Sealed Air, a global food packaging supplier, has created a tray covered with vacuum-sealed 'skin' film that does not need to be pierced before food is heated in the microwave. Instead, the film 'tents up' as the product is heated, keeping both the moisture and flavour in.
Retaining the moisture, as well as the freshness guaranteed by the vacuum-packed skin film, is a major factor in the taste and appearance of the product, says Sealed Air.
"Usually if you eat a pie that has been frozen and exported, it won't taste the same," said Trevor Stevens, director of the firm's Cryovac Food Solutions business in Asia.
But now companies in Singapore are considering new export markets for Asian-style meals, using the Simple Steps technology.
The packaging has already been available in the US for three years, used by clients like Smithfield Foods. But Sealed Air has recently attracted new clients in Singapore who are keen to build on sales in the small domestic market by looking overseas.
Singapore Food Delight Manufacturer, for example, has created a range of ready meals packaged using Simple Steps that could be exported to Japan, China and even the US. The meals have a shelf life of at least a year, thanks to help from Singapore Polytechnic in adjusting the formulation to protect ingredients like coconut oil that oxidise quickly.
For the domestic market too, the packaging is increasingly chosen by those aiming for the higher end of the ready meal market.
"We're just at the start of ready meal packaging in Asia but there is significant opportunity here," Stevens told AP-Foodtechnology.com.Singapore's ready meal market was worth around US$24.9 million in 2005, according to provisional estimates by Euromonitor, and is set to grow a further 11 per cent in the next five years.
But in neighbouring countries, growth is pitched at a much higher rate. In China, where ready meals were worth around US$342 million last year, compound annual growth to 2010 is forecast at 7.3 per cent, while in Thailand the CAGR is 10.1 per cent, estimates Euromonitor.
Stevens admits that the market for 'luxury' ready meals, the kind packed in Simple Steps packaging, is a small niche of these Asian markets. But there is a growing number of affluent consumers, particularly women, who do not want to cook time-consuming Asian food.
Sealed Air has recently signed another client in Singapore, Golden Bridge, which launched spaghetti-based products last month. It also has three customers in South Korea, mainly in the meat sector.
Amanda Wong, food technologist at Sealed Air, said: "It is more expensive than traditional packaging but it brings out the shape of the product and improves its appearance, which manufacturers like."
The technology also allows food processors to complete pre-cooking of the product in the package, reducing the amount of handling between cooking and re-packaging afterwards.
