Solutions to Help Meat Processors Achieve Competitive Advantage

Case-Ready packaging system offers the most measurable and effective return on investment in the entire production and distribution chain, while providing consumers with the highest quality, hygiene and food safety, in addition to convenience of use.

15 Oct 2009 --- With over 50 years of experience on the world market, Sealed Air surprises the food industry with increasingly innovative packaging solutions. These innovations allow meat plants to reduce their operational costs and improve their production process without negative impact on its flexibility, e.g. in terms of type of products packed or their dimensions. The meat products offered feature high added value, hence both producers and retailers may expect higher profits. A packaging system is one of the most important tools that can help meat processors achieve this goal. It has to, however, guarantee attractive appearance of the product, as well as provide reasonable overall cost.

Throughout Europe, a distinct trend towards products packed in Case-Ready system has been observed, i.e. retail portions centrally packed by a processor, ready to be displayed on retail shelves without further need of re-packing in the back store. This solution appeared as the answer to increasingly fiercer competition and decreasing margins” – said Maciej Gierszewski, Area Sales Manager, Cryovac Food Solutions, Poland, Czech and Slovakia in Sealed Air. Case-Ready packaging system offers the most measurable and effective return on investment in the entire production and distribution chain, while providing consumers with the highest quality, hygiene and food safety, in addition to convenience of use. In case of fresh meat, higher profitability is a direct result, where average growth of net margins is 7%, and of sales 15% per year, with average market penetration of 50%.” Food producers aim at more and more differentiated products addressed to the self-service sector in order to differentiate them from the competitive offer and reach their target groups. Packaging allows now for a very strong offer individualization, taking into consideration smaller and smaller market segments and narrower social groups.

The problem with the meat traditionally packed in MAP is that the meat turns brownish when it touches the top film – and this discourages the shoppers. Meat processors therefore leave a big headspace between the cut and the top film. But even then, retailers cannot showcase the package at too steep an angle, because the meat could slide down and get in contact with the film. Cryovac Mirabella solves this problem. In this innovative packaging, a special double film is used and a pressurized mix of 80% oxygen and 20% carbon dioxide keeps the attractive, bright red color of the meat. The packaging is much smaller and can be exposed vertically.

Advantages for the retailers are obvious: on the one hand, hermetic seals mean high hygiene standards and clean shelves, on the other – one crate can hold 60% packs more and the same quantity fits in the shelves, which allows for a more effective use of the sales space. Consumers too appreciate this solution: vertical display draws their attention and the meat looks very fresh. Compact packaging fits perfectly into a home fridge and does not take too much room in a waste bin.

„From the demand’s perspective, the newest trends in meat and processed meat packaging result from the changing consumer habits and lifestyles” – explained Maciej Gierszewski. „Clients are more and more demanding and decreasingly willing to compromise. Although food safety is still the most important to them, they expect a modern packaging not only to protect the product from external factors during transportation and sales, but they also require that it be convenient in use and functional, and that means, among the others, easy opening, recloseability, in-pack heating/cooking or even the choice of the way of this process.”

An example of the solutions enabling preparation of a meal, e.g. marinated meat in a microwave oven, is Cryovac Simple Steps vacuum packaging. It enables heating or cooking of a meal in a microwave without the need of opening the packaging, and serving it in a safe and convenient way. The packaging consists of a tray and top “skin” film sealed under vacuum. Self-venting function enables preparation of the food without the need of removing or piercing the film. Cryovac Simple Steps packaging is designed to pack ready meals, marinated meats, poultry and fish, offered in various foodservice points, e.g. hospitals, canteens, catering operators, or in restaurants, shops and petrol stations offering food to go. Packed products can be pasteurized so that they stay fresh longer. And Cryovac n’Oven is a packaging allowing to prepare ready meals or pizza in a microwave or traditional oven. Foam C-PET tray used in this concept is 25-30% lighter than a traditional rigid tray of a similar size which makes the packaging more environment-friendly.

„Packaging is also an element of sustainable food production. Innovative packaging may help reduce throwing away of food products by significantly extending their shelf life” – said Maciej Gierszewski. – „Almost one third of the food produced worldwide is never consumed, and the majority of products bought gets wasted at households. By extending the shelf life of fresh foods, good packaging prevents unnecessary wasting of food.” Innovative packaging systems aim at reducing the impact on natural environment, with lightweight products such as thin and flexible plastic alternatives to rigid containers. Packaging with smaller headspace, such as Cryovac Mirabella, lets optimally use transport and warehouse capacities, while decreasing their impact on the environment.

The greatest concern of the processors is, however, caused by their operational costs. The answer to that may be packaging line automation and integration. Sealed Air developed a special integration platform for food processors – PakFormance – which provides the producers with a possibility to manage their production line, leading to a significant reduction in their operating costs.

PakFormance integration platform is a combination of hardware, software, equipment and services designed specifically for the food packaging market. By implementing the PakFormance platform, users can monitor their equipment and process indicators, and instantly react to any variations, which increase productivity and performance. In PakFormance, each component of the packaging room can be connected to a computer line called “Line Supervisor”, which enables data exchange, thus providing multiple functionalities. The components are connected through standard interface types. The line and components can be accessed through remote. PakFormance provides continuous visibility of packaging operations. It allows the programming of packaging parameters, individually for each product, enables labor saving through automation of many processes, records key information relative to products, packaging operations, equipment and organization, enables traceability, delivers detailed analyses and reports allowing an optimization of operating costs and organization. Moreover, the PakFormance integrated platform enables connecting Sealed Air’s Cryovac systems to each other, as well as to other equipment from third-party producers. Packaging process automation is of particular importance to meat processors, where due to safety, quality and productivity, human factor should be reduced to the minimum” – explained Krzysztof Zajac, Sales Director, Cryovac Packaging North Europe in Sealed Air. – With packaging line automation, processing companies can reduce their production costs and achieve higher profits. Apart from better hygiene standards, which are provided by the fully automated service, food packaging automation aims at decreasing labor costs, which result in lower packaging and production costs without negative impact on the flexibility of the process.”

The solutions featured above were presented at the booth of Sealed Air Polska during the International Food Products Fair Polagra-Food 2009 in Poznan, on September 14-17, 2009 (Pavilion 5, both No. 140A).