P R O C E S S
SUSTAINABILITY, PRODUCTION EFFICIENCIES
AND BETTER PRESENTATION ON-SHELF
Believe it or not,
aquaculture is the fastestgrowing
While it’s a brand-
owners dream to
leverage growth
from a fast growing
market, staying ahead can be
challenging particularly with a growing
and stronger consumer need for
products and packaging that are
sustainable throughout the entire
supply chain.
For New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS)
which produces more than 50% of
the world’s supply of King Salmon,
sustainable and economically
efficient supply chains are critical.
But protecting premium products to
ensure they ultimately arrive at
the end user without degradation
or damage can be a challenge.
NZKS’s premium Regal brand required
differentiation on shelf. To achieve
this, NZKS opted for a low-profile
tray/skin format that enabled the
salmon to protrude above the tray
height to enhance product appeal.
However, the shallow profile tray did
not offer adequate product protection.
Packaging protein in any
sector has a complex set of
requirements; all the more so
with delicate product. The high
omega 3 (fat) content of King
Salmon makes it a reasonably soft
protein and more susceptible to
damage through the supply chain. The
low profile tray meant packs
were prone to crushing, and product
was damaged at store level resulting
in amongst other things vacuum
loss and substandard presentation.
Furthermore, the vertical hangsell
feature was found to exacerbate
the problem.
NZKS’s new product development
manager Victoria English says the
issue had caused headaches in the
past with consumers going through
the product on the hang-sell to find
the most preferred portion and thus
damaging the portions in the process.
“Store staff pushing the maximum
number of packs on the hang-sell
also contributed to portion damage,”
she says. “Rejection at store level
carried a significant financial burden
in the form of food waste. Poor
pack presentation did not reflect
what NZKS's premium Regal brand
stands for.”
The long term partnership with Sealed
Air was integral to finding a fix. “Our
mutually beneficial partnership is a
key reason we reached out to Sealed
Air to drive a collaborative solution.
This collaborative effort did not
only address the issue at hand, but
ensured the new approach would also
deliver operational efficiency and drive
bottom line profits,” English says.
Coupled with a refinement of the
tray design, (a deeper draw and
reduced product protrusion was
key to reducing product damage),
NZKS introduced an Ulma ISOpack
rollstock machine which enabled the
new packs to be produced in-line.
This automation removed the need
to manually load and seal trays, and
improved throughput
substantially. Product freshness
and extended product shelf life
was achieved with Sealed Air's
Cryovac Darfresh vacuum skin
packaging materials which also
delivered reduced product purge and
enhanced product appeal.
“It’s great to know we’ve found a
solution that enables us to be more
efficient and less wasteful, and
ensure that our Regal branded salmon
still holds its premium stature in the
retail case,” English says. “We’ve
seen fewer reworks due to poor skin
seal adhesion and less vacuum loss
on packaged products leading to
fewer credits at store level.
“The better visual presentation of
the pack is a function of the total
surface hermetic vacuum seal
which reduces oil purge and product
movement when hung vertically.
Darfresh vacuum skin packaging
protects King Salmon right up to
the consumer’s fridge at home
and enables a 35-day shelf life.”
NZKS has been proudly growing the
world’s best salmon for more than
30 years. From farm to fork, NZKS is
firmly committed to sustainability
and managing resources for the
long term. “Darfresh offers a host of
sustainable benefits across the supply
chain that we’re realising immediately
and in our global quest to become
less wasteful, we are committed
to developing consumer solutions
that are more green and respond to
consumer needs,” English says.
protein sector. It
has overtaken beef and
is forecast to become
the third largest proteinproducing
industry
globally, behind poultry
and pork*.
Source *RaboResearch | Riding New Waves of Change in Aquaculture | January 2018
34 SEPTEMBER 2018