Water coated bio tray could keep buns fresher

27-Oct-2009 - Last updated on 27-Oct-2009 at 09:13 GMT

Related tags Packaging

A tray combining biodegradability and moisture resistance attributes can extend the shelf life of baked goods and other food products, while reducing the eco footprint of the pack, claims a Hong Kong based packaging developer.

Biopack said that the initial sampling runs and trialling of its trays have shown that they are moisture, grease and water resistant.

“The initial successful test results will allow Biopack's compostable trays to be used in product applications in which moisture resistance is required over a longer period of time,” stated the manufacturer.

Based in Hong Kong with manufacturing facilities in Jiangmen, China, Biopack said that it manufactures 100 per cent biodegradable consumer packaging products from locally available sugar cane waste called bagasse.

Water coating

The company explained that it initiated a programme to work with a water based spray coating technique for its trays due to the fact that they were not viable for retails sectors such ready-made meals and baked goods that required longer term moisture and grease resistance.

"We recognized the potential for coated applications on our trays some time ago, as multiple customers had approached Biopack and informed us about the need for and lack of a solution for eco-friendly fibre trays with moisture barrier properties,” claims Gerald Lau, CEO of Biopack.

And he said that the company was unhappy with the existing films and laminates on the marketplace that it tested.

"After a lot of trial and error, we feel we have found an excellent solution that spans multiple verticals and this is being validated by the quantity of inquiries we are receiving from these customers,” added Lau.

The packaging company said that the new coated trays, which will be distributed globally, are Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) food contact regulation compliant.

Green habits

According to a recent packaging fact sheet, DuPont estimates that growth in sustainable packaging to reach 25 to 30 per cent per year, compared with the overall packaging industry's anticipated growth rate of 4 per cent.

In addition, sates the fact sheet, 44 per cent of consumers say their green buying habits remain unchanged despite the current economy, and a third of consumers say they are more likely to buy green today than previously.

This is consistent with another new study from Pike Research, which says that sustainable packaging is a fast-growing segment of the global packaging industry, and will grow to 32 per cent of the total market by 2014, up from just 21 per cent in 2009.