There is an increasing trend for foods to be sold in a packaged format. These products are sold either as raw product, ready-to-cook (other food ingredients included) or ready-to eat. The explosion of packaged foods on supermarket shelves and other retail outlets has occured for a variety of reasons including consumer convenience, ability to engage the consumer and in some cases extensions in shelf-life. However, the packaging industry is a rapidly evolving area due to the development of new plastics and films, new machinery and changing consumer trends.
The seafood industry is interested in developing packaged seafood product. However, there is often poor information transfer to the seafood processors regarding developments in newer packaging technologies and machines. Seafood processors that are considering the introduction of packaged products or changing existing process lines need direct experience and knowledge of the types of equipment and packaging films that are available.
Final report
The packaging industry is a rapidly evolving area due to the development of new plastics and films, new machinery and changing consumer trends. There is an opportunity for the seafood industry to use these latest techniques when developing packaged seafood products to satisfy consumer and retailer demands. However, there is often poor information transfer to the seafood processors regarding developments in newer packaging technologies and machines. Seafood processors that are considering the introduction of packaged products or changing existing process lines need direct experience and knowledge of the types of equipment and packaging films that are available. This Master Class aimed to provide information to industry on the latest packaging techniques that are available and provide practical experience in using a variety of packaging equipment.
The Master Class was held in July 2013 at Multivac's state-of-the-art training facility in Melbourne. It involved a combination of Australian Seafood CRC researchers presenting in combination with Multivac representatives who explained the capability of their particular equipment. The workshop was well attended, with a total of 24 attendees from industry and also scientists from the South Australian Research and Development Institute, Curtin University and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
