May 23, 2009

UK's Asda to use skin packaging for meat joints

UK supermarket giant Asda plans to use skin packaging for all of its meat joints to improve environmental performance.

By switching to skin packs, packaging waste and transport costs can be lowered and environmental performance will be enhanced, Asda said. 

Transporting meat, particularly joints, in traditional packs carry a lot of air around, and changing to skin packs will allow saving space and improving logistics as well as making savings on carbon and packaging, said Asda agricultural director Chris Brown.

Skin package lets the packaging film conform to the exact profile of the product, improving the presentation and shelf-life of the meat. Asda hopes to make the switch for joints in autumn.

Asda wants to apply the packaging on other meat cuts in the future.