Throughout their 51-year history, Masters Galley Foods has demonstrated impressive stages of growth and expansion. In 2023, the cheese packager and distributor added a new off-take partner shortly after switching from hand-packing product to an automated system.
To meet the demand, the Wisconsin-based company will soon add a new slice line to the packaging operation and install their fourth automated SOMIC Packaging, Inc. machine. Several representatives visited SOMIC’s corporate headquarters in Amerang, Germany, last week when FAT machine testing was completed.
“The new slice line is needed to keep pace with the organic growth of our existing customers, and the overall strong demand for slices in both retail and food service packs,” said Jeff Gentine, Master Gallery Food’s second-generation president and CEO. “As customer growth and consumption continues to rise, within the next two years we expect to be marketing over one billion pounds of cheese with sales reaching over $2 billion.”
Half Century of Innovation and Success
Masters Gallery Foods and SOMIC share something else in common: both companies were established in 1974 and celebrated their golden anniversaries last year. A distance of 300 miles separates SOMIC Packaging’s new corporate headquarters in suburban Minneapolis from Master Gallery Foods’ manufacturing facilities in Plymouth and Oostburg, which are north of Milwaukee.
Timing of the new machine installation could not be better. Masters Gallery Foods is running non-stop 24/7 to fulfill orders for a customer base of national grocery chains, wholesalers, restaurants, and distributors with a full line of cheese and cheese-related products.
The company installed their first automated packaging machine from SOMIC in October 2022, eight years after Packaging Development Manager TJ Lenz saw one of their machines at PACK Expo in Chicago. It was used for a flow wrapped chunk cheese line and replaced a time-consuming manual packing operation that Masters Gallery Foods had utilized for many years.
“I was intrigued with their equipment and for the next several years, I stayed in touch with SOMIC CEO, Peter Fox. We discussed future concepts and he kept me updated on the new and innovative installations they had with other cheese manufacturers,” recalled Lenz, who has worked at Masters Gallery Foods for 27 years.
A second machine was installed for the same product line in Plymouth in 2023, and the third unit for a cracker cut line in Oostburg followed six months later.
“At the time we needed a high-speed case packing solution for our chunk products,” said Lenz. “The equipment needed to be able to tightly collate the products and fit into existing small case dimensions. We found the SOMIC wraparound solution was much more accurate for this than the standard robotic pick-and-place that we were used to.”
Like the others, the newest SOMIC installation is from the signature 424 series. The tray and cover machine will soon reside on the manufacturing floor in Oostburg after final inspections and FAT testing was conducted June 1-2.
“The FAT was completely successful and we are very happy with our machine. The entire SOMIC team was extremely prepared and thorough,” said Lenz, who expects installation of the machine to begin in mid-July. “All of the formats we requested were run, as well as a few others we requested to see at the last minute. They were very accommodating, transparent, and professional to all our requests and questions.”
