Coveris dishes out fiber-based “heat in pack, eat in pack” food solutions

10 Jul 2024 --- Coveris has launched a range of fiber-based hot-to-go packs, branded Heat. The company targets growing demand for hot food and reduces waste through its recyclable “heat in pack, eat in pack” offering.

“Driven by consumer trends toward food-to-go premiumization, experimentation, convenience, increased missions and a greater need for value, the hot-eat segment presents one of the biggest opportunities for food-to-go, with retailers like Pret a Manger, Greggs and Morrisons having all invested heavily in hot infrastructure,” details the supplier.

“Heat is a game-changer for the food-to-go sector. Providing the packaging of the future, our hot-to-go packs allow for a whole new category of products to be made available to consumers in a sustainable, convenient and added-value way,” says Paul Robertson, Coveris sales director.

“Enabling the food-to-go fixture to extend beyond traditional lunchtime occasions to support increased breakfast and dinner offerings also provides endless opportunities for NPD within the category.” 

Appetite for ready meals
Innova Market Insights’ ready meal trend research indicates that 43% of consumers have eaten more at home in the past year. This consumer interest in meals prepared at home is reflected in the popularity of ready-made options that are both healthy and quick to prepare.

Supporting this consumer trend alongside market demands for sustainability, efficiency and waste reduction, Coveris’ Heat packs utilize an innovative fiber-composite, dual-ovenable printed board to enable hot-to-go products like pastries, wraps, potato wedges, goujons, pasta and pizzas to be cooked in-pack, merchandised in-pack, and then eaten in-pack as a hot-hold solution.

The new packs also deliver a “simpler, faster and no-touch” process in-store. Aligning with Coveris’ vision of No Waste, the recyclable Heat packs support waste reduction targets with advanced heat retention and protection to provide a fully enclosed fold-up board solution with no requirement for additional wrapping.

Having recently launched the innovative new snack packs for Rollover chicken nuggets and jalapeño cheese poppers, packs are available at hot-food counters in convenience retail and forecourts nationwide.

Food packaging pipeline
In other food packaging headlines, John West (Thai Union) rolled out a patent-pending canned tuna tower, EcoTwist. Each can of tuna is held together by a SmartStrip, which can be broken by twisting the cans so they detach from one another.

Meanwhile, Sonoco outfitted French sugar brand Cristalco with a cardboard container equipped with a PP sprinkler for its Daddy Sugar brand, switching out a previous plastic container.

Aldi introduced its own-label chip packaging with recycled plastic in a “UK supermarket first.”