Feed system for container carrier applicating machine

A system for applying a container carrier to unitize a plurality of containers, the system comprising:

• a supply of container carriers provided in a staging area, the container carriers grouped into stacks of multiple adjacent container carriers arranged in sticks;
• a magazine for accommodating a stack of container carriers;
• a carrier feed for drawing a single container carrier stick from the magazine;
• a transport section comprising two or more container carrier sticks aligned in a queue;
• and
• an applicating drum configured to accept the single container carrier stick from the queue and apply to a corresponding group of containers.