Retort Flexible Packaging: The Natural Choice For Packaging

The reach of retort flexible packaging is widening specially in the food items & products. The conventional canned food products are being replaced by the retort pouches in most part of the world. Retort packaging is not new and it has been around since late 1960s but it is only now that it is firming its ground. In the paragraphs below, we have mentioned the main reasons why retort flexible packaging is becoming the matter of choice.

 

Better Taste
Compared to a conventional canned food, the time required by a retort pouch to be cooked is almost half. Foods packaged in either form of packaging need to be heated up to 245 degree Fahrenheit, in order to be sterilized. Since retort packages have a thin profile and high ratio of surface area to volume, heat reaches the food much more quickly than their canned counterpart.  Retort time is reduced considerably. The product nearer the can wall is overcooked. It is not the case with the retort pouches. Food is cooked properly and that results in better test, pleasing the consumers. Since the cooking time is reduced, it offers better nutrition factor as well.

 

Better Look & Appearance
In addition with better taste, the product look better in texture and appearance. It is well known in the packaging business that a consumer makes 70% of all purchasing decisions in the store while scanning the products. From this perspective, a compelling presentation is vital and tin loses here. Tin cans can provide only one look, a cylinder of different heights & diameters. On the other hand retort pouches offer unlimited possibilities to marketers. A very high graphic image can't be used efficiently on a tin can due to the curve. And if used it would not be able to showcase as efficiently as pouches because a can label offers very little in terms of facing on shelf. On a pouch a  beautiful, eye-catching, attention-grabbing image can be put on the side facing the consumer during that critical decisive moment. The back side can be used to put nutritional information, a recipe, a picture of the finished cooked product, a barcode, etc. All these benefits of retort pouches make it a more marketable product.

 

Better Strength
An important issue, which concerns most consumers is the strength of the retort pouch. Metal cans are always associated with great strength and it is hard to believe that plastic pouches can be as strong as aluminum cans. However it has been tested a number of times and is proved that retort packaging in no sense is less strong than cans. Strength of the seal is another critical issue.

 

Better Logistics
Can you imagine the situation of transferring trucks of empty cans from one place to another. The problem is not of one single time rather it continues to persist for days, weeks, months and years. Shipping these cans and then warehousing them until needed costs very high. Add the price of fuels, driver payments and other expenditure and you will find a nightmare of logistics.

 

Retort packaging has found other significant advantages over canned packaging. It offers space saving as high as 96% over can. Retort pouches are safer and easier to open and handle. They consumes 75% less energy than cans to be manufactured.