Tesco chooses Cryovac for poultry packaging

Major UK retailer, Tesco, has introduced a Sealed Air – Cryovac solution to package its annual volume of 35 million whole chickens.

For the safe and efficient packaging of its extensive and growing fresh whole bird range, representing a yearly volume of 35 million birds, Tesco UK has selected printed CRYOVAC BDF® barrier film.

A total of 14 lines for the trayless packaging solution are now in operation across seven production plants. The prudct is designed for a 70% reduction in packaging, longer shelf life, significant logistical and merchandising benefits.

In a determined drive to grow customer satisfaction, the leading food retailer was looking for packaging capable of affording fresh visual appearance combined with excellent hermetic sealing, preventing any cross contamination and decreasing wastage in stores. Max Tooley, Technical Manager Poultry at Tesco explains, “The customer is always at the heart of the development process for us.” A highly competitive poultry marketplace exerted considerable pressure on Tesco to increase shelf life, without compromising on the quality of the product for the consumer.

The Sealed Air Cryovac answer to these demands took the form of printed CRYOVAC BDF® film, facilitating at least a two-day extension of shelf life from nine to eleven days.

The first line for the poultry packaging was installed in November 2010. Within ten months, the seven plants supplying the annual volume of 35 million birds had all successfully integrated the new system in a seamless transition. The versatile printing facility enables effective visual segmentation of the full Tesco whole bird product range. This extends from standard to organic, embracing five categories. Innovative packaging solutions are set to make a tangible contribution to supporting Tesco in maintaining and increasing its 30% market share of the UK poultry market.

Cryovac Packaging and Cryovac Food Solutions are business units of Sealed Air.