Nicholl Food Packaging has provided its technical and design skills in the development of ConviTray, said to be the first ever PVC and EPOXY-free ready meal tray to enable in-container pasteurisation for extended shelf-life of fresh products.
Conceived by Norway-based food manufacturer Fjordland to bring greater diversity to the ready meals sector, and developed in conjunction with Swiss packaging company Comvince, ConviTray can be re-heated to full gratination temperatures of 220°-240°C in conventional household ovens.
Designed to target the premium ready meals sector, ConviTray – an aluminium tray with a specially developed layer enabling a tight seal, and an easy-peel transparent lid – is a heat-stable container that does not lose its shape in household ovens.
“That ConviTray can withstand temperatures up to 240°C and can be pasteurised for longer shelf-life make it a real innovation for ready meal production,” says Comvince owner and packaging specialist Jörg P Weltert.
ConviTray enables in-container steam process – described as the most secure and efficient method of pasteurisation – while the closed container process preserves the taste and aroma of the food, as well as it nutritional values.
Providing fresh products with up to four weeks shelf-life, ConviTray also brings “superior cost efficiencies” within the cold chain, Weltert adds: “Larger production runs and therefore cost efficiencies are possible due to the longer shelf-life with reduced food waste risks compared to short shelf-life.”
Working on the project from the early stages, UK-based specialist foil container manufacturer Nicholl Food Packaging has taken the new tray from initial samples to full-scale production at its factory in Staffordshire, UK.
“This is a modern innovation for today’s lifestyles where busy consumers want good tasting quality meal experiences for their family and friends,” Weltert says.
In February 2014, Fjordland was the first manufacturer to launch ConviTray, with its new range of Ovnsklar premium ready meals in Norway.
www.nfpfoil.com
www.comvince.ch
