Where's the beef? Barrier films boosted by prepared meatsWhere's the beef? Barrier films boosted by prepared meats

Innovations in marinated or ready-to-eat meat packaging products will push barrier-packaging film to 6% demand growth, according to a new study released by Kline & Co. (Little Falls, NJ). Entitled "High-performance barrier packaging films U.S.A. 2005: Business Analysis and Opportunities," the report found that overall growth for barrier packaging films in the perishable food category will outpace expansions in dry goods by more than 3%, with meat product promotion by Wal-Mart helping fuel the growth.

Case-ready red meat has reached 3 billion units/yr, with more convenient ready-to-cook or -eat cuts taking shelf space from traditional fresh meats. For films, this means more use of barrier technologies that give oxygen-sensitive products a longer shelf life.

Between food service and supermarket sales, the report expects prepared foods to grow at a 7% rate, primarily in film pouches, due to reduced transportation costs, economical waste management, and faster dispensing and preparation. The bag-in-a-box trend in wine is also catching on, especially with top-shelf labels, since the bag lets the wine keep longer, for single-glass dispensing. Kline & Co. also predicts greater growth for clear EVOH/nylon films over metallized ones, on the basis of easier visual identification and spoilage detection.