Scott Eilert, Cargill Meat Solutions, Wichita, Kansas USA

Scott Eilert, Cargill Meat Solutions, Wichita, Kansas USA

Packaging Innovations for the 21 st Century Scott J. Eilert, Ph.D. Presented to the ICoMST August 9, 2005

Presentation Goals Review driving forces that will prompt the need for packaging innovations Review examples of innovative solutions to these forces

Presentation Outline Current state of packaging meat in the U.S. Consumer influences How the food industry is responding Economic influences How the food industry is responding Summary and wrap up

Innovation: a definition Converting knowledge and insight into solutions that create distinctive value Innovation defined at Cargill Transformational vs. Incremental Getting ahead of the curve vs. finding a new curve

Introductory Example: The Evolution of the Coffee Can For 150 years, the 3 piece metal can was the standard HDPE materials Offers smooth rim Filling while warm with self venting lid Offering cost control, convenience, preservation of freshness

Introductory Example: The Evolution of the Coffee Can What s your coffee can? Where are the advancements that will fundamentally change how products are offered? Explore examples of these in food and meat industry

Current State: Fresh Meat Packaging Sealed Air/Cryovac Meat Case Study Conducted in 2002 and again in 2004 104 retail stores 43 markets in 29 states 29,000 linear feet of display case

Current State: Fresh Meat Packaging 2002 69% of linear feet devoted to fresh 49% of fresh meat packages were case ready Styrofoam tray, PVC overwrap, 51% 9% MAP 2004 63% of linear feet devoted to freh 6 of fresh meat packages were case ready Styrofoam tray, PVC overwrap, 47% 13% MAP

Case Ready Penetration Increased for Each Major Specie Based on Package Counts 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15% 23% Beef 66% 56% Ground Beef 37% 5 28% 37% 38% 47% 83% 95% 95% 85% 49% Pork Veal Lamb Chicken Turkey Total 6 2002 2004

PVC Wrap Was Down 4% Vacuum Packaging Up 3% (% of Packaging Types Used Within Species) Beef Ground Beef Pork Veal Lamb Chicken Turkey 2002 TOTAL 2004 TOTAL Change PVC Wrap 78% 39% 58% 66% 56% 18% 14% 51% 47% 4% SES/SSD 1% 1% 1% 4% 5% 64% 26% 21% 21% Vacuum 11% 28% 9% 28% 8% 15% 1 13% + 3% MAP 1 33% 12% 21% 1 2% 45% 9% 13% + 4% Chub 27% 1% 4% 4% VPP 1% n/a <1% Poly Bag 3% 1% 3% 1% 2% Other 1% 2% 2% 1% 1% Total 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 This analysis excludes sausage.

Current State: Fresh Meat Packaging Evolution to case ready continues at a measured pace Driven largely by economic influence Fresh Meat case continues to shrink Driven largely by need for consumer convenience

Current State: Further Processed Items Still largely in vacuum sealed, flexible film pouches Incremental advancements in ease of opening, resealable closures Fully cooked refrigerated entrees is a category that continues to grow Minimal change over last 5 years in fundamentals of this package

Fully Cooked Entrée e Review Flexible, cook in pouch Microwaveable Tray Sleeve Opportunities to improve simplicity and versaltility of use

Sliced Meat Review Rigid, resealable trays Gas flushed for ease of slice separation Similar to sliced meat offering in Europe, and offers versatility and convenience to consumer

Consumer as Driver of Change Growth of the meal kit as indicator Food Institute report 1998 and 2003, shelf stable meal kits grew by 48% Sales has started to level off, for preference of complete meal kits with meat included Meat included meal kits expected to grow from $11 MM in sales in 1998 to $450 MM in 2008

Consumer as Driver of Change Key Factors Decrease in cooking skills Scarcity of time Aging of baby boom generation Willingness to devote time to meal preparation is much less than previous generations

Food Industry Responses Soup at Hand No can opener required No spoon required Every vehicle has a cup holder, why not put soup in it? This transforms how a product is used!!!!!!!!

Food Industry Responses Self Heating Can Crushed limestone in liner, activated when opening. Ultimate in convenicence Still early in product lifecycle, but clearly revolutionary Similar innovations in meat area? Few and far between.

Food Industry Responses Carton Chili vs. Can Tetra Recart Carton No can opener required Retortable Cannot be microwaved Tetra Wedge Package Retortable, with silicon dioxide barrier, rather than aluminum, for microwave use Key area of development: materials with dual ovenable, retortable, barrier and printable properties!!!!!!!!!

