If the Crown fits...

For over 30 years, Leeds-based Sandwich King has ruled the lunchtime crowd and satisfied the nation’s taste buds. Serving up sandwich and snack favourites up and down the country, reaching schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, retailers and workplace caterers, for this family-owned enterprise, pride is everything.

Dedicated to mass-producing the highest-quality lunchtime products using only the finest ingredients, the family firm is dependent on another British leader in their field – Soken Engineering. So much so, Sandwich King gives their automated linear sandwich and food-to-go heat sealing systems its full ‘seal of approval’.

Soken has supported Sandwich King for over 15 years, initially with plastic packaging sealers. Eager to showcase their more sustainable packaging credentials to customers, over six years ago the sandwich manufacturer installed one of Soken’s highest-performance linear automated heat sealing machines – the HS60C. Capable of heat sealing 2,200 card skillet sandwich packs per hour, this investment was closely followed by the ‘Advanced’ model in the series. Giving Sandwich King even more packaging capacity with an additional machine that can seal 2,880 packs per hour.

Both automated twin-head systems used for sealing wedge-packed sandwiches, for an STS-accredited manufacturer of Sandwich King’s eminence, seal quality, presentation and machine reliability are the three most important considerations for Operations Manager Jason Hirst. “Quality and sustainability underpin the Sandwich King brand. All our packaging is now recyclable, and our card packs are bio-degradable. Our drive to deliver the highest quality products never stops,” he emphasises.

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Operating seven days a week, shipping lunch products across the nation daily inside a fleet of 18 vehicles branded with Sandwich King’s distinctive livery, machine uptime and rapid access to spare parts is clearly critical to this industrious business. “Our customers value quality, and we hold our suppliers to the same high principles,” affirms Jason.

Built in the UK to the highest engineering standards, the Soken linear HS60C range delivers repeatable optimum sealing. Featuring an innovative and accurate index location mechanism ensures sealing only occurs on seal edge areas of a pack. Soken Sales Manager Stephen Hawes explains why this is important: “Having a good reliable seal is vital in fast-paced sandwich manufacturing. This feature helps our customers to really minimise waste and avoid additional repacking labour costs.”

Simultaneously, the cavity top plate design protects sandwich products from heat during the sealing process. Again, this can significantly reduce wastage as there’s far less risk of heat damage occurring on the packaging window, affirms Stephen.

With so many contracts and orders to fulfil, although packing speed is clearly important to Sandwich King, Jason states that reliability is the most redeeming feature of Soken’s equipment. “We have always found their machines and service support to be first class.”

For any production manager, continuity and minimal disruptions on lines are critical. If spare parts are ever required, Jason is reassured knowing that Soken holds a number of parts in stock and can react instantly. “Being able to call upon their engineering expertise and have access to Soken’s service support makes a big difference. Being based in the same country means we can get parts and people to us quickly. Without hesitation, I would recommend Soken.”

Both Sandwich King and Soken Engineering are members of the British Sandwich & Food To Go Association.

This article was originally published by Jenton Group.