Utien Pack: expanding the possibilities of skin packaging

Unifresh® skin packaging for greater product and film flexibility

Vacuum skin packaging (VSP) has become an established format for premium meat, seafood and other fresh food products. Yet as processors diversify their product ranges, the challenge is no longer simply achieving an attractive appearance. Different product heights, film structures, sealing requirements and production formats are placing greater demands on the packaging process.

Utien Pack has approached this challenge through its Unifresh® VSP technology, with the objective of widening the application of VSP solutions rather than limiting processors to one specific product or material combination.

Getting more from the skin film

One of the challenges in skin packaging is controlling how the upper film behaves. The skin film must soften sufficiently to be able to stretch around the product while maintaining the characteristics required for the target shelf life.

Unifresh® technology uses a specially developed sealing chamber with a two-step heating process to achieve 50mm protrusion results. The skin film is preheated before entering the sealing chamber.

This approach is designed to bring the film progressively into a suitable forming condition, allowing its stretching properties to be used more effectively around products with different shapes and profiles. This becomes particularly important when moving beyond flat products and towards thicker or irregular cuts, also referred to as skin packaging with protrusion.

Different films for different products

Film selection is another area where processors increasingly require flexibility. Barrier requirements can vary considerably depending on the product, shelf-life target, distribution environment, and regional regulations.

For example, a European processor can use high barrier skin film for products sold within the European Union. However, when exporting the same products to the United States, the food regulator will demand for 10K breathable film. This is why film flexibility becomes increasingly important for processors serving multiple international markets.

Rather than designing the process around a single type of skin film, Unifresh® VSP can accommodate materials ranging from high barrier skin films to 10K breathable films by tuning the parameters on the PLC panel. The system can also work with both easy peel and non-easy peel sealing solutions.

This flexibility reflects the way Utien Pack has developed its business around global markets. Different regions bring different product preferences, packaging requirements and regulatory considerations. More than 30 years of industry experience has therefore pushed Utien to build a deeper understanding of both packaging machinery and film performance, allowing the company to adapt its technology to a wide range of applications worldwide.

One skin packaging concept across different platforms

Production requirements also vary between processors. A manufacturer using roll stock film thermoforming packaging equipment has different requirements from a producer working with preformed trays.

For this reason, Unifresh® is not limited to one machine architecture. The technology can be applied across Utien Pack’s thermoforming and tray sealing platforms.

The same principle extends to production changeovers. Utien Mold Easy Change design can also be integrated with Unifresh® applications, helping processors move between different product formats while reducing the operation complexity.

Making VSP less restrictive

The development of skin packaging is switching from seafood and meat products to accommodating ready meals and cheese products. Flexibility becomes a crucial factor for processors when investing in packaging equipment.

For Utien Pack, the objective behind Unifresh® VSP is not simply to produce a different looking skin pack. It is to give food processors a wider range of choices when deciding how a product should be packaged.

This content was sponsored by Utien Pack.