Meat&Poultry - September 2011 - 73

Packaging

Bacon wrapped
As the bacon market evolves with new products, so does bacon packaging
BY LYNN PETRAK
meatpoultry@sosland.com

E

verywhere you look, it seems, there is a new kind of bacon product. Bacon-laced dark chocolate bars. Bacon-infused vodka. Bacon-topped sundaes at Denny’s restaurants. And, believe it or not, a bacon-scented cologne for men. Plain old bacon, of course, is still a household staple. According to Geoff Feil, Oscar Mayer senior brand manager for Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods, although pork belly prices have risen as much as 70 percent since 2009, consumers have brought home the bacon in many ways. “Despite high pork belly prices, the ‘state of bacon’ is good. Bacon category sales are up nearly 15 percent year to date,” he reports. While bacon remains a major draw to the refrigerated grocery case (and to store shelves for pre-cooked, ready-toeat varieties), the category has some new twists. Premium, artisan-style and natural bacon products, for example, have emerged in popularity in recent years (the American Culinary Federation listed craft bacon as the third-

hottest ingredient this year) and bacon processors are touting such items with different types of packaging.

Attracting customers
Oscar Mayer, for its part, merchandises its premium Center Cut bacon in a plastic rigid tray with a fi lm seal. The transparent package walls effectively showcase the product, allowing

“Consumers eat with their eyes first, and bacon purchasers are looking at the product to evaluate it based on looks.”
shoppers to look at the entire length of bacon slices. “What communicates premium or upscale to consumers is the lean-to-fat ratio of the bacon. Consumers eat with their eyes fi rst, and bacon purchasers are looking at the product to evaluate it based on looks,” observes Feil. “It’s important to have

a package that shows the product.” For both newer and classic types of bacon, quality is always a top-of-mind concern when it comes to packaging. Befitting its traditional pork belly origins, bacon is typically fatty and greasy and requires barrier materials and sealants to ensure quality and freshness. Some bacon processors have turned to new materials to optimize package protection. Farmland Foods, a Kansas City, Mo., division of Smithfield Foods, utilizes a bacon film made with special Surlyn resins from DuPont. Curwood Inc. provides Farmland with the innovative fi lm, which is designed for strong sealing as well as improved graphics and a reduction in leakage due to potential punctures. Sustainability is another factor driving choices across the consumer packaged goods industry. Bacon is not
Above: Oscar Mayer recently launched Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon with Lower Sodium and Sea Salt. Oscar Mayer merchandises its premium Center Cut bacon in a plastic rigid tray with a film seal. (Photos courtesy of Oscar Mayer)

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