Form-fill-seal has moved steadily over the years to become a major packaging force for retail proteins. “It’s only rivaled by shrink bags,” declares one packaging veteran. “Certainly in North America it’s dominant largely on the flexible side.”
Its purview, once governed chiefly by red meat, has broadened to embrace a once-unassailable application. “I always said if you could turn poultry around and get it away from foam overwrapped trays and into form-fill-seal … I’m telling you, it dominates the cases, at least at club stores,” says an equipment systems expert. “I guess I had known about the volume of the business, but to see it in a store … look at all that vacuum-packed poultry.”