F O O D T E C H PA C K T E C H HOW SEALED AIR IS CHANGING PACKAGING, ONE SHELF AT A TIME Sealed Air is leading the charge in technologies that help food processors, retailers and consumers keep foods safer, fresher, and better tasting while making them more accessible to people. Sealed Air’s Vice President of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea, Kevin Piccione recently spoke about his career and the company’s commitment to the food and beverage industry in driving end-to-end innovative packaging and hygiene solutions that help support a sustainable supply chain. Could you give us a brief overview of your career at Sealed Air? My passion for the packaging industry started 30 years ago in South Africa and 16 of those years have been at Sealed Air. During this time, I’ve been fortunate to take on many roles across Sealed Air's three business divisions (Food Care, Product Care and Diversey Care) and have witnessed the beginnings of a transformation of Sealed Air from a solutions-based company into a knowledge-based company. Could you give us a brief overview of the Sealed Air NZ business? Sealed Air has been in the business of supplying packaging, services, equipment solutions and advice to the New Zealand food industry for around 60 years. Since our first manufacturing site in Porirua in 1956, we have helped enable the New Zealand meat industry to develop overseas export markets. Sealed Air continues to develop that legacy - we have just over four million people in NZ but our solutions help NZ processors to feed around 100 million people. Today, we are significant suppliers to the dairy and seafood industries, with local manufacturing sites across the country addressing critical industry issues such as food safety, shelf life extension, operational efficiency and brand building. Few companies have the ability to supply the range we do – from solutions for infection control in hospitals and rest homes, equipment and solutions for floor care, open plant and membrane cleaning, CIP optimisation, a full range of packaging and equipment solutions for perishable food through to protective mailers for e-commerce and cushioning products for 26 SEPTEMBER 2016 damage minimisation in shipping. What have been the most exciting recent developments within Sealed Air? Our evolution to become a knowledgebased company! We can provide data and analytics that uncover opportunities for processors to drive operational efficiencies, increase uptime and grow profits. Are there opportunities for NZ food processors to make their supply chain more sustainable? If so, how? Absolutely. PVC overwrapped products have a considerably shorter shelf life than products packaged in more sustainable solutions such as modified atmosphere packs or vacuum skin packaging. Globally, food processors and retailers have moved to more sustainable end to end solutions for fresh proteins, focusing on preservation, extension of shelf life and optimising eating quality. While some products in New Zealand are packaged in this way, there’s still a long way to go when compared to Australia and the rest of the world. What challenges do you see in New Zealand in terms of food waste from a consumer perspective? Consumer education regarding food waste is a major opportunity. A third of all food produced is wasted and almost two thirds of this waste is attributed to households. There’s a focus on packaging recyclability, and that’s appropriate. However, the critical role packaging plays in reducing food waste is underestimated. Packaging can minimise energy investments in producing, growing and processing food as well as transport, retailing, shopping and storing. From a business perspective, retailers and food processors face a challenge addressing food waste in supermarkets. While changing packaging formats is an option, changes to supply chains, consumer perceptions and tradition are serious challenges. How is Sealed Air's Cryovac vacuum skin technology changing the fresh protein sector in New Zealand? Examples of our skin packaging can already be seen in supermarkets. New Zealand King Salmon is an outstanding example of what skin packaging can do for products at a retail level – vertical display, excellent presentation of the product, while extending shelf life considerably. If you travel in the UK and Europe, a significant proportion of retail fresh proteins are in skin packaging. Recently, George Weston Foods were the proud recipients of the 2016 ANZ Save Food Packaging awards, who were able to double the shelf life of fresh pork through Cryovac Darfresh vacuum skin packaging. What has been your proudest moment with Sealed Air? What makes me most proud is seeing employees I’ve mentored become successful in their own careers. My tenure at Sealed Air has also allowed me to enjoy long-term client successes, I take pride in building and retaining highly valued relationships with legacy companies. Sealed Air is exhibiting at Food Tech Pack Tech. Tell us what we can expect from Food Care? All three Sealed Air divisions will be represented at the show. Cryovac celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and we will showcase sustainable packaging solutions that help processors grow their brands and extend shelf life for both the protein and FMCG markets. We will showcase Divos, a world-class membrane cleaning solution that extends the longevity of membrane filters by up to 4-6 times. To learn more, visit www.SealedAir.com
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