Granted seal of approval 

Kapiti Fine Foods CEO Greig Shearer says the ultimate acclamation for initiatives implemented by his company this year came from consumers in the form of a letter of thanks.

In February, Kapiti became the first New Zealand company to introduce a double-sealing system on its milk and cream bottles, known as induction sealing.

Kapiti introduced the double seal as a quality feature for consumers, but without any increase in the price of its fresh milk product.

"The response from consumers was immediate and positive, particularly among elderly consumers, because we developed a system that this group found easy to use,'' says Shearer.

The double sealing system was developed in conjunction with Auckland-based Alto Plastics. The system comprises an aluminium foil seal which seals the top of the milk bottle together with a special screw cap, which incorporates a liner or wad. Once the foil seal is removed by the consumer, the wad inside the cap seals the bottle tightly and there are no leaks, even when the bottle is stored on its side.

Shearer said although there were similar systems in Europe, Kapiti and Alto worked together to find a uniquely New Zealand solution.

Our seal has two special features which have endeared us to those who struggle with normal milk bottle closures. The first was a longer skirt on the cap, allowing people to get a better grip when opening the bottle. The second was to include a super-tab on the foil seal to allow it to be gripped more readily for ease of removal.

Putting aside the technical benefits of the system, our experience has been that you can still surprise consumers with thoughtful innovations.

The technical benefits of induction sealing include guaranteed freshness, no more leaky milk bottles (either in the car or fridge) and no plastic milk-top ring dropping into your breakfast cereal or cup of tea.

Kapiti Fine Foods (KFF) was established in 2003 with the merger of independent milk processor and marketer, United Milk, and Kapiti Cheeses. 

Innovation comes in many shape and sizes, whether it is services or products.

In recent months the company has extended the powerful Kapiti brand across two premium fresh milk products, Circulait, a low cholesterol variant, and Classic, a product as close as you can get to pure cow's milk. Circulait is produced to appeal to health-conscious consumers keen to have a product with the full taste of milk, but 99.9 per cent fat free. This milk is high in calcium and enriched with fibre for extra calcium absorption.

As the producer of super premium ice creams, the company is now building a stand-alone plant that will incorporate a new generation of ice-cream making technology not previously used by any of New Zealand's ice cream manufacturers.

To be commissioned in September, it will allow Kapiti to produce ice cream at a lower temperature, and better controls the way water and air are mixed in the manufacturing process. It will ensure the production of a higher quality, more consistent ice cream, with particular benefits to the company's airline customers.

Shearer says that with the technology currently used in New Zealand, ice crystals become more evident in ice cream at altitude and in pressurised airline cabins.

We are looking to eliminate this phenomenon so consumers have the same quality eating experience on the ground or in the air.