Food processors increase demands on packaging: across all food segments, packaging is being called upon to take on multiple roles

Food & Drug Packaging, July, 2004 by Pan Demetrakakes

Make it more convenient, make it safer, make it last longer, and above all, make it stand out on the shelf.

The imperatives for food packaging haven't changed much. But food processors have reached new heights of ingenuity in carrying them out.

Food companies are trying to take advantage of technology, and packaging is a ripe area. New polymers and film combinations can offer improved functionality and shelf life. Radio frequency identification (RFID) offers the potential for heightened supply-chain efficiencies. New printing techniques can work in applications where top-notch graphics would otherwise be impractical. Improvements in motors, communications hardware and software, and other components allow packaging lines to work more efficiently than ever.

Packaging, always a high priority among major food companies, has become even more important now that many companies are trying to make their brands do more. Unilever has cut down on its overall number of brands by close to 66%, which puts more pressure on the remaining ones.

"A product that we deliver today is a lot more than just the food material. It's the package," says Stephen Gaeta, director of packaging in North America for Unilever Bestfoods. "When we work on [our brands] to try to grow them and make them bigger and more global ... packaging is going to play a role in doing that."

In terms of package design, some packagers are introducing materials that, while not new, are novel to a particular application. Rigid containers are turning up more and more in snacks; pouches, stand-up bags and other flexible materials are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with traditional paperboard cartons in the freezer case.

Novel use of existing structures can be a good way to introduce innovation, says Jay Gouliard, vice president of packaging development for General Mills.

"Innovation isn't just the new shape of a package or the new color on the shelf," Gouliard says. "Innovation is also about process and materials and optimization of existing structures."

Improved materials can provide a big advantage, especially for refrigerated foods, which constitute one of the biggest overall trends in U.S. supermarkets.

"Obviously, advances in barrier technologies in flexible and rigid packaging have helped preserve or extend the shelf life of refrigerated or shelf-stable products," says Steven Morris, Tyson Foods' director of corporate packaging design and research. "Thermal processing methods such as post-pasteurization and retort have put us in a position to offer products in niches and markets unobtainable years ago. Multi-ply laminates ... have reduced the impact to our environment; conserved finished costs to the operator, customer and consumer; and extended product shelf life."

Here are looks at packaging trends and innovations in some of the major food segments:

Meat and poultry

Convenience is a priority for all food segments, but nowhere is it more important than for meat and poultry. Meat is one of the most time-consuming and mystifying of all foods, especially for consumers who are time-pressed and unsure of themselves in the kitchen.

"Convenience is really what's driving this particular market segment," says Richard Lobb, communications director for the National Chicken Council. "People just don't have time to cook or have better things to do with their time."

One way to make meat and poultry convenient is to use packaging to ensure that the consumer doesn't have to touch the raw product. An example is Ovenables Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Filets from Perdue Farms, which features two filets per package (preseasoned in Italian, lemon pepper, teriyaki and homestyle flavors) in a tray that can go directly into a conventional or microwave oven.

Direct-to-oven packaging often plays an even more important role in precooked products, which are reaching a higher profile in the meat and poultry sector. ConAgra Foods offers precooked Home Style Entr6es under its Butterball brand. These 20-ounce turkey breast portions come in a self-venting film that is designed to go directly into the microwave without venting.

For cooked products, packaging can play a direct role not only in consumer handling, but in initial processing and the subsequent supply chain. Tyson Foods' new precooked products include whole-muscle portions of beef and other meats. They are cooked and cooled in a pouch that is then put into a carrier tray of crystallized polyethylene terephthalate (CPET). The combination is designed to ensure safety and efficiency through both thermal processing and cold-chain handling.

"Often, as in the case of many of our refrigerated products, the packaging is a key part of the thermal and sterilizing process, so it is exposed to vast extremes and fluctuations in temperature, humidity, caustics, pressure and handling abuses," says Tyson's Morris.

Dairy products

The dairy segment is both heavily regulated and traditional, with a line-up of products that hasn't changed much over the decades. But packaging is playing a role in delivering variety to the dairy case.