Chocolate sauce first in microwavable aseptic pack

Valrhona, a French gourmet chocolate maker, is among the first to launch product in the Tetra Wedge™ Aseptic microwavable 200 S aseptic pouch from Tetra Pak. “The Tetra Wedge protects the flavor and quality of our newly launched premium sauce au Chocolat,” says Christophe Devaux, R&D project manager at Valrhona.

Valrhona, a French gourmet chocolate maker, is among the first to launch product in the Tetra Wedge™ Aseptic microwavable 200 S aseptic pouch from Tetra Pak. “The Tetra Wedge protects the flavor and quality of our newly launched premium sauce au Chocolat,” says Christophe Devaux, R&D project manager at Valrhona. “It allows us to present a ready-to-use package, and the microwavable heating capacity and shape represent an added value to our customers, particularly for pastry cooks in restaurants. It’s a time-saver, with no tools required to pour the sauce. With this package, Tetra Pak is enabling us to enter the market for gourmet, ready-made dessert sauces.” The 200-mL sauces are said to provide a six-month unopened shelf life. The pouch material includes polyethylene terephthalic silicon oxide (PET SiOx) as an oxygen barrier. The web-shaped pouch is manufactured on a Tetra Pak TBA/19 filling machine that’s specially designed with an ultrasonic transversal sealing for the material, which is printed flexographically in four base colors plus black. The machine’s capacity is 6,000 packages/hr. According to Tetra Pak, Tain l’Hermitage, France-based Valrhona is one of several European food manufacturers that have successfully tested the distinctive pack in the past 15 months. Puljonki of Finland’s sauces and dessert toppings from Bakemark of Germany are reportedly two of the other firms that have tested the 200 S pouch.