How meat packaging innovation can boost hygiene and environmental credentials amid market hurdles

25 May 2022 --- Meat packaging innovation, like many other industry areas, has been under mounting pressure to achieve hygiene and quality control while reducing emissions and material use simultaneously. These demands are further compounded by rising raw material prices, cost inflation and supply chain issues that have cascaded over the past three years. 

The COVID-19 pandemic, international trade disputes, economic inflation, raw material shortages, and now the Ukraine war have steadily raised higher and higher hurdles for packaging producers to jump as they strive to achieve ambitious circular economy targets. 

PackagingInsights speaks with industry experts from Sealpac, GEA and Flexopack about how machinery and packaging design can achieve enhanced hygiene and eco-credentials while facing down the current boom in-market challenges. 

Monomaterial rescue 
Marcel Veenstra, head of marketing and communications at Sealpac, says one of the main solutions to industry’s challenges is using lightweight monomaterial designs, which can be entered easily into recycling streams in most countries. 

FlatMap packaging achieves a 70% reduction in plastic usage.“Like in any other food segment, the meat industry is looking for ways to develop contemporary packaging that combines product safety with resource conservation. These [environmentally] sustainable solutions increasingly rely on monomaterials for improved recycling, are characterized by reduced plastic content, or process alternative materials such as paper into safe and attractive packaging,” he says. 

“For example, we see the introduction of ultra-light trays weighing less than 10g. And a whole range of hybrid packaging concepts combining a cardboard base with minimal plastic content.” 

One of SealPac’s flagship products is the FlatMap design, designed for sliced meats. According to the company, an FSC-certified cardboard carrier is sealed with a transparent top film that uses 60-70% less plastic than conventional modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) trays.

“The FlatMap pack contains just 110 microns of plastic. The liner is only 40 microns thick, whereas the top reclosable film has a thickness of just 70 microns,” says Veenstra. 

Aiding policy 
One of the key drivers pressuring businesses to improve their environmental sustainability credentials is legislation, both national and international. Consumer concerns and scientific data gathered by NGOs and other organizations have steadily driven policymakers to introduce guidelines forcing industry to improve their standards. 

“The demand for sustainable packaging is partly driven by legislation, such as the EU Plastics Strategy for 2030 or any national legislation, but mostly by the retailers that have set ambitious goals for themselves. As such, they are forcing their suppliers to come up with environmentally sustainable alternatives for their current packaging system,” says Veenstra. 

Flexopack meat packages.One of the best ways for meat packers to help drive policy and stay informed about the complex legislation being introduced is to become involved in driving new policy. Dimitris Mantzoros, group commercial director for Greek company Flexopack, emphasizes that joining CEFLEX has been a major aid to the company’s efforts in these issues. 

“Working with CEFLEX helps us understand the directives for recycle-ready packaging solutions. We are trying to explain that yes, we have to go for fully recyclable packaging solutions, but we also have to make solutions that preserve produce and extend shelf life.” 

“It is much worse to throw away food or have spoiled food than to fail with recycling. Throwing the packaging away is preferable to wasting food.” 

Plastic against food waste 
Helping the government understand that the emissions associated with food loss are far higher than with packaging is a key challenge, as many industry corners feel they are being unfairly penalized for using efficient and effective packaging materials despite the environmental benefits they provide. 

Veenstra also adds: “When it comes to meat, if we want to prevent food waste, it is almost impossible to do without plastic. That is why our motto can only be: as little plastic as possible, as much as necessary.” 

“If we did not apply plastic, we would have to throw away much more fresh and processed meat, which on its own is far more damaging to the environment than the packaging itself. However, we can support customers in reducing the amount of plastic to the minimum, increase the recyclability of the remaining plastic and/or introduce alternative materials.”

GEA Smartpacker CX400.Meat pack machinery 
Improving meat packaging machinery is another important area for achieving efficiency. German specialist GEA is currently highlighting the improvements made to its Smartpacker CX400 machine. 

The company’s application specialist Jacques Timmermans explains that the company replaced Teflon strips in the machine’s sealing compartment to improve hygiene and material reductions. 

“We are not using Teflon anymore. You have to replace Teflon tape every shift with standard seal bars, depending on what products you are running. We have a solution that produces almost no wear on the system at all,” says Timmermans. 

“Now, instead, we use aluminum strips with a special coating, and the heat is coming from two sides. This means we have less time and energy to create the seal, and the seal pressure is much higher than in a standard system. These strips will run more than one million bags before we change them.”

Teflon is one of the chemicals currently under scrutiny in the EU, where political commitments have been made to phase out such substances entirely by 2030. 

Alternative meats 
The rise of meat alternatives has steadily taken over much of the market, with a huge range of plant-based replacements for basic meat products offered throughout the world. This trend is continuing to grow. Innova Market Insights pegged “Plant-Based: The Canvas for Innovation” as a top trend for 2022, noting a 59% increase in launches of new plant-based products in the year to August 2021. 

The market researcher also finds that plant-based R&D has refocused from mimicking meat, fish and dairy to optimizing and diversifying options. 

“More and more people are either consistently vegetarian or vegan or have become flexitarian, meaning that they occasionally and consciously decide not to eat meat products. As could be seen at IFFA 2022, this appears to be a trend that will prevail, not a short-term hype,” adds Veentsta. 

Sealpac displayed its range of packaging options, including FlatMap, at the recent IFFA show in Frankfurt, Germany.

“This is also due to contemporary plant-based alternatives, which come so close to their meat-based role models in both taste and consistency that refraining from meat no longer has to go hand in hand with a significant decline in enjoyment,” he says. 

“The impact with regard to package design has not been huge, but it is clear that the target group for alternative meat products highly values a [environmentally] sustainable packaging design to go along with it.”

By Louis Gore-Langton