Packaging Innovation Lays New Opportunities for Poultry

The distributor worked with Sealed Air Cryovac to offer local professionals a better quality, fully traceable baby chicken, with a chilled shelf life of one week. The result was a protective Cryovac barrier bag with useful information on the label and no blood on the outside.

Aug 12 2010 --- In a highly competitive market, producers and retailers seek cost efficiency and improved communication through innovative packaging solutions.

As the European poultry industry takes on major challenges to improve processes, marketing and profitability, Sealed Air Cryovac organized a dedicated poultry event at Packforum, its permanent European customer care center near Paris-CDG airport. 72 delegates of 50 companies from 21 countries converged on Paris on June 16-17 to review market trends and recent innovations in packaging technology.

Following plenary presentations by industry leaders and independent experts, the participants had the opportunity to observe and operate the latest equipment in Packforum’s exhibition hall including portioning, filling, heat treatment and packing machines. They examined poultry presentations from across Europe at the in-house “supermarket” and during a real supermarket tour around Paris and sampled the finished products.

Poultry market trends and opportunities: Key facts & figures
• Per capita poultry consumption in the EU averaged 22.2 kg in 2008. It should increase by 9% by 2015.
• By 2030, poultry will overtake pork as the world’s preferred animal protein.
• Producing 1kg of poultry requires only 2kg of grain, making it the most sustainable meat.
• Strong competition, pricing pressure from retailers, high animal welfare standards and changing consumer habits are key challenges for the European poultry sector.
• Volatility has increased significantly in the poultry and other meat markets since the industry globalized in 2006.
• Packaging innovations offer cost-effective and safe solutions that increase the appeal of poultry for consumers and foodservices professionals (drip-proof, printed bags, vertical display, cook-in-the-pack, easy opening, marinades, etc.).
• Pleasure is by far the strongest factor of consumer choice, playing the key role in 48.1% of food purchases worldwide. Health comes second at 26.1%.
• Packaging technologies can significantly increase shelf life – reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rotting meat in landfills.

Luc Sauban, Sealed Air’s Marketing Manager Case-Ready EMEA, highlighted five major challenges facing the EU poultry sector: higher standards of food safety and animal welfare than elsewhere, recessionary pressure on profitability, the concentrated power of retailers and foodservice groups, the drive for sustainability and consumers evolving preferences. “Packaging,” he added, “is key to help address these challenges.”

Functionality for professionals
Metro Cash & Carry International’s Head of Meat Management, Bart Blomme, listed the main challenges his company faces when selling poultry to professionals. “Our foodservices customers don’t mess about: they want functional and informative packaging. For us the challenge is to maximize shelf life, standardize packs with things like color coding, provide adapted sizes and offer easy-to-handle, drip-proof products that pile up nicely on the shelves without getting squashed.”

Professional buyers are also conscious of waste: they want to minimize packaging and disposal costs. Bart Blomme spoke of Metro’s experience in China, where the fresh chicken market is growing at a rate of 10% a year. The distributor worked with Sealed Air Cryovac to offer local professionals a better quality, fully traceable baby chicken, with a chilled shelf life of one week. The result was a protective Cryovac barrier bag with useful information on the label and no blood on the outside.

Adding value for the consumer
Olivier Hausheer, the Associate & Managing Director of market intelligence agency XTC World Innovation, offered insight into what gets customers buying. “In 2009, pleasure was the primary factor in the choice of food products in 48.1% of purchases worldwide, up from 40.1% in 2005,” he said. “Health comes second at 26.1%.”

Poultry producers are aware of the shift. Whereas in 2007 the main axis of innovation in poultry products was convenience, last year the primary focus was pleasure. Still, innovations such as tool-free opening (such as Cryovac Easy Opening solution) , ovenable bags (such as Cryovac Oven Ease) are genuine pluses for consumers. Trays that can be cooked in a microwave oven without being opened – such as Cryovac Simple Steps – can provide a crisper, juicier breast of chicken that is also safer, because it’s evenly cooked through.

In the last 18 months, producers have also increasingly combined pleasure and convenience thanks to marinated preparations. “Spices and sweet flavors are more provocative and make it easier for consumers to discover new tastes,” Olivier Hausheer added.

Differentiate to meet new expectations
Gastronome, the poultry branch of top agricultural cooperative Terrena and France’s second largest poultry producer, constantly adapts its packaging to the increasingly complex expectations of consumers’ and retailers’. Gastronome’s R&D Manager, Alexandrine Pingel, reported that: “Consumers want to be reassured about what they eat. They require food that is authentic, healthy, safe, and good for the planet. But they also want it to be quick and easy to prepare, in individual portions. They will only pay a premium if there’s real added value for them – not gadgets.”

For the poultry industry, this means delivering a product that looks good, with barrier packaging that guarantees quality and seal integrity, and is if possible vertically displayed. Vacuum-skin packages such as Cryovac Darfresh ensure that the meat doesn’t slump to the bottom when trays are displayed vertically. “Another advantage is that you can cook some products directly in their primary packaging. Consumers don’t even have to touch the raw meat,” Alexandrine Pingel added.

Hungarian free-range chicken brand Bo-Sci (Happy Chicken) used packaging as an important element in its marketing strategy. The company’s Project Manager, István Oláh, explained why they chose Cryovac SES to pack their cuts: “It looks similar to the PVC stretch customers are used to, it boasts drip-proof, hermetic seals, it’s lightweight and resistant, it works with any kind of tray. It can be printed in eight colors on virtually 100% of the surface, so it’s very effective for communication.”

“We didn’t take Cryovac word for it, regarding safety and taste,” István Oláh added. The company commissioned Hungary’s National Meat Research Institute (OHKI) to test and compare the microbiological and organoleptic qualities of cuts in traditional PVC stretch versus Cryovac SES. “Cryovac SES scored better according to both criteria.”

Packaging, a communication driver
Shoppers want to see the meat they buy. And yet 65% of European poultry is not visible through the packaging - though situations vary greatly from country to country. In Austria and Denmark, more than 90% of poultry in stores is entirely hidden by the packaging, whereas in France, the Netherlands and Spain the proportion is less than half.

Meanwhile, while British retailers are very good at segmenting their offerings through packaging and display, in most countries consumers have to look twice before they can tell the difference between a premium and a value product. On the continent, whole birds are still mostly sold in stretch-over bags, which offer less visibility and can drip. Yet automated vacuum bagging cuts down on labor and logistical costs, increases shelf-life and maximizes product appeal.

In addition, as the packs themselves take on new functions – such as in-the-pack microwaving with Cryovac Simple Steps – the need to communicate with consumers increases. To help producers and retailers explore options for product presentation, Sealed Air Cryovac Createam3D designs simulations within days or hours, reducing time to market and increasing flexibility.