Packaging developer aims to enhance product value

One thing Sirane (Telford, England) doesn’t mess with is commodity plastics packaging: it’s value-added or nothing.

Commodities are no market for Sirane, a 2003 startup located in one of England’s ’plastics valleys’ alongside more than 185 other plastics processors. The company, with its team of technicians and scientists, specializes in turning drawing-board ideas into real products quickly.

“Food packagers come to us looking for a solution to particular problems. That’s our strength, developing value-added solutions—products for the food sector that work. Unique products today are fueling growth,” says Simon Balderson, managing director, who cofounded Sirane with Ian Beardsall, director-product development, five years ago. The company can point to a turnover of more than pound 7 million last year and since its founding, Sirane’s turnover has more than doubled every year. Beardsall sees the trend continuing.

Two years ago the company was approached by a major meat processor who asked Sirane to develop packaging that crisps up a hamburger bun in a microwave. Sirane technicians developed a susceptor technology made up of a 12-µm, PET/aluminum structure laminated to paper and polyethylene, marketed under the Crisp-It label, that permits the package to absorb microwaves and radiate the heat to enhance the crispiness of the food. An absorbant layer underneath attracts excess moisture.

The company has also developed absorbent pads for chilled meat, poultry, and fish to provide better appearance, which helps eliminate food wastage. “Studies in the U.K. have shown that 8% of all meat sold will be thrown away because the shopper opens a package and finds the meat has discolored on the underside,” Balderson says. Although the product is still edible, its appearance is repulsive to the consumer. Sirane’s technicians invested three years of research in developing Dri-Fresh Resolve, an absorbent display surface for meat products.

The ’meat-saver’ characteristics eliminate meat discoloration and control the surface moisture of the meat. Sirane came up with a proprietary process to bond the materials in this structure without adhesives or solvents. The material is composed of a non-genetically manipulated, corn starch-based film that is thermally laminated to a fully compostable FSC- (Forest Stewardship Council) accredited cellulosic absorber. FSC cellulose is sourced from managed, sustainable forests. As a result, this Resolve grade decomposes quickly in industrial or domestic composting systems, something Beardsall says recognizes consumer sensitivity.

The compostability of biodegradable materials is a big issue today, says Balderson. “From the start we saw the need to process compostable packaging, but in 2003 it was not a key issue and there was no market pull. Today it is the opposite: consumers are very aware of the need,” he says. Sirane has opted to work with the University of Bristol to develop formulations for compostable meat packaging.

Today, export plays a secondary role for the company with about 20% of production going to neighboring European countries. But Balderson sees that changing significantly in 2008. Following a successful debut of the company’s offering at last autumn’s Food Expo ’07 in Chicago, he expects North American demand to increase significantly. Balderson says that following the show, the U.S. market was especially receptive to Sirane’s ovenable absorbent pads, rotisserie liners, Crisp-It microwave susceptor packing, and absorbent cook-in bags. “None of these products exists in the U.S.,” he says, “despite the fact that consumer behavior and eating patterns [there] make them ideal products for the market.”

Balderson also sees high potential from U.S. meat processors for the company’s Dri-Fresh pads, produced by ’air-laid’ technology. “In contrast, pads commonly used in the U.S. are made by sandwiching cellulose fluff between two pieces of thin polyethylene [film] and bonding the structure together with glue. These pads have a non-absorbent edge, can be difficult to handle, and are available in a limited range of sizes and colors. Frankly, they look awful in a meat pack,” he says.

With positive response to the company’s products, Balderson says Sirane is committed to investing in local manufacturing and hopes to have some kind of operation startup this year. “We are discussing agreements to ensure that our products will be available in all regions, including Mexico and Canada,” he says.

Although Sirane now does most of the conversion of its materials for customers at its own plant in England on self-designed equipment, the company is also developing a processing equipment business for specific applications that it sells to customers.