Meat+Poultry - August 2019 - 28

PA C K A G I N G S O L U T I O N S

Land O'Frost deli products
feature packaging that
allows customers to
clearly view the product
before they make a
purchase decision.

options that are really rooted in consumer
insights," says Moore of Land O'Frost's
approach to new product development and
product enhancements.
For instance, the ability to see the food they
are buying is important to today's consumers,
Moore notes. Accordingly, packages of Land
O'Frost deli meat allow the consumer to clearly
view the product while browsing the store or
viewing a photo on an e-commerce site. "We
want to deliver against their need to see the
food and to increase the connection between
them and the food," he explains.

"We want to deliver against
their [consumers] need to
see the food and to increase
the connection between them
and the food." - REGGIE MOORE

28

MEAT+ POULTRY | 08.19 | www.meatpoultry.com

Land O'Frost

Convenience, one of the original drivers of
the prepackaged deli meat category, remains
important to the deli meat user. That was one
factor in the development of a new line of
Natural Choice single-serve lunch meat from
Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corp.
Each package contains five sizes of 100 percent
natural deli meat in oven roasted turkey,
applewood smoked turkey, honey ham and
cherrywood smoked ham varieties.
"We've received feedback from consumers
that smaller households sometimes struggle to
get through the entire package of lunch meat,
so we wanted to provide a convenient option
for them," said Samantha Balaski, Hormel
brand manager. "They are also perfect for
on-the-go snacks for those seeking additional
protein throughout the day."
Other convenience-oriented package
features center on the use of the package itself.

The dual zipper on Land O'Frost products,
for instance, delivers ease of use and other
benefits to users. "What has become extremely
important to the consumer is the fact that the
packaging has two sets of interlocking profiles
that provide a complete seal to ensure product
freshness," Moore says.
As with other meat and poultry products,
sustainable packaging for deli meats is
emerging as more than just a trendy notion.
According to a survey commissioned by
the global chemicals company Kemira, 56
percent of consumers in the US say that food
companies have the main responsibility for
reducing plastic waste in food packaging,
while 46 percent are willing to pay more
for renewable packaging. In its 2019 report
on food and beverage packaging trends,
Evergreen Packaging cited "clean packaging"
as a natural progression in the wake of the
move toward clean label and clean processing.
Here, too, there are examples of different
package types that fall into the realm
of sustainable or at least less-impactful
packaging. As part of a revamp last year that
included the removal of carrageenan from
poultry deli meats, Applegate Farms, a division
of Hormel Foods, switched its packaging to
a peel-and-resealable tab format that uses
less plastic.
The Smithfield, Virginia-based Smithfield
brand went for minimalist packaging for its
Prime Fresh Delicatessen line of pre-packaged
lunch meats. The package uses 31 percent less
packaging than traditional tubs.
At Land O'Frost, there has been a greater
emphasis on sustainable package features as
well. "As we look at packaging and are keeping
a pulse on consumers, we are mindful of the
role of sustainability in their minds, and we
try to understand how much waste we may
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