Packaging

Award Winning Cassoulet Benefits from Oxygen Scavenging Tray

Monday 29. November 2010 - Barrier trays incorporating oxygen scavengers, supplied by RPC Barrier Containers, have provided French food manufacturer La Belle Chaurienne with an innovative packaging format for its range of premium ready meal.

La Belle Chaurienne is named after the inhabitants of the Southern French region renowned for its traditional French stews, or ‘cassoulets’. The company has over 40 years of experience replicating this heritage for supermarket shelves, and its signature dishes, duck confit cassoulet, and in particular duck confit, have regularly been awarded “Flavour of the Year” by French consumers.

The growing consumer preference for convenience has seen La Belle Chaurienne add microwaveable trays to its range of traditional cans in order to deliver a meal that can be prepared and eaten directly from the pack within three minutes.

RPC Barrier Containers was asked to supply a suitable solution that would maintain the great taste of the cassoulets over a long ambient shelf-life. The chosen tray – manufactured at the RPC Bebo Polska site in Poznan – uses a PP/EVOH/PP construction for long-term barrier protection. Freshness is further extended by the use of oxygen scavengers, which actively absorb oxygen within the pack before it can reach the stew.

As the tray is fully sterilisable, La Belle Chaurienne can process the meal during filling, before it is sealed with plastic barrier lidding film. An outer cardboard sleeve provides all essential branding and consumer information.

“We take pride in our traditional recipes, so it is vital that the packaging can protect our delicious meals right up until consumption,” explains Christian Cabirol of La Belle Chaurienne. “The ingenuity of RPC Barrier Containers’ oxygen scavenger trays means that consumers are assured of a great tasting cassoulet, as proved by our award-winning range.”