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This quick guide breaks down the most common meat tray types, their construction materials, and their advantages and disadvantages over one another.
The right meat tray provides an attractive presentation, ensures food safety, and increases shelf life. With various materials, sizes, and sealing options available, selecting the right tray can feel overwhelming.
In this article, we break down the most common types of meat trays and their respective advantages.
Meat trays are a tried and true packaging solution. They are easy to use, stackable, and ensure freshness. There are four essential characteristics to making a high-quality meat tray packaging.
Cold temperature is necessary to keep meat cuts fresh and clean. Once the meat leaves the store freezer, it gradually starts to warm up, increasing the risk of bacterial growth.
The United States Department of Agriculture recommends that meat should not be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours. So, from the moment meat leaves the store, you have less than two hours to cook it or put it in your freezer at home.
A good thermally insulating meat tray will form a protective barrier that keeps the meat cooler for a longer period. Thermal insulation can be increased in two ways.
Use an extra thick material
Use a material with lots of air pockets
The second most important characteristic of meat packaging is the airtight seal. Meat trays are made from an insulating material that protects them from the bottom. Then, a non-porous material is used to wrap the meat with the tray, ensuring an airtight seal.
Plastic film is by far the best-suited material for this job. It's affordable, lightweight, see-through, and forms an airtight seal.
From a sustainability perspective, this is less than ideal. But so far, there are no other materials that can match the sheer versatility of plastic. As a compromise, many businesses have shifted to using recyclable or compostable plastic materials.
Tray liners are meat-absorbent pads that sit between the meat cut and the foam tray, ensuring that all excess moisture or blood stays inside the packaging. While they are quite small, meat tray liners can absorb up to 40 grams of liquid.
These moisture-absorbing pads are made of a mixture of silica gel and plant fiber (cellulose). Most tray liner designs include a perforated plastic covering, which keeps things more hygienic.
Although it's not necessary, a tray liner can significantly improve the presentation of meat packaging. No one wants to buy a meat tray that's leaking meat juices.
Oxygen is the number one enemy of meat packaging. As oxygen interacts with raw meat, the fats inside get oxidized (saturated with oxygen), leading to increased rancidity.
Good packaging must form an airtight seal around the meat, separating it from the outside oxygen. However, great packaging will use a vacuum seal to remove all oxygen and hermetically seal the meat.
While vacuum sealing is a great solution, it's a little impractical for meat trays. Most vacuum sealing solutions use single-use plastic packets, which contribute to the ongoing plastic pollution crisis.
Vacuum sealing on top of a meat tray packaging is simply too expensive for more affordable cuts of meat.
Table 1 - Comparing the benefits of different meat tray materials
Plastic has slowly become the go-to option for all types of food packaging, and meat is no exception. Black plastic trays are the most common type of meat packaging on the market. The dark background makes the red meat pop, making it more appealing to customers.
Considering the various financial incentives, it makes complete sense to choose plastic meat packaging. Plastic is super affordable, so businesses don't end up overspending on packaging. Additionally, its lightweight nature also means cheaper shipping and storage costs.
However, there is the issue of plastic pollution. These plastic trays are so flimsy that they become useless after you remove the meat from the inside.
Although these trays are made from recyclable PET, very few actually end up in a recycling center. Even if you do recycle PET plastic, there is a limit of 5-7 cycles. Afterwards, it's just non-biodegradable garbage.
Pros
Lightweight
Low Cost
Leak Proof
Cons
Causes Plastic Pollution
Limited Recyclability
Poor Thermal Insulation
Bioplastics refer to plastic polymers manufactured from natural sources, such as corn starch. Raw corn is mashed into a fine paste, filtered, and dried to extract the raw starch.
The starch is mixed with oil, water, and other stabilizing agents to make long polymer chains. Since bioplastics are still plastics, they share all the benefits of synthetic plastics.
Bioplastic, or PLA, is a thermoplastic that becomes malleable when heated. It's one of the few biodegradable plastics on the market, as it can be composted.
Cornstarch plastic is considerably greener than regular unrecyclable plastic materials. However, its sustainability is a little exaggerated.
Technically, bioplastic is compostable, but only under strict environmental conditions. You cannot compost cornstarch meat trays at home without industrial composting equipment.