Food Industry Responses Development of versatile materials: Voridian, a division of Eastman Chemical Merger of crystallized polyethylene terphthalate (CPET) and amorphose polyethylene terephthalate (APET) Dual ovenable material with barrier properties Very early in development, but the type of innovation that can change how we design products

Food Industry Responses Simple Steps Sealed Air/Cryovac Can be processed similar to other entrees Lidding material is self venting Designed for microwave Greater simplicity and functionality than current entrée packaging designs

Economic Factors as influencers of meat packaging Fundamental shift in demand for crude.price increases, demand increases Impact on material prices Polyethylene costs rose 2 in second half of 2003 Major suppliers increasing prices of plastic based materials 6 8% in 2004 Has door opened sufficiently for bio based materials?

Bio based Materials Nature Works PLA Cargill Dow Polylactide based material Initial applications for cold fill, short shelf life containers Corn based materials Costs are now competitive with some plastic based materials

Changing Face of Retail Availability of skilled labor for retail meat operations Apprentice programs for butchers are not present as they were Very little opportunity for technical training Format of retail today 24 hour formats, changing shopping patterns These factors contributing to the growth of case ready formats

In Stock Position Was Better in Case Ready than Store Wrap Packaging 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 48% Beef 62% 69% Ground Beef 84% 5 63% 44% 46% 35% 34% 53% 81% 7 61% 54% 54% Pork Veal Lamb Chicken Turkey 2002 Total Store Wrap Case Ready 5 2004 Total 71% In Stock is 5 or more packages per SKU displayed. Sausage was excluded. 2004 NMCS Research, All Rights Reserved

Low Oxygen Packaging Innovations High Oxygen as an industry standard Has worked well for a number of years Some retailers successful in implementation of this format; others find limited shelf life to be a challenge The ultimate in low oxygen packaging: Vacuum packaging Consumer acceptance is still an issue

Low Oxygen Innovations: Multivac, Krehalon Film excessive films at ends * perfect shrink result plied films along * seals on same place * pack pasteurised

Low Oxygen Innovations The use of Carbon Monoxide in Fresh Meat Packaging Used in Norway for almost 20 years Extremely successful means to prevent discoloration and allow for greater distribution flexibility Why not used in U.S. until 2003?

Low Oxygen Innovations: CO based Packaging Consumer Benefits Low Oxygen Packaging: Major benefit to consumer is control of oxidation The trade realizes the benefits of controlled oxidation as it relates to color The consumer realized the benefits of controlling oxidation as it relates to flavor

John et al., J. Food Sci., 2004

John et al., Meat Sci., 2005

Low Oxygen Innovations History of CO Use in Foods Wood smoke, which includes CO as a component is permitted as an ingredient (USDA 9 CFR 318.7, others). 1985: Norwegian meat industry begins using CO in fresh meat packaging. 1993: CO permitted with minimally processed fruits and vegetables. 2002: Tasteless smoke containing CO is approved for fresh tuna prior to freezing. 2001 2005: GRAS submittals to FDA/USDA for fresh meat.

Low Oxygen Innovations CO GRAS Notifications for Fresh Meat FDA/USDA 2002: Pactiv ActiveTech R3 TM masterbag with overwrapped trays 2003: Cryovac ruled equivalent to Pactiv GRAS notification barrier peelable lidstock tray 2004: Precept Foods barrier lidstock tray 2005: Precept Foods barrier lidstock tray with poultry

Low Oxygen Innovations Why not approved until now? Always the perception that CO was masking spoilage FDA submissions of past two years Spoilage DOES occur in these packages Spoilage manifests itself in form of gas formation and odor formation upon abuse of product Fundamentally, if spoilage is occuring, we cannot mask it We are preventing spoilage as it relates to color with low oxygen format We are prevention spoilage as it relates to flavor with low oxygen format Odor spoilage is prevented with good hygiene and cold chain management

Low Oxygen: Ground Beef Abuse Study Comparison of microbial counts for the treatments 10 Microbial counts (Log) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Day 3 Day 7 Day 10 0 Low Ox Low OX CO Peelable Treatments

Low Oxygen Innovations CO Technology as a response to influences of packaging Economics: enables growth of case ready Retail: Greater display flexibility Consumer: Greater freshness, versatility of use

Summary Take Home messages Need for convenience, packaging material pricing and the changing face of retail will drive the need for innovations Flexibility of packaging film use will enable growth of convenience items The advancement of low oxygen case ready will enable the growth of case ready Questions?

Thank you for your time and attention..

Acknowledgements Mark Franzreb, Charles Barmore, Jim Kelly, Sealed Air Corporation Bruce Patterson, Hormel Foods Anne Rojas, Cargill Information Center

Q&A

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