Packaging is arguably a brand’s most important marketing vehicle.

Although it dates from the 1940s, chub packaging remains a favorite for pumpable products such as ground beef, ground turkey, sausage, chorizo, salami, taco meat and pet food.

Watch this video to learn how Tree Top, an agricultural cooperative with eight processing facilities, installed robotics to its packaging line.

There are so many barrier films in today’s marketplace and so many players marketing them, I wonder if the playing field is in danger of becoming flat and the products commoditized?

Global demand for flexible packaging is projected to reach $210 billion in 2015, and forecast to grow at an annual average rate of 3 percent, reaching $248 billion in 2020, according to a new market report by Smithers Pira.

The Freedonia report, “Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging, Industry Study with Forecasts for 2019 & 2024,” published in April 2015, projects strengthening demand for single-portion and smaller sizes, as well as convenient prepared foods.

Recently, I was talking to a longtime packaging guy about microwave packaging and asked him if he thought the segment today is where, five years ago, he believed it would be.

Whatever your packaging format, it’s quite likely a more sustainable alternative exists.

Sustainability is top of mind for the meat industry, both for improving efficiency and managing resources. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability can also be good for the bottom line.

More than ever, there is a pressing need in the retail meat case for product differentiation.