Sliced meat and cheese tray enhances consumer convenience

prepearing now in retail stores in Finland is Huhtamaki's most recent addition to its thermoformed rigid packaging line-up for fresh foods. Designed to provide a hygienic reclosable option for sliced meats and cheeses, the Slice Tray is also very convenient for consumers. "With this transparent tray, consumers have a safe and easy way to serve sliced meat or cheese directly from the packaging and not use a separate plate," said Huhtamaki's Jussi Rautiainen, Sales and Marketing Manager, Nordic/Finland Fresh Foods.

prepearing now in retail stores in Finland is Huhtamaki's most recent addition to its thermoformed rigid packaging line-up for fresh foods. Designed to provide a hygienic reclosable option for sliced meats and cheeses, the Slice Tray is also very convenient for consumers. "With this transparent tray, consumers have a safe and easy way to serve sliced meat or cheese directly from the packaging and not use a separate plate," said Huhtamaki's Jussi Rautiainen, Sales and Marketing Manager, Nordic/Finland Fresh Foods. Table readiness is one of the key factors why Huhtahyvat, the Finnish-based meat producer, chose Slice Tray to merchandise its special products. "We are sold on the fact that consumers can serve our products directly from the refrigerator to the table and then seal it back up again with the reclosable lid," said Jukka Vilska, President of Huhtahyvat. "This is a much more hygienic and convenient way to package and merchandise our products," he added. A rigid modified atmosphere package, the Slice Tray features a heat sealed barrier film between the polypropylene tray and the polystyrene snap-on lid. The film is removed when opening the package for the first time. "The rigid plastic design better protects products from damage during shipping and retail handling compared to other packaging alternatives," Rautiainen said. Other package design features: • Up to 16-20 days' shelf life in modified atmosphere (MAP) applications • A built-in hook for vertical hanging display options • Unique features to keep product in place within the packaging • Stackable for optimal use of cooler space • Excellent transparency for product viewing • Optimum print quality labeling According to Vilska, the package enhances merchandising opportunities. "Because you can easily hang the package vertically or stack it in a cooler, our retail customers have a variety of display options which give them flexibility on display location," he said. Huhtamaki also offers Slice Trays directly to instore meat operations who are slicing and packing their own meats and cheeses. "This is an excellent option for those retail outlets who want to upscale their coldcut visibility," Rautiainen said.