In response to rising meat prices, consumers are choosing to buy meat in smaller pack size to spread their expenditure. The use of small pack sizes in the sale of chilled processed foods is expected to grow in value sales, along with unit sales in packaging.
Demand for chilled packaged fish
Euromonitor International has released its findings in a report called Chilled Processed Food Packaging in Turkey about trends and developments driving packaging across the category.
Rosemarie Downey, global head of packaging research, Euromonitor, told FoodProductionDaily, the majority of chilled food sales in Turkey is salami, pastrami, sausages and sucuk. There is also a rising demand for chilled packaged fish.
“Our packaging research on the Turkish market shows that while these processed meats are sold over the counter in delicatessens, many consumers purchase pre-packaged products from grocery stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, which sell established brands, such as Pinar, Maret, Namli, Polonez, and Sahin,” she said.
“These products are usually sold in vacuum-packed flexible plastic packs which provide shelf-life and allow consumers to see the contents.
“The use of re-sealable flexible plastic lidding on thin wall plastic containers is also becoming more apparent as the trend for conveniently pre-sliced processed meat products continues.
“We see a number of examples where ease of opening and re-sealability is being met through the packaging in product lines from Pinar and Namet for example.”
Health concerns over meat
As a result of the increase in the retail sale of meats in smaller pack sizes (sub-100g), packaging unit volume sales are expected to do better than volume consumption, though both are fairly static and affected by health concerns over meat consumption which benefits demand for chilled fish and frozen poultry products, largely sold in flexible packaging.
Multipacks of smaller pack sizes bundled together as a value for money option are further used by chilled meat producers to encourage consumers to buy as small individual packaged products are usually priced high in terms of the equivalent price per kg.
Euromonitor’s research shows flexible plastic is the most prominent packaging type in chilled processed food followed by thin wall plastic containers.
Sahin has introduced its 40g roasted meat while Polonez introduced a 50g salami pack. These products are purchased by single households, and can be consumed for a single meal.
“There is a definite trend towards thin wall plastic containers due to the easy-to-open closures on such packs, such as on Pinar’s range of processed meats,” added Downey.
“Openability/peelability for sliced and prepared fish and meats provide greater convenience to the consumer, and look set to be a theme that will only strengthen over the coming years, winning by having an attractive lower retail unit pack price for consumers which is important given the rising cost of red meat.”