meat packaging and ready meals

• 🧀 Direct-to-food coding on eggs, cheese, and meats

With substrates ranging from flexible films to rigid plastics, your printer must adapt to multiple surfaces while maintaining clarity and speed.

How Coding Technology Adds Value

Many businesses still apply labels by hand or rely on pre-printed packaging. While functional, these approaches can be time-consuming and error-prone.

Semi-automated coding with CIJ printers like the CM750 offers:

• Significant reductions in labour and consumable costs

• Faster changeovers and less downtime

• Far lower risk of human error or incorrect labelling

• ROI through minimised returns and rejected pallets

Incorrect barcodes or unreadable labels can cost £1,000–£10,000 per pallet if returned by retailers. Investing in coding technology helps mitigate these risks.

Why Choose CIJ Technology?

Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) printing is the industry standard for high-speed, high-volume food packaging environments.

Benefits include:

• Non-contact printing that works at any angle or distance

• Fast-drying, small droplet inks that provide high resolution, even on slick or uneven surfaces

• Compatibility with a wide range of materials: paper, foil, plastic, glass, and more

• Support for complex data formats including text, variable dates, barcodes, logos, and 2D codes

The CM750 CIJ printer from Cyklop Needham is built to meet these needs with precision and durability.

The CM750 CIJ Printer: Built for Food & Beverage Production

At Cyklop Needham, our CM750 CIJ printer offers:

• Seamless integration into fast-paced production lines

• User-friendly code setup for variable data and graphics

• Reliable performance with minimal maintenance

• A range of inks tailored for different packaging and environmental conditions

Whether you're printing directly onto bottles, flexible packaging, or outer cartons, the CM750 delivers crisp, compliant, and consistent results every time.

Why Work with Cyklop Needham?

With over 60 years of experience, Cyklop Needham combines cutting-edge technology with deep industry knowledge. We don’t just provide CIJ printers—we supply:

• Specialist food-safe and fast-drying inks

• Expert installation and support

• Ongoing consumables supply for long-term productivity

• Custom solutions for unique production environments

Ready to Upgrade Your Coding System?

📞 Call: +44 (0)1948 662629
📧 Email: enquiries@needham-ink.com
🌐 Visit: www.needham-ink.com