It consists in the development of a prototype tray capable of generating CO2 that increases the useful life of fresh chicken meat by 20%.
UVESA Group and the company Thermoforms of Levante work – thanks to the financing of the AVI (Valencian Agency of Innovation) and with the collaboration of the Technological Institute of Packaging, Transportation and Logistics (ITENE) and the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA ) – in the development of a carbon dioxide (CO2) generating tray, an active container that will also reduce packaging costs and maintain the good appearance of the product avoiding exudate.
This prototype tray -of the so-called AVICO2 project- incorporates CO2 emitting systems that allow generating the desired atmosphere inside the container without the need to incorporate the usual gas mixture at the time of packaging. Likewise, it will offer a reduction in costs with respect to current technology due to the savings in investment of machinery and complex installations, and an increase in packaging speed and, therefore, greater productivity will be achieved.
The appearance of packaged food will also be improved by eliminating exudate, since the new tray collects it in a compartment located under chicken meat.
With this initiative, Grupo UVESA takes another step towards the future of packaging in line with the new European requirements on circular economy by allowing the elimination of complex materials and helping to reduce the use of plastic. This also helps to reduce food waste and the negative impacts that it entails in terms of social, economic and environmental sustainability.