Birds Eye Iglo launch grip seal bags to cook frozen fish
Birds Eye Iglo has announced the launch of a new range of frozen fish which is cooked in special grip seal bags developed by packaging company FFP Packaging Solutions.
The new line, branded as “Simply Bake to Perfection”, has been developed in an attempt to increase fish consumption and expand the market by making consumers more confident when it comes to handling and cooking fish.
Gary Tee, business development director for FFP Packaging Solutions, explained: “People are not confident about handling and cooking fish correctly. The ‘Bake Perfect Bag’ provides an important reassurance in the kitchen.”
The bag itself is manufactured from a strip of metallised polyethylene terephthalate (PET) laminate, which is laser-perforated in order to allow it to vent steam during cooking. The perforations are also specially designed to ensure that moisture is retained throughout the cooking process.
The new laminate material, which is supplied on a reel that is suitable for use in high-speed form-fill-seal machines, also features a heat-seal coating on its inner surface for quick sealing. Additionally, cooking instructions can be printed directly on to the pack.
While the new bags were designed for use with fish, FFP Packaging has also stated that they can be used for any frozen oven-cooked foods.
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Tetra Pak in consultation on ceasing UK roll-fed carton production
Carton and packaging giant Tetra Pak has recently launched a consultation on the future of its Wrexham site, stating that it is “driven by a desire to ensure continued competitiveness and to meet customers’ changing needs”.
According to the consultation, the organisation is planning on retaining around 135 jobs in Wrexham. At present, the Wrexham workforce represents around half the number of staff Tetra Pak employs in the UK.
Rik Jacobs, the managing director for the company for Ireland and the UK, stated: “We intend to create over 20 new jobs to operate a finished goods warehouse to better service the UK and Irish markets and ensure we are in the right shape for future growth.”
With local customers moving away from cartons towards other packaging formats, Tetra Pak stated, the Wrexham site has been able to replace lost local business with export orders, which accounted for around 50% of production in the last year.
However, new facilities that have been set up in locations such as Russia and the Middle East mean that many of these export markets will effectively disappear in the coming year, and demand from UK and Irish consumers alone will not justify the continued running of the Wrexham site.
Mr Jacobs explained that it had been a difficult decision, and that if the proposals are implemented, there would inevitably be “significant restructuring and job losses”.
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