Non-leaching bake tray helps cut down packaging

The UK packaging manufacturer launched the new cake tray format at the Pro2Pac exhibition this week in London, which is a biennial processing and packaging exhibition dedicated to the food & drink industry.

Tom Sene, Alexir sales director, told BakeryandSnacks.com that the product was already being used by one manufacturer to produce own-label cakes for the Morrisons supermarket chain.

He explained: “Manufacturers put a raw batter in the bottom of the tray which is then baked in the oven.​

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“Traditionally you get leaching, where it stains the edges of the board and it affects the look of a product.​

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“We have developed a material and production process that means it doesn’t leach.” ​

He added that when the bakery batter goes up to the edge it will not leach, even when the dough rises.

The Crawley-based company said that sustainability and environmentally friendliness were high on its agenda with the aim of helping retailers and manufacturers meet their environmental targets.

And, according to Sene, the loaf case reduces packaging and packaging weight, as well as improving on appearance.

This is because manufacturers typically put a loaf cake into a crimp case and this is then put into a u-card, a board tray that is bent upwards on either side.

He said: “We removed the crimp case and u-card so you have just got one carrying instrument.​

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“So throughout the supply chain it is taking away two components of packaging and it increases the quality of the product.”​

Alexir is a privately owned company with a turnover in 2007 of £9.5m.

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Cutting down on packaging​

Across the food and beverage industry there is a drive among retailers and manufacturers to reduce packaging waste in the UK.

In 2005 the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) launched the Courtauld Commitment, which is a voluntary agreement between Wrap and major UK grocery organisations that supports less packaging and food waste ending up in household bins.

Companies signed up to the scheme include retailers such as Morrisons and manufacturers such as Associated British Foods.

The scheme aims to design out packaging waste growth by 2008 and to deliver absolute reductions in packaging waste by 2010.