Ready meal revamps: Food safety and eco-sustainability dominate packaging requirements as COVID-19 spurs demand

05 May 2021 --- Ready meal packaging has become a more regular feature in the lives of many consumers contending with COVID-19 community restrictions. While food hoarding will mostly die out post-pandemic, the long-term restaurant delivery trend and post-pandemic surge in social activity are set to reinforce ready meal packaging’s vital role in ensuring food protection and convenience on-the-go. 

According to Innova Market Insights, 49 percent of global consumers regard product protection and food safety as a top requirement for ready meal packaging, followed by product storage (42 percent) and product information (37 percent).

Meanwhile, the industry-wide driver of environmental sustainability is impacting the use of virgin plastics in packaging. Notably, the EU is devising strategies to ensure all packaging is recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030 as per its Plastics Strategy.

In the UK, the Plastics Tax – effective from April 2022 – is proposing a £200 (US$278) per ton tax on plastic packaging with less than 30 percent recycled plastic, while numerous other countries, including China and Australia, are incentivizing waste reduction through legislation.

PackagingInsights discusses the challenges and opportunities for ready meal packaging with suppliers Greiner Packaging and Huhtamaki, with consumer insights provided by Innova Market Insights.

Consumers prioritize product protection
The global market analyst confirms trays are the preferred ready meal packaging format for global consumers (34 percent). In the UK and Brazil, tray preference is as high as 54 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

Greiner Packaging produces cups and tubs with matching lids (Image credit: Greiner Packaging).The next most popular formats for global consumers are pouches (17 percent), bags (14 percent), cups (10 percent) and pots (7 percent).

After production protection (49 percent), product storage (42 percent) and product information (37 percent), global consumers regard product usage convenience (30 percent), transportation (22 percent) and on-the-go usability (12 percent) as top priorities.

In emerging economies, product protection is an especially widespread concern. Consumers in Indonesia, China and India prioritize food safety at 69 percent, 63 percent and 61 percent, respectively.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also heightened consumer hygiene concerns, with 59 percent of global consumers seeing packaging’s protective function as more important since the virus outbreak.

Twenty percent of global consumers favor more plastic packaging for pandemic hygiene purposes, while 40 percent concede they are an “undesirable necessity” at this time.

Food safety and sustainability
Bartłomiej Celmerowski, international business development manager at Greiner Packaging, reiterates food protection is a key concern in ready meal packaging innovation, alongside closely related sustainability and insulation drivers.

Huhtamaki relieves virgin plastic dependency with its fiber-based Fresh trays (Image credit: Huhtamaki).“Many ready meal products are prepared directly in the packaging and also consumed from it – often on-the-go. That’s why we attach great importance to the protection of the food in our packaging, on the shelf and during preparation,” he explains.

“Additionally, we make it easy for consumers to enjoy the products and ensure the dishes are presented attractively on shelves.”

Greiner Packaging produces cups and tubs and matching lid and cutlery solutions, including cardboard spoons and lids made of recycled PET (rPET), mainly for dry ready meal applications.

“When it comes to insulation, we trust in our cardboard-plastic combinations. The thermal properties of the packaging keep the food warm for a long time while also protecting the consumer’s hands against burns.”

“Additional shoulders in the plastic cup help to further increase insulation. The cardboard and plastic can be easily separated from one another and disposed of individually, serving sustainability purposes.”

Fiber-based packaging specialist Huhtamaki also sees environmental impact as a major concern in the foodservice sector.

“In Europe, the focus is particularly high on plastics replacement and packaging solutions that minimize the impact on the environment without compromising on food safety,” explains Steve Davey, senior sales and marketing manager at Huhtamaki Fiber UK.

“The other key trend is ensuring ease of handling for the consumer as well as at the retail and food producer side.”Huhtamaki recently launched a lidding solution in India, adding “a new dimension to convenience” in the ready meals segment. The solution is aluminum-free and the “first-of-its-kind” to offer compatibility with multiple extreme processes – retorting, microwaving and hot water baths – along with easy-peel. The optimized lidded tray format offers the added convenience of “heat-to-eat” directly – all the consumer must do is microwave or drop the pack in boiling water for 60 seconds and eat (Image credit: Huhtamaki).

Circular economy challenges
According to Huhtamaki, plastics reduction continues to be a key consumer requirement for ready meal packaging. Moreover, increasingly stringent legislation requiring recyclability and circularity combined with food safety and hygiene is “always paramount.”

“Recyclability and ease of recycling in practice tend to vary both within countries and between countries, depending on existing infrastructure, which is sometimes challenging for product development and product range management from a regional perspective,” explains Susanna Graeffe, category director at Huhtamaki Fiber Foodservice EAO.Celmerowski at Greiner Packaging says food protection is a key concern in ready meal packaging, alongside closely related sustainability and insulation drivers (Image credit: Greiner Packaging).

Huhtamaki overcomes virgin plastic dependency with its award-winning, fiber-based Fresh trays, available in Europe. The trays can be heated in the microwave and oven and are suitable for chilled and frozen ready meals.

Celmerowski at Greiner Packaging adds that one of the main challenges to the circular economy for food packaging is a severe lack of supply for recycling materials approved for food packaging.

“Materials that can be used – such as rPET – are not available on a large scale yet. What, however, does lie in our hands is product innovation. We always try to make our packaging as light as possible while guaranteeing all necessary product protection.”

“Also, we design our packaging to be perfectly recyclable, which will help us have high-quality recycled materials in the future.”

“When it comes to legislative requirements, we are mainly influenced by the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive. Especially the ban on plastic cutlery – effective from July 2021 – has a big influence on packaging solutions.”

COVID-19 demand surges
Both Huhtamaki and Greiner Packaging have experienced increased demand for ready meal packaging solutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have seen increasing demand in home delivery, both in takeaway food as well as home delivery from restaurants,” notes Graeffe at Huhtamaki.Huhtamaki’s Great to Go range offers a wide range of solutions for home delivery, takeaway and dine-in meals (Image credit: Huhtamaki).

“We have introduced several new innovative packaging products for a variety of meals and cuisines to address this shift.”

The Finnish-headquartered supplier’s Great to Go range offers a wide assortment of packaging for home delivery, takeaway and dine-in meals.

“We experienced increased demand for dried ready meal products and, accordingly, the packaging for them,” shares Celmerowski at Greiner Packaging.

“Import limitations from Asia in some markets even pushed demand for local brands,” he adds.

Home food delivery has especially soared as a consequence of lockdowns and social restrictions. According to Innova Market Insights, 35 percent of global consumers have increased their home food delivery use since the virus outbreak. Brazil is above average, with more than half (58 percent) of consumers turning to online purchasing.

Moreover, the survey indicates 15 percent of global consumers do not expect to return to regular grocery habits post-pandemic. In the UK, Germany and the US, as many as 20 percent of consumers expect to continue with COVID-19 purchasing habits.

By Joshua Poole