Food Processing - April 2008 - (Page 49)

pack aging Bell uses a version of Ready Meals Simple Steps packaging from Sealed Air’s Cryovac Food Solutions (www.cryovac.com), Duncan, S.C. The Easy Gourmet package is a rollstock-formed, semi-rigid tray topped with a vacuum skin film. “That package lends itself to producing a nice quality piece of meat, even in the microwave,” says Sean Brady, director of Ready Meals for North American marketing at Cryovac. “Because the lidstock stays on [during cooking], it holds the steam inside the package, which helps the uniformity of the cooking of the product.” A variation on this package, also from Cryovac, uses preformed rigid trays made of crystallized polyester (CPET). The package, topped with vacuum skin film over the product, is suitable for fresh or pre-cooked meat as well as fresh or frozen vegetables. In addition to providing consumers with the benefit of fast preparation – only 2 1/2 minutes for the Easy Gourmet Thai Chicken – the Simple Steps package offers benefits for processors interested in marketing value-added proteins. Because the meat doesn’t need to be cooked prior to packaging, The Simple Steps package from Cryovac uses pre-formed rigid trays made of crystallized polyester (CPET) topped with vacuum skin film over the product. It’s suitable for fresh or pre-cooked meat as well as fresh or frozen vegetables. processing is faster, easier and less expensive than with precooked, heat-and-serve products. Europe is moving forward with retail applications of the Ready Meals Simple Steps packaging for fresh meat, but Brady says the foodservice market will be the initial emphasis for this package-product combination in the U.S. A hurdle for processors, as they develop products for this package structure, is the variability of microwave ovens in consumers’ homes. Cooking instructions that would work fine for one household could fail miserably in another, souring consumers on the product. However, U.S. foodservice chains tend to use standard microwave technology across the board, so a processor can develop products and cooking directions specifically for the chain’s equipment and achieve consistent quality of cooked product. In the foodservice and retail markets alike, expect this package format to remain on the small side: Packages holding a 3to 7-oz. serving of fresh meat perform best in the microwave. Steam cookery New package formats for fresh vegetables and fruits also are harnessing the power of steam cooking. In-package microwave steaming protects the produce’s delicate flavors and nutrients to deliver a high-quality cooked product, quickly and easily. One of the newer offerings in this category is Freshtables from Minneapolis-based Sholl Group II (www.freshtables. com). Packed in a flexible bag and merchandised in the re April 2008 food processing • 49 Wal-Mart’s lasagna uses the MicroRite tray from Graphic Packaging International. While it’s made of pressed paperboard, a foil pattern is laminated to the interior bottom of the tray, creating “antennae” that direct microwave energy to the center of the product. www.foodprocessing.com http://www.cryovac.com http://www.freshtables.com http://www.freshtables.com http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - April 2008

Food Processing - April 2008 Contents Editor's Plate NewsBites The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Consumer Taste Test - Indulgent, Superpremium Chocolate...at 3 Calories a Pop Cover Story - Annual Capital Spending Report - To Build or Not to Build? Ingredients - Trendy Fruits, Nuts and Vegetables Plant Operations - iPlant: Assessing the State of Automation Plant Operations - Your Sanitation Can Be Greener Packaging - For Which Oven? MRO Q&A New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - April 2008

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