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food Marketing & Technology 3/2021

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Packaging A State of

Packaging A State of Readiness Laetitia Durafour, Marketing Director at Crown Food Europe, looks at the growing category of ready meals and how metal packaging delivers on quality, convenience, and sustainability According to Statista, the revenue generated for ready-to-eat meals in Europe is ,849 million USD in 2020, with a per capita figure of .88 USD (up 27.4% y-o-y) . Busy lifestyles are driving demand for convenience, and with less time to spare, consumers’ willingness and opportunities to cook from scratch are diminishing. As an alternative, they are expecting to find high-quality, ready meal options. As a result, the market has already registered an increased demand for premium products that balance great ingredients, taste, convenience, and sustainability – all in one package. Metal packaging has continued to deliver on this balance as it has done since the first canned products were introduced by Nicolas Appert of France in 1809. Today, the timeless sterilization and sealing process continues to be successfully used around the world. Testament to this is Crown’s most recent media event hosted in Appert’s home country, France. The aim was to highlight the distinct benefits of this versatile packaging format for the current local ready meals market. Having partnered with longstanding customer William Saurin – renowned French producer of premium ready meals for over 100 years – and 2-star Michelin chef Olivier Bellin (owner of L’Auberge des Glazicks), the event spotlighted a new canned ready meal concept. Using the finest ingredients, the aim is to offer a gourmet experience to consumers looking for flavor and finesse in their meals, packaged in metal to provide a truly premium feel to the product. On the day of the event, Bellin demonstrated the recipes development process and guests – had the opportunity to take home a canned version of the meal they had enjoyed. Crucially, the research and development had already taken place in the William Saurin labs, with valuable input from the chef and Crown on the packaging side, to prove that this premium-level product could be scaled up to mass production by combining the best ingredients, recipe, process, and packaging. The metal can features a peelable lid that locks in freshness along with a cliptop lid, enabling consumers to control their own portion sizes and reseal the can for future. Health and Nutrition: Key Market Drivers In addition to convenience, a marked increase in awareness around health and wellness is feeding directly into the ready meals market, with manufacturers keen to deliver. While ready meals may have been associated with high fat, sugar, and salt content in the past, today the variety of healthy, balanced options continues to expand thanks to metal packaging. The canning process eliminates the need for artificial preservatives to keep contents fresh, allowing more 38 food Marketing & Technology • June 2021

Packaging natural, clean products for healthconscious consumers. The two recipes created by chef Bellin – a Duck Pot au Feu and a Glazed Carrot dish -- got the seal of approval from dietician and nutritionist Ysabelle Levasseur, also present at the culinary event. Levasseur commented both on the nutritional balance of the delicious meals, each under 530 calories. She also noted that enjoying canned meals on a regular basis can be part of a healthy, balanced diet, when consumers leverage the more natural products metal packaging supports. vegan meat alternatives will hit .5 billion globally by 2025 2 . Metal packaging not only makes these products available in any season but also helps to reduce food waste by preserving produce canned at the peak of freshness. Finally, there are also a wide range of canned appetizers and snacks that can be opened and served immediately. Anchovies in oil or vinegar paired with bread, for example, or a charcuterie board paired with nuts, olives and other finger foods can make for a visually appealing, tasty, and nutritious spread. Metal Packaging Presents Endless Meal Possibilities The sheer variety of canned ready meals available today will leave most consumers spoiled for choice—and as we have seen from the likes of Duck Pot au Feu, full meals can be canned and retain their quality. Cassoulet is a prime example of a classic French dish that has been canned for many years, while options such as chilli con carne, curries and a wide variety of regional casseroles and stews are also popular choices. Soup – a shelf-stable product that is synonymous with metal packaging— is also receiving an upgrade. Often seen as a seasonal option, soup is now becoming a year-round selection that caters to different cultural and dietary requirements. Vegetable soups are incredibly popular, while many manufacturers are also looking to the cuisines of the world for inspiration. Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Western varieties all rub shoulders together in the supermarket aisles, and year-on-year, countries such as Spain, the Netherlands and Germany have seen retail value rises. Canned ready-to-eat foods provide great flexibility and versatility for fast and nutritious meals, and also cater to all dietary requirements. The rise in popularity of plant-based, vegetarian, and flexitarian options, for example, has led brands to extend their ranges further than ever before. It is expected that the market for Sustainability: An Increasingly Important Factor Today’s well-informed consumers are not content to merely buy products based on ingredients and nutritional value alone; they are also conscious of making ethical and responsible choices around packaging. Here, metal has delivered from the outset. The format is not only 100%, infinitely recyclable without loss of properties but is also one of the most recycled materials globally. In fact, approximately 80% of metal ever produced is still in use today, making it a prime example of the circular economy at work. A great example of this commitment to make ongoing use of this precious resource can be seen in the Metal Recycles Forever campaign, launched in 2014 by members of Metal Packaging Europe. Its aim is to inform and enable consumers to better understand the role they have to play in keeping metal within the material loop and is an initiative that Crown and its customers have supported from day one. Products such as Branston Baked Beans from brand owner Princes proudly display the logo, which is applicable to all forms of metal packaging. As a Company, Crown is also committed to accelerating its own sustainability efforts. In 2016, Crown set its first company-wide sustainability goals, and as of January 2020 has achieved its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction target and decreased absolute emissions - even while seeing significant increases in production. Sustainability is about protecting the environment, but it is also so much more. As a result, the rollout of what has been named the Twentyby30 program will be one more exciting step in its journey. Twenty measurable goals have been implemented with the aim to achieve all by the year 2030, and five pillars of action will create the framework to achieve this goal. They are: • Climate Action • Resource Efficiency • Optimum Circularity • Working Together • Never Compromise In the ready meals sector and beyond, through leveraging the precious resource that is metal, Crown can continue to provide nutrition and sustenance to the world in a packaging format that is as sustainable as it is effective. fmt 1) https://www.statista.com/outlook/40080100/102/readyto-eat-meals/europe 2) https://healthcareers.co/vegan-statistics/ food Marketing & Technology • June 2021 39

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