Businesses can address trends in frozen food packaging concepts, including mechanically improved packaging with seal integrity, amid consumer trends.

Henky Wibawa, Vice President for Education at World Packaging Organization (WPO), said in a webinar that trends in frozen food packaging include increased pack line speeds, automation to produce strong and consistent packaging materials, smaller packs that one can
open easily, and tougher and reclosable bigger packs or multipacks.

Wibawa said multimaterial structures also become dominant over monomaterial ones.

He said optimal downgauging will focus on acceptable cost, source reduction (less grades in formulations), legislation (taxes based on package weight), and acceptable performance.

These can meet consumer trends in frozen food packaging, which include the rise of the single person households and ageing but affluent population.

“There is not much time to prepare the meals so that is convenience in formats of frozen food packaging,” he said, adding that ageing population requires smaller portions, easy to open and reclose, use and through-away packaging, and premium lines with good nutritional
value.

As more women work outside home, Wibawa said there is a demand for food with little preparation time, a wider variety of foods, and home deliveries.

Wibawa also underscored the changing eating habits with more eating out and snacking, the demise of traditional family meals, and frozen and microwaveable meals.