Pros
Industrially Compostable
Lightweight
Low Cost
Leak Proof
Cons
Still Results in Plastic Pollution
Doesn’t Naturally Decompose
Poor Thermal Insulation
Foam meat trays are treated as the gold standard for meat packaging. The foam is made from expanded polystyrene (EPS), a high-elasticity plastic. As the polystyrene expands, air pockets are trapped inside the plastic.
These air pockets make the material lightweight while providing it with excellent thermal insulating properties. While single-use plastic should be avoided at all times, polystyrene is an exception.
First, it's one of the few recyclable plastic materials. In fact, the UK recycles nearly 100 tonnes of polystyrene every month.
Second, very few materials can match the thermal properties of foam meat trays. In an industry where food safety is the top priority, a material that keeps food cool and safe from bacteria is highly valued.
Pros
Excellent Thermal Insulation
Lightweight
Low Cost
Leak Proof
Recyclable
Cons
May Result in Plastic Pollution
Bagasseis the fibrous part of the sugar cane plant that has been adopted as a substitute for plastic in food packaging.
It is several times stronger than regular thin plastic materials yet completely compostable. Bagasse meat trays also offer good thermal insulation. Foam trays are still the king when it comes to thermal resistance, but bagasse is a close second.
Due to increasing customer demand, plant-based packaging has quickly risen in popularity. Consumers around the world want more sustainable business practices, including eco-friendly packaging.
So, even though bagasse meat trays offer so many packaging benefits, their biggest selling point is that they are environmentally friendly.
Pros
Decent Thermal Insulation
Lightweight
Low Cost
Leak Proof
Fully Compostable
Made from Renewable Materials
Cons
Less Thermal Performance than Plastic Foam
Get the Best Bagasse Trays Now!
Meat trays aren't the only method for packaging meat products. Here is a list of the most popular meat packaging solutions, along with their respective applications.
Meat trays are the most standard type of meat packaging solution. It's a simple but effective technique. The tray supports the weight of the meat, and the plastic wrap keeps it sealed.
Applications
Butcher Shops
Supermarkets
Grocery Stores
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) seals meat with a non-reactive gas (Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Argon, etc.) A standard meat tray wraps the meat in a plastic wrap, trapping air (and oxygen) inside. In MAP meat trays, that air is replaced with another gas.
Oxygen accelerates the decay of meat due to oxidation. Hence, meat packers remove oxygen to extend the shelf life of meat.
On rare occasions, pure oxygen is used for MAP trays to increase the red hue of the meat.
Applications
Bulk Shipping for Retail Stores
Supermarkets
Meat Export Businesses
Meat is placed in a plastic bag, and all air is removed using a vacuum pump. This method is more cost-efficient than modified atmosphere packaging.
Vacuum sealing also prevents air, moisture, and bacteria from coming into contact with the meat.
Applications
Wholesale
Online Meat Delivery
Restaurants
Meat Export Businesses
Butcher paper is a wax-coated brown parchment used to wrap fresh meat. This type of packaging is intended for short-term storage only. It doesn't seal the meat, which makes it unfit for freezer storage.
Applications
Butcher Shops
Deli Shops
Speciality Meat Stores
Similar to a butcher paper wrap, many businesses use plastic cling film to package their meat products. It's another short-term storage system, but one that offers more versatility than paper.
The plastic film forms a good seal around the meat and is also freezer-safe.
Applications
Butcher Shops
Deli Shops
Canned or processed meat is a classic American staple. Tin cans are a food storage and preservation system that results in a stable and long shelf life.
The goal here is to preserve cooked or While they are quite small, meat tray liners can absorb up to 40 grams of liquid.
meat. So freshness is not really a concern.
Applications
Processed/Cooked Meats
Meat Export Businesses
Online Meat Delivery
A meat tray is an excellent packaging solution. It's sturdy, airtight, cost-efficient, and freezer safe. However, the presence of single-use plastics makes it one of the most environmentally damaging products. Luckily, today, many eco-friendly alternatives are available in the market. Businesses can now shift to recycled, compostable, and plant-based meat trays with no impact on their operating budget.
Sumkoka is one of the largest manufacturers of biodegradable packaging and tableware. We offer a wide range of sugarcane products like food containers, straws, cutlery, and meat trays.
With over 20 years of production experience, we have established a trust-based relationship with clients around the globe. We employ various manufacturing techniques to ensure sustainable and eco-friendly production.
Enhance your business's sustainability with our bagasse meat trays. Contact us Now!
