Roberts Mart is helping food and drink companies reduce their carbon footprint after investing in a new multi-million pound, state-of-the-art printing press.

The family-run business has purchased an eight-colour Fischer & Krecke 14S press in an attempt to address the pressure food manufacturers are under pressure to minimise the environmental impact of their operations.

The new addition to Roberts Mart's portfolio features smartGPS, a graphic positioning system with automatic registration that allows for quicker turnaround times than conventional presses, leading to less material waste.

Other advantages for food industry customers include accuracy of calibration for greater consistency between print runs, better product presentation and horizontal and vertical form fill and seal applications for both loose and pre-packed products.

The 14S operates at speeds of up to 400m per minute, and prints sell-by dates and barcodes directly on to film and lids, significantly reducing the use of extra labels on packaging and, using a single substrate, making recycling far easier.

Roberts Mart joint managing director Ben Roberts said: "One of the biggest challenges for print jobs in the food industry is set-up time and the wastage involved. Current systems allow for 10 per cent tolerance on order quantity for registration set-up and end of print-off, which is very wasteful.

"The new press can address these issues because it has a fixed amount of set-up waste each time and a much faster acceleration to production speed. As well as its environmental advantages, the Fischer & Krecke is also very versatile, making it easier for us to respond to customers' demands."