The relationship between the food industry and the environment goes hand in hand, due to it is based on purchase supplies and raw materials for the production of safe and quality food products to the final consumer. In this scenario, Fundación Chile held the international seminar «Sustainability and shelf life in food packaging”, where it was emphasized the development of a package designed to preserve meat products which are made with 100% recycled and recyclable materials, along with technologies to extend the product shelf life by 8 days compared to traditional packaging, and reduce by 69% the cost of new product packaging.

The seminar was held yesterday in our Foundation in partnership with Coexpan-Coembal Chile and the co-financing of Innova CORFO, within the project «Development of a new line of sustainable packaging for marketing fresh-chilled products.»

The seminar had the presence of the researcher of AIMPLAS Institute (Spain), Eva Verdejo. The executive has over 20 years of experience in the field of plastic materials, innovation, environmental analysis and valuation. «To introduce sustainability criteria in the packaging is essential for the food industry. In addition, the recyclability of the package offers advantages to extend the shelf life of food, minimizes the use of additives and preservatives, delays the development of bacteria and fungi, and generates a direct cost saving, “she said.

On the other hand, the Director of Healthy Food and Shelf Life Program of Fundación Chile, Gabriel Leyton, said “These types of projects help private businesses to outsource part of their efforts of RDI, allowing them not to neglect their main business, reducing the implementation costs, and getting results and benefits in line with their needs and which are validated by a neutral entity as Fundación Chile «.

Similarly, in addition to the productive and logistic advantages of the project as the extension of the shelf life, the initiative was able to identify other positive aspects. For example, the possibility to reduce losses by centralizing the production, to improve the efficiency of the staff dedicated to the production and distribution of products, and the standardization of process and product. The project also detected the safety and quality improvement, in addition to increase efficiency of human resources, which results in economic benefits for businesses.

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