All Wrapped Up—A Look Inside Today’s Packaging Trends

If foodservice operators and manufacturers have ever been guilty of taking food packaging for granted, they are certainly taking it more seriously now.

Some of the packaging systems they’re adopting add value to food products, help manage costs, boost productivity, enable clean labels, extend shelf life and reduce waste. Looming in the future are “active” and “smart” packages that promise additional food safety—even packages that “talk” to the user with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology or seal tears by means of self-healing nanontechnology.

DOLLARS AND SENSE

Job one is to survive the recession. “Food cost accelerated aggressively last year, causing operators to dive pretty deeply for solutions,” says Bill Kuecker, marketing director of foodservice, Sealed Air’s Cryovac Food Solutions, Duncan, SC.

“As food cost rises, packaging becomes vitally important, because you can justify a lot more packaging to protect a $5 loaf of bread than a $2 loaf of bread,” says Scott Whiteside, Ph.D., associate professor, Packaging Science Department of Clemson University, Clemson, SC. “It might justify paying a little more for the package on a per-unit basis if it can decrease waste greater than that on a percentage basis.”

If the packaging reduces food damage, that’s money saved. “Operators are finally realizing that food waste in the trash is way more expensive than the pennies per pound that you put into a smaller package,” says John Gaston, director of sales and marketing for vertical pouch packaging, North America, Cryovac.

STREAMLINED OPTIONS

According to Kuecker, it is now common to package center-of-the-plate items in single-plate, portion-sized pouches. Liquid products in flexible packaging are tailored to the operator’s desired portion size, as well. “You open it once, you use it for that particular batch, and you’re done,” he says.

Individual-portion packages may also help operators control costs and expand menu variety. “Instead of risking a gallon of chimichurri sauce on a limited-time offer, they can heat up one portion at a time,” says Kuecker.