Convenience specialists

Consumers now invest less time and effort than ever before in the preparation of meals. At the same time, freshness, enjoyment and wellness are high on their list of priorities. A leading supplier of convenience packaging for the European market, the Pregis Group, meets these needs by offering “intelligent solutions”.

One subsidiary, Pregis Rigid Food Packaging, produces deep-drawn plastics bowls and containers for the food service industry, including microwaveable bowls, sandwich packaging and the Wave salad bowl range, which is said to offer particular user-friendliness for consumers who place emphasis on healthy nutrition and wellness.

“Pregis is reacting to demand for high clarity, hand-friendly packaging concepts, which are suitable for premium, healthy eating snack products,” says company president Gary Rehwinkel.

The small Wave salad bowls have hinged lids for better convenience, while the larger packs have a separate lid to allow the consumer to present the base on the table, with “excellent product visibility”. The shape also allows the packs to interlock on the shelf, saving valuable space. All sizes come with snack forks that fit into the lids.

The bowls are said to be leak resistant and suitable for a wide variety of food products, offering attractive, individually designed packaging that emphasises the value of the content and can be easily distinguished from competitors’ products.

Apart from convenience, product safety is the highest priority for Pregis. “There are increasing demands for attractive, functional packaging, which offers customers not only better convenience for casual dining but also the confidence that products are fresh and unopened,” says Gary Rehwinkel. The hinged containers of the company’s TamperGuard range are not only easy to hold and to eat from, but also incorporate a patented ‘ring-pull’ style opening feature that offers security and prevents tampering. These bowls are transparent for excellent product visibility and are available with a snack fork.

Both ranges are manufactured in rPET with a minimum of 50 per cent post-consumer recycled content. The material is said to be 100 per cent recyclable and 100 per cent food grade, with the same excellent clarity as APET.

Pregis Flexibles specialises in the development of flexible films. “In close co-operation with our customers, the food producers, we develop very user-friendly products that significantly facilitate consumption by the end user,” explains Hartmut Scherf, president of the Pregis Flexibles Group. “We manufacture modern packaging for modern food.”

For example, the company offers a range of peel films said to simplify opening significantly. It includes films that can be peeled off the same type of film, as well as various flexible and rigid examples. The peeling force can be accurately defined through the machine parameters and the films are sometimes given anti-static or anti-fog properties.

Other examples of Pregis Flexibles convenience packaging are the high quality barrier films for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), which are said to retain the flavour of food products and extend their shelf life several times over. According to Hartmut Scherf, all Pregis cover films provide a perfect seal with all bowls and base films found on the market, resulting in numerous possible combinations.

Films for the rapidly growing market segment of resealable packaged items, such as cold meats or cheese, are another focal point in the convenience food market. Resealing mechanisms such as press-to-close or sliders are being integrated into various plastics bags by Pregis Flexibles. When equipped with a Slide-Rite closure system, for example, the contents can be easily removed without requiring cumbersome transfer to another container.

Finally, ready-made sauces or soups for instant meals often come in convenient, stable stand-up pouches, and Pregis Flexibles can custom-make these with or without a spout, a handle or a transparent window, as well as in variants suitable for pasteurisation and sterilisation.

In summary, Pregis believes while most convenience factors have already become standard, increasing consumer demands and developments such as organic products and functional food will ensure that convenience packaging remains a growth market.