Bread Ties Basics
Bread ties are anything that closes a polybag around a loaf of bread, like a sliced loaf of bread. Their design varies. The most common on the market now is the plastic Kwik Lok tab. There are plastic ties that are plastic cord twist ties. Then there is the very traditional metal cord twist tie.
A cellophane hermetic seal around a loaf of bread is the most common alternative to bread ties. Then you have a secondary bag that goes over that cellophane-wrapped loaf of bread. It would have a Kwik Lok applied to it. You would usually see a loaf of bread in a poly bag with a twist tie. The primary benefit of this is a very airtight seal with a metal cord tie. Although it is not a hermetic seal.
Hermetic Seal Solution
The benefit of the cellophane covered loaf of bread is that it is airtight, it’s hermetic. Then you have your poly bag, which can cause a lot of waste. The cellophane inside of your poly bag is cumbersome when you get down to your last slices of bread. You may not want to use it after. Most people don’t want to fumble around with a very kind of cumbersome sort of a post-tie application to that bag.
In my long years working here at Plas-Ties, I think the metal tie is the superior closure for any bread bag. We also have our Poly Tie-Matic that applies the plastic cored twist tie. It is for customers who need to deliver larger volume products to their customers.
Alternatives to Bread Ties
The common alternatives to bread ties? Well, you know, the biggest, obvious alternative is the bread clip. For loaves of bread on the market shelf, you can print any compliance information on the bread clip.
The bread clip is often coupled with the hermetic seal of a cellophane bag around that loaf of bread. So, you end up with a lot of problems there. The first problem with a cellophane bag inside a poly bag is that you have a lot of excess material inside that bag. And that polybag
is then re-closed with a bag clip.
Better Than the Bag Clip
The bag clip isn’t a very good closure. It doesn’t prevent oxygen from coming into the bag. So now you have a large amount of oxygen that’s in there because of the excess cellophane. Then you have a clip that’s not very good at keeping oxygen out. And as we all know, oxygen is the enemy of all food.
With the twist tie, you start out with an airtight closure. Then you end up with an airtight closure once it’s opened up for consumption. Since you don’t have a cellophane bag inside the poly bag, that polybag is able to compress to the loaf of bread. It closes up much better than a bread clip by the customer with a twist tie.
Working With Our Customers
Like the other bag clip companies, Plas-Ties has worked hard to meet the needs of the customer. Plas-Ties created printers that can print real-time on the twist tie. This provides all the information that the customer needs. The printing is compliant and provides information to the customer about freshness. This also includes any brand identity that they might want onto that twist tie.
Plas-Ties has implemented a great bread tie solution to our customers at the bakery level. Customers like Wegmans, H-E-B, and Sam’s Club, they have their machine at the bakery, at the oven. Bread comes out and they demand long-term freshness on the shelf. And they chose to go with Plas-Ties. We have very robust, industrial machines that can handle high volumes of bread every day. We provide an airtight twist tie that customers want. This allows for the freshest bread to their customers.
