Today’s tray packaging must be tough, yet versatile, in order to handle a wide variety of products that are, by no means, dry bulk items. Commodity cuts of meat shed liquid while in the package, while some value-added items come ready-packed with marinades, brines, sauces and other liquid-based ingredients sealed inside the package.
The popularity of plastic trays is, without question, enormous. But phasing into the market has been the desire of processors to deliver products that build upon that foundation. One of the more recent tray-packaging innovations allows for a safer product, says Marc Gaddis, vice president of R&D for Sadler’s Smokehouse.