The addition of oxygen absorbers to French cheesemaker LE PÈRE BAFIEN’S products extends shelf life, resulting in new market opportunities, an expanded distribution network and the ability to stock increased inventory.

Poitiers, France is well known for its local gastronomy, including delicacies such as lamb, wine and goat cheese. And in France, where many local producers and artisanal cheesemakers depend on all-natural methods for maintaining cheese shelf life, producers have been increasingly turning to the use of oxygen absorbers to extend the shelf life and freshness of their products.

Le Père Bafien is one such producer. Originally a family business, Le Père Bafien currently exports its products to countries as far away as Vietnam, in addition to the U.S. and to neighboring European countries. As the cheesemaker has found, in a global economy, the ability to extend shelf life is important because it increases the time available for shipping and extends the chain of distribution into new and far-reaching markets.

In order to maintain the freshness of its goat cheese for extended periods, Le Père Bafien uses oxygen absorbers from Multisorb Technologies LLC (www.multisorb.com). The removal of oxygen from cheese packaging protects the product from bacteria and other contaminants. The French producer packages its cheeses in a variety of packaging materials and then ships them to both wholesalers and retailers.

Le Père Bafien therefore needed a versatile, multipurpose and cost-effective solution that would suit the packaging needs of its numerous cheese varieties. Multisorb provided the answer with its FreshPax® oxygen absorbers and assisted the cheesemaker with technical assistance, logistical support and packaging machinery to help defray excess costs.

Says Fabien Plisson, director and founder of Le Père Bafien, "We turned to Multisorb and its sorbents because we were able to experiment with numerous packaging-line alternatives, ensuring a greater degree of flexibility for our products. We have been using oxygen absorbers to naturally extend the freshness of our products for several years now. Multisorb sorbents provide us with multiple options when packaging our cheeses."

Currently, Le Père Bafien distributes its goat-cheese units individually, in quantities of six or more units, and also creates custom-made packaging solutions for their end users upon request. This is easily accomplished with the use of FreshPax B oxygen absorbers, a 4x3-cm scavenger packet that is attached via an adhesive to the clear, peelable lidding material that encompasses the entire cheese product and can be adjusted accordingly—both in terms of thickness and form—to suit desired packaging materials and sizes.