Anahola Granola has been baking granola on Kauai since 1986. Every resealable bag that leaves their Hanapepe facility carries a date code, printed by a Markem touch dry coder that has been on the job for years. When Production Manager Jojo Ferrara needed new number type for the coder, Durable Technologies supplied replacement radial brass type that fit and printed right out of the box.
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"I just wanted to say thank you for an amazing job with helping me get the type (numbers) for our dater," Jojo told us. "They are working perfectly!"
Here is the full story, along with what it means for anyone else running a legacy Markem touch dry coder.
Anahola Granola is a family-owned food producer in Hanapepe, on the west side of Kauai, Hawaii. Founder Becky started baking granola for friends in 1986 and began selling it at the Kilauea Farmer's Market. Today her daughter Malia and son-in-law Bill run the company, and the granola is still handmade in Hawaii, inspired by the original recipe.
Their products are sold at Costco locations across the Hawaiian islands, in retail stores throughout Hawaii, and online. Flavors range from the Original with Hawaiian honey and walnuts to Tropical with papaya, pineapple, and macadamia nuts.
That kind of reach means real production volume, and every single bag needs a legible date code before it ships.
Anahola Granola prints date codes directly onto its 24 ounce, 12 ounce, and 4 ounce resealable bags using a Markem touch dry coder, model U1289, mounted as a dater on their bag sealing machine. The date code is numbers only. The crew changes the type out every day to keep the printed date current.
The touch dry process uses hot melt ink. A heated roll transfers ink to the metal type, and the type prints a clean, dry code on the flexible packaging film as bags run through the sealer. Two consumables keep the system running: the brass type that forms the characters and the hot melt ink roll that supplies the ink.
For a food producer, that little row of numbers does a lot of work. Date codes support lot identification, traceability, and shelf-life information, which is a requirement for retailers like Costco and most others.
Durable Technologies supplies both consumables, so a coder like Anahola Granola's can keep printing without any changes to the machine or the process.
Yes. Durable Technologies manufactures replacement radial, axial and flat type (typically in brass) and supplies hot melt ink rolls and type holders for Markem touch dry coders, including models that have been out of production for years. The original equipment manufacturer made the decision to no longer support these machines, but the coders themselves keep working, so replacement consumables are often all it takes to keep one in service.
That was exactly Anahola Granola's situation. The U1289 still seals and codes bags every production day. Buying new type made more financial sense than replacing a machine that still works.
This is a pattern we see across food packaging. Touch dry coders are simple, they hold up, and the economics favor keeping them in production. The consumables are the only thing that wears out.
Durable Technologies produces OEM-compatible date coding type in-house, which is why we can match type for machines the original manufacturer no longer supports.
Speed of service. "Their service was just great," Jojo said. She reached out, and Chris from our team got right back to her with what she needed. "Super quickly," in her words.
There is a small story behind that first order. Anahola Granola's COO had used Durable Technologies in the past and started the initial conversation, but she was buried in other work. Jojo was not hearing anything back on her end, so she picked up the thread and contacted us directly. Chris had already sent the COO the information. He answered Jojo right away anyway, and she took the order across the finish line herself.
The type arrived, went into the dater, and printed perfectly. Anahola also purchased hot melt ink rolls from Durable for the same coder.
If you run a Markem touch dry coder or any legacy date coding equipment, Durable Technologies can supply replacement brass type, steel type, logo type, hot melt ink rolls, and hot stamp ribbons matched to your machine. Send us the make and model, and we will tell you what fits.
Visit our Markem replacement type page or call us at 866-344-7721 to talk through your application.