minced meat in packing on a wooden background

Meat and Cheese Packaging

The materials science behind meat and cheese packaging

Revolutionize your fresh foods with our premium packaging. Global demand for meats and cheeses continues to grow, and so do consumer expectations for safety, convenience, and improved sustainability. From large-format vacuum skin packaging to case-ready, retail packaging, Dow’s broad portfolio of materials for meat and cheese packaging clearly shine.

Our team provides decades of experience across a wide variety of materials and packaging applications, along with the power of Pack Studios to design, prototype and test meat and cheese packaging. This combination helps to enable you to be confident that your packaging will meet food safety, shelf-life, processability and efficiency expectations, in whatever shape, size, or format required.

BARRIER SHRINK BAG
VACUUM SKIN
MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE (MAP)
THERMOFORMING

Close up of pair of hands holding two different shrink wrapped vacuum sealed packages of hot dogs with grocery store meat wall in background

Innovative materials and multi-layer structures

With us, you can choose from innovative materials and multi-layer structures that yield stronger, thinner packaging that helps keep meat fresh longer. For example, BYNEL™ Adhesive Resins allows multi-layer adhesions while AFFINITY™ Polyolefin Plastomers offers excellent sealability, abuse resistance and optics.

High puncture and tear resistance

Excellent meat adhesion and seal integrity

Toughness and seal through contamination

High shrink values and homogeneous shrinkage

Excellent clarity, gloss and low gelling

Reduced purge and excellent skin effect

Good orientability

Enhanced flexibility, low stiffness

Raw beef steak in vacuum skin packaging and spices on wooden chopping board

Dow’s technologies for vacuum skin

If you are looking for a fresher approach to keeping oxygen out, explore our technologies for vacuum skin packaging. Vacuum skin packaging is a quickly growing market segment for case-ready meat and cheese packaging because of the many benefits to retailers and consumers alike. If you are targeting meat and cheese packaging that requires fewer preservatives, reduces product loss and deters post-purchase pitfalls like freezer burn, let’s talk about your unique application needs.

SURLYN™ lonomers has everything this popular application needs, high shrink rate and low shrink force means a tight draw around the package while maintaining the original shape.

We want to work with you to make those benefits a reality, while improving efficiency, processability, brand appeal and product shelf life. Our materials for vacuum skin packaging allow you to enhance the performance through features, such as:

Good drawability which allows for a tighter appearance and improved skin effect

Seals through contamination and exceptional seal integrity

Better tenderness of the meat thanks to improved liquid retention

Reduced drip loss and an excellent skin effect

Better shelf appeal

Longer shelf life

Tamper evident and easy open

Excellent hot tack, toughness and clarity

Efficiently bond different film layers

Looking for lidding solutions that are easy-peel yet dependably sealed?

Looking for lidding solutions that are easy-peel yet dependably sealed? Or tailored barrier or breathability properties? Dow’s diverse portfolio of functional materials include technologies such as APPEEL™ Peelable Resins, which are used as sealants in lidding films for containers, trays, pouches, bag-in-box liners and other sealing applications. They are designed to dependably preserve packaged products’ quality, quantity and sanitary conditions throughout packaging, transport and on the shelf. With options that are sterilizable and processable by blown and cast film or extrusion coating, solvent-free* APPEEL™ Peelable Resins can help customers address their recyclability objectives. 

_{* APPEEL™ Peelable Resins is solvent free, being manufactured without added solvent.}

Thermoforming technologies

Packaging says a lot about your product and your brand. Creating this first impression can become a consumer’s last impression. So, care in choosing and consistently producing a product display that embodies your brand is just as important as selecting a packaging format that preserves flavor and freshness of your product. On the other hand, excess packaging can become a negative for eco-conscious consumers who want resource efficiency.

We put our strong portfolio of high-performance polyethylene and functional materials to work for customers who want to create appealing retail-ready package designs. Take for example PHORMANTO™ Packaging Technology that offers longer shelf-life, sustainable and leak-proof packaging suitable for cheeses, chicken, fish, and fresh and processed meats.

We know the smallest details matter when it comes to packaging

While the shelf-life, freshness and aesthetics of a packaging format can define the consumer experience, we are just as concerned about how our materials perform on the packaging line. We recognize that what happens before products hit the shelves is a vital component of converters’ and brand owners’ bottom line. Dow’s material science experience and Pack Studios capabilities accelerate the process of innovation to improve packaging line efficiency, helping to reduce product and production waste.

Smiling person selecting meat and cheese products from a cooler in the supermarket

Shelf-life optimization

Barrier, sealant and adhesion technologies that keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out.

Person holding large portion of meat in packaging at grocery store

Protection

Puncture and tear resistance that can accommodate extreme temperatures, from freezer to microwave.

Person comparing packages of sausages in the store

Lightweighting

Advanced materials that enable thinner structures, using less material without sacrificing package performance.

Raw steak in packaging on dark wood background

Consumer appeal

High clarity and optimal printability attract consumers, while easy-opening peel and convenient reseal make their experience more enjoyable.

Seafood going through a packaging line in a factory

Line performance

Efficiency from conversion to filling, with increased line speeds, higher throughput, and energy efficiencies.