Egg Printers and Stamping Systems for Coding and Traceability: The Nuovo Range

Marking each egg at source has become a routine part of egg production — for traceability, for regulatory compliance in many markets, and increasingly for branding. Printing a code directly onto the shell links every egg back to the farm and the pack date, which is exactly what a recall or an export audit demands. An Nuovo egg printer or stamping system does this reliably and at speed, and the Nuovo range is supplied and supported across New Zealand by Advanced Packaging Systems (APS).

Nuovo Egg Stamper

What Goes On an Egg, and Why

The mark on an eggshell typically carries a producer or farm code, identifying the farm and, in many markets, the farming method and country of origin, together with a packing or best-before date and sometimes a batch number. Egg cartons and trays often carry the same information plus branding. There are three drivers behind this: traceability, so that any egg can be tracked back to its source in the event of a food-safety issue; regulatory marking, which many domestic and export markets require; and brand identity, where a producer prints a logo or name to distinguish its eggs on shelf.

Egg Jet Printing

Nuovo’s Egg Jet printing systems use patented cartridge-based ink-jet technology to print dates in combination with a name or traceability code directly onto the shell. Because ink-jet printing is non-contact, the printhead never touches the egg, it marks the shell cleanly without the pressure that risks cracking, and it uses food-safe ink. The same egg printer technology scales from small stand-alone units up to automatic systems running in-line on high-capacity grading and packing machines, so a producer of any size can mark its eggs consistently.

Nuovo Easy Print Example

Egg Stamping

For a bolder, high-resolution mark, Nuovo’s Easy Stamp systems use patented screen-print stamping technology at 600 DPI to apply logos, names and codes to eggs. Stamping is available as manual systems for smaller operations and as automatic systems mounted on conveyors and high-capacity grading and packing lines. Between ink-jet printing and screen-print stamping, a producer can match the marking method to the look, durability and throughput it needs.

Nuovo Easy Stamp R6 on Grader Packing Lane

Where the Coding Happens on the Line

Nuovo systems can mark eggs at several points: in the egg tray, directly on a farm packer, or on an egg grader. In-line grader models include the Egg Jet Printer SOR, which prints on a grader infeed table, and the Egg Jet Printer R6, which prints on the incline conveyors or infeed belt tray stackers of high-capacity grading and packing machines. For manual and smaller-scale work there are compact units such as the Egg Jet Printer Piccolo. This flexibility means the coding step can be added wherever it best fits an existing line, from a single farm packer to a fully automated grading hall.

Coding, Grading and Traceability Together

Egg coding works hand in hand with grading. Where a grader sorts and packs eggs by weight and quality, an in-line Nuovo printer marks each egg as it passes, so the finished pack is both graded and fully traceable. This matters most for export: some Asian markets require a farm code stamped on every individual egg, as covered in the APS article on egg grading for export to Asia. Nuovo printing integrates with high-capacity grading and packing lines, including the Moba systems APS also supplies, so grading, packing and per-egg coding form one continuous, traceable operation.

Nuovo Egg Coding in New Zealand

Advanced Packaging Systems supplies and supports the Nuovo range for New Zealand egg producers and packers, across the poultry and egg sector. The APS technical team can specify the right egg printer or stamping system for a given operation — stand-alone or in-line, ink-jet or screen-print — to suit the throughput, the information to be printed and the market being supplied, with local support from its Auckland base. Contact APS to discuss egg coding and traceability for a new or existing line.