Last year, a new line of premium pre-sliced sub meats from Land O’Frost inspired the company’s switch to an automatic, high-speed interleaver, stacker and card dispenser.

New packaging options for one- to two-person households and convenient, pre-cooked, case-ready meats are creating new opportunities for new packages, new materials and new closures.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, chances are, at some point or another, you have bought a product based on its packaging.

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.

Appearance of retail beef cuts is a major influencer of consumer purchasing decisions.

The U.S. meat market was valued at approximately $68 billion in 2013 and is projected to reach $84 billion by 2018, according to Canadean’s 2015 “Consumer and Market Insights: Meat Market in the U.S.” report.

The market for casings and nettings is growing, according to suppliers of the materials used for sausage, roasts, hams and other protein products.