A 10year contract for a newly built dedicated &lsquowalltowall&rsquo metal packaging operation in south korea has been agreed between international packaging company, ardagh group, and leading south korean food processor, sajo. The state of the art plant, which recently began operations, will produce cans predominantly for sajo&rsquos tuna range for the south korean market, where it is a market leader, with smaller volumes for salmon and chicken breast.
It is housed in a large new 3storey unit located in goseong, a city located in the far south of the korean peninsula. Sajo is switching over its entire tuna production to metal packaging with ardagh&rsquos easy peel® lid, the first korean company to do so. Sajo&rsquos decision to use easy peel® lids has been welcomed by the south korean government, which is keen to support the safest, most sustainable and convenient consumer packaging. Inwoo lee, ceo of sajo haepyo comments &ldquowe are really pleased with this long term partnership and it is particularly exciting to be able to apply ardagh&rsquos state of the art easy peel® lid to our cans as a significant benefit to our customers.&rdquo ardagh has had a presence in south korea since 2009, when it produced award winning rectangular aluminium food cans developed specifically for the south korean market.
Its drawn tinplate metallic effect 150g bowl shaped can for sajo&rsquos premium tuna using ardagh&rsquos easy peel® end previously won the gold award in the &lsquofood twopiece&rsquo category at the cans of the year awards held at the canmaker summit in tokyo. Easy peel® was developed by ardagh for processed food customers as a very safe and easy opening packaging solution for both children and older consumers.
It is also up to 50 per cent lighter than a standard end. &ldquoi would like to thank sajo for trusting ardagh to deliver on this project and we are very pleased to have established this long term partnership with one of the major players in the south korean food industry,&rdquo says david wall, ceo of ardagh&rsquos metal division. He added &ldquothis is an important market for us, and to be able to meet the demanding requirements of our customer as well as secure the approval of the government is an achievement we are proud of.&rdquo
