The UK’s premier packaging solutions company, Sirane Ltd, has appointed Peter Craig as its Business Development Manager for Packaging Systems.

Craig has made an immediate impact in re-developing and innovating two new Sirane products for the meat packaging markets.

Sirane’s Tuff-Hold will now give the industry a new level of puncture protection and optimum protection for vacuum packaging meat or poultry while Sirane’s Dri-Vac pads and pouches will provide maximum absorption of drip and liquids for vacuum pouches – giving benefits to retailers and consumers alike.

Craig says that ‘Sirane’s acquisition of Thomas and Green this summer gave us the opportunity to rethink and re-engineer this aspect of meat packaging across the board. The redesigned and rebranded Tuff-hold protection system will dramatically reduce pack wastage by ensuring that pack punctures and leakages are kept to a minimum. Our Tuff-hold system standardises and improves upon previous market offerings; shielding the pack from sharp bones and skin, or transport damage and will ultimately reduce the incidence of costly product returns. The Christmas season is an ideal time and proving ground in which to launch Tuff-hold. We are making it available in opaque, metallised or clear packs, in rolls or pre-cut sheets or pouches.’

Craig says that ‘in many retailing areas we are now witnessing a trend towards the packaging and selling of larger pieces of meat and poultry. Sirane’s Dri-Vac packaging has been created to cater to that market. Not only does our Dri-Fresh absorbency element improve the typical aesthetics and presentation of these packs, it also delivers benefits in size reduction, storage and capacity, shelf space and can extend the pack shelf life by as much as three times over standard tray packed methods.’

The technically innovative part is that Dri-Fresh’s special absorbent medium retains its properties – even when under high vacuum pressure; thus ensuring that visible blood and drip is kept to a minimum. The Sirane pack offers an integral carry handle within the pack design, ensuring plenty of space and scope for increased visibility and legibility of graphics both front and back. And since the absorbency effect can be wholly relied upon to counter and contain all internal liquids, the retailer can now confidently print graphics without fear of discolouration. ‘Furthermore,’ notes Craig, ‘the Dri-Vac packaging gives the product better eating quality – since the maturation effect is at work within the bag and throughout its storage and shelf life.’

Craig observes that this larger style of meat packaging – once confined to industrial and wholesale markets – is now making considerable inroads in retail outlets. Sirane’s Dri-Vac systems have been primarily designed for the 2-4 kilo meat and poultry markets and the absorbency effects are at an optimum over a 2-4 week period.

Craig has spent his entire working life in the flexible food packaging sector; designing packs, packaging applications and packaging machinery systems in the UK, Europe and in his native New Zealand. Simon Balderson, Sirane Director says that ‘we are delighted that Peter has joined us at this time in Sirane’s expansion. The Thomas and Green acquisition has given Sirane a very wide packaging field for Peter’s talents to flourish and these innovations in meat packaging are just the beginning of our development of new absorbent packaging for world markets.’

Balderson says that ‘we anticipate that the feedback from all our European meat packaging markets will be very receptive to these new innovations. In this area – as all others – we remain customer-driven. Over 35% of our current sales are based on products that were not manufactured at Sirane one year ago – a statistic that is not likely to change for the foreseeable future.’