Global packaging supplier Advanta has launched a skin-pack aluminium poultry tray and film combination – the first of its kind on the foil packaging market.
The product combines the convenience of a chicken-shaped aluminium foil tray and shelf-life extension to minimise the potential for food waste.
The company says that skin pack is an alternative to standard modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). “The poultry is vacuum packed in the foil tray, eliminating oxygen and therefore increasing the shelf-life of refrigerated poultry – sometimes by up to 300%,” said Advanta’s Miguel Campos. “Retailers and manufacturers are increasingly opting for this type of packaging because longer shelf-life products result in reduced supply chain waste.”
As well as increased shelf-life, increased demand for convenience has left a gap in the market for a tray of this type. “The consumer peels back the plastic skin surrounding the poultry, revealing the whole chicken in a foil tray. This is ready to put in the oven and then, once cooked, served directly to the table,” said Campos.
“Both consumer demand for convenience and retailers’ requirements for longer shelf-lives have refocused the priorities of poultry food packaging. As consumption of poultry products continues to grow, new concepts are required to ensure packaging is fit for purpose.”
The packaging has a temperature range of -40OC to +400OC, remaining shatterproof while frozen and rigid while in the oven. The aluminium tray is also 100% recyclable, providing a more environmentally friendly option as opposed to plastic tray alternatives.