Improving packaging may improve sagging sales in microwavable foods. At this point, any help is welcome.
"The microwave food business really has not developed the way everyone thought it would," said Robert Schiffmann, president of R.F. Schiffman & Associates, New York, a consulting firm to the food industry. Although the overall market for microwavable food is not very strong, some lower-priced products are doing quite well, as are popcorn, pizza and bacon. However, sales of shelf-stable meals are plummeting, except for some kid-oriented dinners. Sales of frozen entrees also have been sluggish. As a result, many packaging changes involve efforts to lower costs or improve product quality. With the slow economy and environmental concerns, consumers aren't interested in paying for complex packaging. This helps explain the popularity of one-piece, folded paperboard packages, which offer superior graphics and good cook-in-the-box microwave performance at a low cost. "There's a big drive away from multicomponent and multilayer packages," said Schiffmann. For example, Ore Ida wanted to cut costs when it switched to Westvaco's StackPack. The one-piece carton reportedly uses 42% less packaging than the package it replaces, which includes a plastic tray, a film lid and a secondary carton. Since each component also had an operations step, the new package eliminates a lot of freight, warehousing and handling, said Brian McGlynn, marketing and sales manager of Westvaco's ovenware group.
The dual-ovenable StackPack box features two flat sides and two flanged sides for easy handling and stand-up presentation, plus an E-Z Open perforated strip to simplify venting and consumption. It's also being used by Weight Watchers Food Co. as well as by Stouffer Foods for its new Lunch Express and some "red box" and Lean Cuisine products. Blanks are shipped flat and erected, and then filled and sealed on-line. A heat-seal coating, developed to withstand a temperature range from minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, eliminates the need for hot melt glue. Another cook-in-the-box structure is Westvaco's Tri-Seal, which Campbell Soup Co. is using for breakfast and dry products. Since it's microwave-only, it is extrusion-coated with polypropylene instead of the polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, used on the dual-ovenable boxes.
Where multilayer containers are being used, there's a trend to reduce barrier levels -- the period in which packaging materials are capable of protecting ingredients from outside air, gasses, etc. -- to one year, and to eliminate colorants to cut costs, according to Harry Rubbright, president of the Rubbright Group, a food industry consulting firm based in Eagan, Minn. At $65 to $70 per thousand, prices are now about half what they were when the containers debuted.
Another example of simplified packaging is Ore Ida's mashed potatoes, which started out in a dual-ovenable crystallized polyethylene terephthalate, or CPET, tray, switched to a microwave-only polypropylene tray, and recently changed again to a flexible bag. "There's a realization that you don't need sophisticated packaging for a lot of products," said Rubbright. In CPET trays there is a trend toward downgauging. Tray weight has been reduced by 20% and will go lower, said J.C. Wehrle, senior vice president of marketing and strategies for Alusuisse Packaging Therma-Plate, South Plainfield, N.J. While some microwavable packages are becoming simpler, others are becoming more sophisticated. This is especially true for packages that incorporate a susceptor. These metallized structures help heat food more evenly, as well as brown and crisp the food for improved appearance and texture. A number of new susceptors have been introduced recently or will soon be commercial. One of the most active companies in this area is Advanced Deposition Technologies, Taunton, Mass. AD Tech pattern-metallizes base films, typically polyester. It entered the microwave packaging market three years ago so it would be less dependent on the electronics market and has found its expertise to be highly transferable. "Our packaging patents are based on our electronics roots," said Glenn Walters, president. AD Tech's Accu-Crisp membrane susceptor consists of two metal layers, at least one of which has a customized pattern to optimize heating of the product. "By using two different layers of metal we can change the susceptor's absorption, transmission or reflectivity properties," explained Walters. As a result, it's possible to engineer the susceptor for specific food composition, geometry and location. Accu-Crisp is used for Weight Watchers' oil-free microwave popcorn and Rudolph's Bacon Snaps. It also reportedly works well with two-part food products, like pocket sandwiches, in which the outside needs to brown and crisp without boiling away the interior. A recently patented AD Tech product is Accu-Wave. The patterned heavy metallized coating on lidstock reflects or focuses microwave energy for products such as lasagna, where the corners tend to overcook before the center thaws. Another susceptor design, which prevents food from overcooking in certain areas, is Qwik Crisp from James River Corp.'s Flexible Packaging Group, Cincinnati. This grid-patterned design also can be customized. Controlled heating keeps it from scorching when bonded to paperboard. Although there are no commercial applications, it's reportedly being tested. Yet another group of susceptors are available from Deposition Technologies, San Diego, Calif. This company applies a chromium-nickel alloy called Inconel through the process of sputtering instead of traditional vapor deposition. Unlike aluminum, the alloy does not oxidize and microfracture when heated. It also holds heat longer, making it ideal for products with a large mass. It's currently being used by Michelangelo Foods for calzone. Deposition Technologies' sputtering technology also can be used with other metals, such as stainless steel. Metallizers such as AD Tech and Deposition Technologies provide susceptor films for converters, who print and laminate finished packaging. Flexible packaging converter Printpack, Atlanta, for example, offers four MW Wrap susceptor materials: aluminum, pattern-metallized aluminum, stainless steel and Inconel. "All have very different heat profiles," explained Robert Siu, project engineer for microwave susceptors. Rubbright, the consultant, predicts ingredient companies and packaging companies working in unison with food companies will begin developing products just for the microwave where energy is controlled through ingredient formulations and packaging structures. Work also will continue to improve surface texture and color. With a dual-ovenable product, compromises must be made, he said, and food quality suffers. Yet "consumers still want quality," said Rubbright.
