The group has adapted some of the kit from its Middle East, Africa and Asia-targeted Metsa range to suit European and North and South American customers.

Newly formed Toronto-based sales and marketing firm MapleJet is responsible for promoting the new range of Sorveh products under the brand name ProDigit.

The kit includes the ProDigit EggsPrint, which features the Xaar 128 printhead. It can print eggs with logos and up to four lines of text using CE-approved food-grade pigment-based solvent inks at a rate of 22,000 eggs/hour.

Chris Coyne, MapleJet's vice president of sales and marketing, told printweek.com: "We have been targeting North America only so far with EggsPrint, but are using Interpack to introduce it to Europe.

He added that the machine, which is designed for use by egg farms and packing stations, has a competitive advantage over other products in the European and American markets.

"We think the machine is unique, as the only other high resolution egg printer we know of uses water-based ink though an HP head," he said. "This makes it high cost and the image not very durable."

The other two machines being unveiled at Interpack are the ProDigit 18, a high resolution drop-on-demand coding and marking printer which can print on porous and non-porous substrates. The machine uses the Xaar 128 printhead, which has an 18mm print width; and the ProDigit 70, which uses the Xaar 500 printhead and can print at a maximum width of 70mm on porous substrates.

Coyne said that MapleJet intended to become the US's market leader in the arena of coding and marking, adding that a key factor in achieving that goal is the quality of Xaar printheads , which can be used in dusty environments and require minimal maintenance.

Interpack takes place between 24 and 30 April in Dusseldorf.