Food Packaging in 2021: Meeting the Demands of Consumers
With our global pandemic, consumers continue to do their best to stay close to home, limit their interactions with people, and maintain an appropriate distance to help defeat the spread of this destructive virus.
As restaurants, cafes, and bars continue operations with less capacity than before the pandemic, consumer options for “to go” orders and delivery is quickly becoming the food and beverage industry’s lifeblood. How are restaurants meeting the demand of consumers? Do you trust the containers that they’re using? Are they safe? Tamper-evident? And the most important question: Is your food to your liking once it arrives at your door?
January 26, 2020
It’s dinner time, and you’re hungry. You’re about to order and treat yourself to your favorite restaurant meal and realize that the delivery time is higher than usual because you’ve waited until rush hour to order.
By the time your food arrives at your doorstep, will it be cold? Did any food or liquids leak during transit? Or, will you be able to safely enjoy this warm, delicious meal because this restaurant understands that food packaging is the lifeblood to success in the restaurant business?
From a Restaurant’s Perspective
Prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, food packaging may have seemed more about practicality and convenience; however, with food safety at the forefront of consumer demands, restaurants and food industry businesses are looking at the safest and best preservable options for food packaging.
To keep restaurant staff and consumers protected during our global pandemic, restaurants are restricting or ultimately eliminating the interactions between customers and workers, suggesting less dining-in capacity and encouraging more carryout and delivery opportunities. What does this mean for the restaurant and food industry? Carryout and delivery packaging must be high-quality, protect food from cross-contamination while still remaining cost-effective.
Food Safety Precautions
Restaurant food packaging should always consider food safety and hygiene. High-quality food packaging is designed to relieve moisture and condensation within the container while simultaneously retaining a safe internal food temperature. While thirty minutes may not seem like a long time, any improper seal may lead to vulnerability such as spoilage or cross-contamination issues. With food delivery services, restaurants are incorporating tamper-evident food packaging to ensure product safety. From the time your food comes off the burner until it gets into your hands for consumption, your meal is untouched, and you can enjoy it with ‘peace of mind.’
It’s Not Just Restaurants Looking for Effective Food Packaging
Fans are back in the stands (social distancing, of course), and people are cautiously traveling, once again. Restaurants aren’t the only businesses looking for safe and high-quality food packaging options.
Sporting events and entertainment venues have cautiously opened their doors again to the population. Even with capacity restrictions, consider the number of touch-points a “quick snack” might get before ending up in a consumer’s hands. Gross right? This is why food packaging plays such a critical role in keeping you, the consumer, fed while also ensuring safety precautions are being met.
Choosing Your Food Packaging Material
What food product are you packaging? Is it hot? Cold? Is it a hot meal that will be delivered to the consumer immediately? Or, is it a sandwich that will be displayed in the refrigerator for consumers to ‘grab and go’? If the consumer plans to eat the food at a later time, is the food packaging microwavable? Are there seals on the food packaging to ensure your product can safely be consumed at a later time, eliminating the vulnerability of growing bacteria and spoilage? Of course, there are pros and cons to any food packaging option. Ultimately, whatever food product your selling will depict the most appropriate food packaging option for your product.
How Can HBI Help You?
HB International is a manufacturing sourcing agency that works with high-quality suppliers in the food and beverage industry. Our suppliers have PLA, PET, Bagasse capabilities and provide an assortment of food packaging options. All of our food packaging products and suppliers are regularly reviewed and inspected by our Quality Assurance team to ensure high-quality standards and FDA regulations are met.
