With long shelf-life and ovenable up to 240°C, the new ConviTray® looks set to expand premium product opportunities for the €30 billion ready meal market. It is the first ever PVC and EPOXY-free ready meal tray to enable in-container pasteurisation for extended shelf-life of fresh products and can be re-heated to real gratination temperatures of 220°-240°C in conventional household ovens.
The new ConviTray® concept was conceived by Norwegian food manufacturer Fjordland. The company wanted to bring greater diversity to ready meals with better taste and quality and more convenience. Fjordland collaborated with Swiss packaging development company Comvince to make the innovation a reality, with UK-based food packaging specialist Nicholl Food Packaging providing technical and design support from the early stages to take the new tray from initial samples to full-scale production at its factory in the UK.
Comvince owner and packaging specialist Jörg P Weltert says; “That ConviTray® can withstand temperatures up to 240°C and can be pasteurized for longer shelf-life make it a real innovation for ready meal production. With up to four weeks shelf-life for fresh products, ConviTray® brings superior cost efficiencies within the cold chain.”
ConviTray® enables in-container steam process which is the most secure and efficient method of pasteurization. It enables the highest food safety standards compared to other pasteurization processes and protects the taste and aroma of food. Additionally, the closed container process preserves the nutritional values of food to the same quality as fresh preparation at home.
The aluminium tray features a specially developed layer enabling a tight seal and providing a heat-stable container that does not lose its shape in household ovens. The addition of an easy-peel transparent lid gives the ConviTray® concept unparalleled convenience.
“Larger production runs and therefore cost efficiencies are possible due to the longer shelf-life with reduced food waste risks compared to short shelf life,” says Weltert. “This is a modern innovation for today’s lifestyles where busy consumers want good tasting quality meal experiences for their family and friends. With this new innovation manufacturers have the opportunity to create new recipes and higher quality, better tasting premium meals.”
Fjordland is the first manufacturer to launch ConviTray® with its new range of ‘Ovnsklar’ premium ready meals launched across Norway in February. Two products Salmon Fillet and Lasagne will be introduced in the new ConviTray first with further products planned for summer 2014.
