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Food Brand Makes a Clear Packaging ChangeFood Brand Makes a Clear Packaging Change

Upgrade to vacuum-skin pack thermoforming gives Hudson Valley’s high-end chicken and duck products full-surround visibility.

Rick Lingle

August 3, 2022

Everyone has a wish list.

For Erwin Grome, general manager of Hudson Valley poultry products, that dream was for a specific brand of thermoformer.

“When I opened this facility in 2012, a thermoformer from Ossid was on my wish list,” he says. “I wanted a vacuum-skin pack machine, and now we have a customer using this style for their products. It’s taken a while for us to get there; I’ve been researching it for nine years, but we finally got it.”

What the company installed was a ReeForm T55 thermoformer, which is supplied by Ossid, the North American master distributor for Reepack Srl.

Nestled on 200 acres in the beautiful Catskill Mountains about 100 miles northwest of New York City, the Ferndale, NY-based company’s products are known for their rich, robust flavor, succulent texture, and exquisite skin. As a result, Hudson Valley has become a foremost producer of premium Moulard duck and organic chicken products throughout the US.

With its new thermoforming capability, Hudson Valley selected an unusually thick bottom (forming) film that mimics the look of a clear tray. The top (front) sealing film is a thin, vacuum-skin material. It provides a secure package solution and boosts the visual appeal of the product.

The story unfolds in the accompanying video, which spotlights Grome, Maintenance Manage Jim Whipple, and Plant Manager Yazmin Ramero along with the star of the show, the T55 thermoformer.

In the video you’ll learn…

  • What distinguishes the company’s chickens and packaged products;

  • The functional benefits the new packaging brings besides visibility;

  • The thermoformer’s capabilities and features;

  • What plant management and operators think of the thermoformer; and

  • Details on the new Ossid machine that’s immediately downstream.

 

About the Author

Rick Lingle

Rick Lingle, now a freelancer, was Senior Technical Editor for PlasticsToday, and previously for Packaging Digest, until his retirement in December 2024. Lingle has been a packaging media journalist since 1985, specializing in food, beverage, and plastic markets. He earned a chemistry degree from Clarke College and worked in food industry R&D for Standard Brands/Nabisco and the R.T. French Co. He can be reached at [email protected].

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