A new age for the meat trade

Practically all households buy meat products. The main topic of the international seminar Packforum® held in March, was vacuum sealed packaging. Sealed Air Cryovac knows more than any other company about vacuum sealed packaging, since they were the ones who first introduced it. They acted as the hosts of the seminar attended by over 130 participants from 20 countries. Stagnation in the consumption of fresh red meat like beef is the result of a number of food scandals, rising prices, animal diseases and the theory that production of meat protein contributes to global warming. Allan Breese from Europanel talked about present consumer trends. Southern European countries, like Spain show the largest meat consumption, while the most dynamic growth is seen in Russia. Quantities declined, but prices rose in practically all countries in 2006. The Swiss consultants 3BI are preparing a survey of vacuum sealed packaging for Sealed Air Cryovac in 15 European countries, covering 135 stores and 13000 product references. Preliminary results show that the proportion of red meat products to poultry is generally 60:40 in Europe. Regarding packaging, the use of protective gas and tray is dominant for red meat, while stretch foil applied in stores is generally used for poultry. Vacuum sealed packaging allows meat packaged by the manufacturer to be placed on the shelves of retail stores without any preparation. 48 per cent of meat products available in stores are of this type already. This concept is useful for several purposes: distinguishing products by different colour trays, ensuring food safety, branding etc. The leading company in the US meat industry, Tyson Foods generated revenues of USD 4 billion from sales of vacuum sealed products. Vacuum sealed packaging is used for all poultry products, while only a quarter of beef products are packaged this way. Some retail chains like Wal-Mart, Aldi and Dollar General use vacuum sealed packaging exclusively, whereas others like Food Lion, HEB and Albertson’s only use it for some of their products. There are many advantages of using vacuum sealed packaging, like increased convenience for consumers and consumer based merchandising. Retailers can reduce their costs and food safety risk at the same time. Vacuum sealed packaging is an ideal tool for targeting specific groups of consumers, according to Christophe Gottar, from Cryovac EMEA, since products can be segmented according to many criteria. Environmental considerations are increasingly important for Sealed Air, who are constantly working on developing more environment-friendly solutions. Cryovac Mirabella® is a revolutionary new product, which offers a combination of significant advantages. Meat is not discoloured when Mirabella is used. Headspace of the tray has been significantly reduced, which saves space as well as gas and makes the packaging less likely to be damaged.