Thermal inkjet (TIJ) is ideally suited for printing best before dates and batch numbers onto both varnished and unvarnished cardboard commonly used for food sleeves. A TIJ printer is the most cost-effective solution for sleeve printing as it tends to only require a small amount of information such as a ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date. The print is high-resolution and permanent, a crucial element for food companies with customer safety and brand reputation in mind.

For high-speed lines or pre-applied food sleeves with curved or irregular shapes, continuous inkjet (CIJ) delivers reliable coding. It prints essential data like batch numbers and date codes onto card or laminated sleeves using fast-drying inks.

Sleeves can prove difficult to print on-line as they can present the following problems:

• Certain print areas may be hard to access
• Tall tubs or pots can be unstable and difficult to guide down a packaging line
• When placed around trays, sleeves can move making accurate code placement difficult

Taking the coding process off-line using an off-line coding system can solve these issues. The innovative feeder systems take a stack of sleeves in their flat form and consistently present them to the printer and/or labeller, allowing for reliable and accurate code positioning – increasing line efficiency and reducing waste from poorly printed packs.