Convenience Without Compromise

With modern job expectations often leaving workers with little time for sit-down meals, the portable food market is well-placed to capitalise on the need for quick meals that don’t disrupt busy schedules. But just because these small meals are disposable doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be presented in an appealing way. Good presentation can affect consumer perception of the quality of a product, and aesthetically pleasing, brand-aware packaging is important to making a good first impression.

In the UK, Solo Cup Europe is offering bespoke printing for single use products including hot cups, tumblers, food containers and portion pots. The service is called Show Me Your Colours and sets out to give the kind of consistent branding and colour scheme throughout a range of packaging that will show off both the brand and its products at their best.

“Strong branding encourages customer loyalty and helps your business create a professional impact,” says Tony Waters, managing director of Solo Cup Europe. The minimum order quantity is 50,000 pieces, with shorter runs from the Solo BrandBuilder service, and a speedier supply possible through a fast track service.

Copypoll supplied Tideford Organics with a single serve microwaveable pot with a heat-proof sleeve for soup. The organic food brand recently launched a 300g soup pot that enables the customer to drink directly from it after heating.

Tideford’s managing director Lynette Sinclair says the “innovative and convenient” packaging is helping to provide a much-needed healthy option for the convenience market. The soup is being sold in a branded version at a national chain of coffee houses, and works well alongside sandwiches, Sinclair notes.

Asked how Copypoll came on the scene, she says the supplier had made the initial contact, proposed the concept and has continued to impress Tideford.

This has been a first step in a potentially fruitful partnership. “The food to go category is a fast growing sector where healthy convenience foods are far and few between,” she says. “We looked at our existing range to see how we could adapt it for this market. The heat-proof sleeve soups are designed for customers on the go who are looking for products with great flavour and no additives or preservatives. Many of them are gluten-free and wheat-free as well as being low in salt, sugar and fat.”

Single-portion sized soup pots are also sold online through Ocado. Tideford’s new rice pudding in a single-serving format recently joined its pasta sauce and pesto products on the shelves of Waitrose.

Transparent packaging

The ability to see what you are getting is a feature of the Vision range by Pregis. It emphasises product visibility for a variety of foods including salads and prepared fruit. A modern, minimalist design with a square, angular profile gives very efficient use of shelf space, says Pregis. Various lid options offer features like clip-in sporks, secure stacking and easy labelling. Clip-over lids allow bases to be heat-sealed and lidded to extend shelf life and allow for resealing. A range of sizes is manufactured in clear recycled PET (rPET) which contains a minimum of 50% post-consumer recyclate. The material is fully approved for food use and is a step forward in recycling packaging, says Pregis.

Similarly, Linpac Packaging’s New Leaf recyclable rPET packs for fresh salads provide “crystal clear” presentation, in capacities from 250ml to 1l. Corner ribs give added strength, an indented lid is for secure stacking and the empty pack is “highly stable for easier one-hand filling” in busy environments.

CRP Print & Packaging hopes the food services sector will like its “revolutionary” Food-to-Go range, which “optimises the use of single-faced corrugated material”, it is lightweight in build and insulated for use with both hot and chilled food. It also comes in a watertight format, is tactile, environmentally safe, and made from sustainable sources, says CRP. Products can be coated, printed and embossed.

Research commissioned by packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki found that comforting hot soup is one the most popular takeaway food items sold by caterers on chilly days. Soup is a great use of the company’s Food–to-Go range, which is also suitable for oriental rice and noodles, and Mediterranean-style pastas. The paper-based containers reportedly offer good heat retention and have a tight-fitting lid. The four sizes – 8oz, 12oz, 16oz and 32oz – come in two stock designs: plain white or a standard print design called Streetside.

Huhtamaki’s new polystyrene (PS) embossed vending cup is a stylish matt grey. It features a ‘to-go’ embossed stock design and improved insulation. The 80mm diameter, 9oz and 12oz cups come with a sip-lid.

This cup is recyclable via the Save a Cup scheme, which was established by the vending, food service and plastics industries as a not-for-profit company. It was set up to collect and recycle used PS vending cups and has since been extended to cans, pods, plastics and paper cups.

Dealing with waste

The legal situation concerning packaging and waste is in flux, and companies offering packaged convenience food need to pay particular attention to environmental concerns. Changes with regard to producer responsibility are already happening elsewhere in the world, including in some American states. According to the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA), every option for dealing with waste can be considered to have both positive and negative consequences: in short, there is no perfect solution.

In January, the foodservice sector held a seminar called Foodservice Packaging – Strategies for Waste: Options to meet changing legal and producer responsibility requirements. The speakers approached the different issues from the perspectives of the legislator, the raw materials producer / converter, the end user and the consultant.

James Crick, business development director of Nampak Plastics, a manufacturer of HDPE bottles for the food and drink industry, and author of the DEFRA Milkroad Map, masterminded Nampak’s investment in increasing the recycled content of milk bottles, working towards the objective of closed loop recycled operation. Crick believes sustainability is an issue that needs a long-term strategic approach, but is also short term in that it requires immediate action.

Doug Gilchrist is purchasing manager of Mitie Contract Catering, part of the asset and facilities management organisation. He gave a view of the market and its environmental impact from the perspective of a major buyer of foodservice disposables.

Dr Peter Shonfield, technical director of PE North West Europe, a subsidiary of PE International, spoke as an authority on product life cycle assessments (LCA) and formerly led Unilever’s LCA team.

Also speaking was Mark Pawsey MP, who was a distributor of disposable foodservice packaging for over 25 years prior to being elected as an MP and sits on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Packaging.

Looking back on the event, FPA secretary Martin Kersh notes that a balance has to be struck between convenience and environmental responsibility. “Packaging is the necessary element to deliver ‘food to go’ demanded by the consumer in today’s time-poor culture,” he says. “Our members take their responsibilities seriously and are constantly striving to meet both the demands of the consumer and the needs of the planet.”

FPA seminar chairman Neil Whittall adds: “We should be proud of our achievements in delivering packaging that plays such an important part in the distribution, protection, hygiene, convenience and display of food, while constantly improving its environmental performance and still fulfilling its vital role.”

Tri-Star displays winning ways

After acquiring Portabrands in September 2010, Tri-Star Packaging will show its range of portable food and drink packaging for the first time at the ScotHot exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland, from 28 February to 2 March 2011.

PortaBrands products have made their mark in the coffee-to-go market and the events management sector. Costa uses the PortaDrink, a multicup carrier, for example.

Among the latest products to be launched is the PortaTray. “This is a four-cup brandable tray, which will split easily into two two-cup trays, making it probably the most versatile multi-cup / bottle tray in the world,” says Tri-Star managing director Kevin Curran. It is now on trial with some of the largest coffee groups in the country and a premier contract caterer.

Also new is the “super-lightweight” PortaCup, made from high wet and tear strength paper laminate, designed to be sustainable, recyclable and safer to use in sports stadia and arenas.

Another Tri-Star contribution to the portable food packaging market is a multi-functional salad tray with a contemporary design for green salads, pasta, rice, beans, noodles and sushi. The Hybrid comprises an authentic plain brown paperboard tray, with a sleek black interior, and a high-clarity anti-fogging lid made from recycled PET (rPET).

The company thinks an innovative approach helped win a new contract to supply “grab and go” food packaging to catering group CH&Co. Tri-Star products will be used for sandwiches, salads, cut fresh fruit, jacket potatoes and other takeaway hot foods in corporate restaurants and cultural venues.