Monday, May 24, 2010 @ 7:33 AM

Advantages

Firstly, its light weight and its flexible shape, which, according to Judy Rice at ‘Food Processing’, enables significant money-saving when it comes to freight, storage and shelf display.

Secondly, the fact that the pouch’s “front cover” is vertically displayed offers opportunities for food producers to attract consumers with eye- catching displays and graphic presentations, which are often less obvious with other types of packages or labels.

Additionally, for the shopper, they are easier to use in cooking. Some food scientists even go on to say that pouches have a big advantage over cans as their contents remain better-tasting.

Finally, the retort pouch sometimes has a re-closable zipper, which is a value-added convenience option, allowing better product conservation. The multi-portion packs used in the foodservice and restaurant sectors are especially popular.

“Pouches are easily opened and quickly, easily evacuated of product, reducing costly product waste. And once the packages, are emptied, they can be flattened for disposal--offering considerable disposal space savings over metal cans, glass jars and rigid plastic containers”, says Rice.

In some applications, the retort pouch can even be less expensive than rigid plastic containers.

Disadvantages

Nonetheless, one must also consider that the technology for the conservation of food within the retort pouch continues to evolve.

In the past, there have been quality and control concerns such as pinholes, flex cracks and leaks in the flexible packaging material and seals.

Moreover, the financial factor also has its importance.

Stanley Sacharow argues that, for the retort pouch to capture additional market share, an entirely new supermarket infrastructure is needed as production lines, generally, are not well adapted for the pouches.

Huston Keith also points out that the cost of producing a retort pouch is higher than the cost of producing a tin can.

Bryan Miller, in a 1981 article that appeared in the New York Times’ claims the opposite: “It takes 60 percent more energy to produce, process and package frozen foods than foods in the pouch, which do not require freezing, and about 15 percent more for cans.

Despite these differences in opinion, the market for retort pouches is currently a niche market as it holds immense potential and opportunities for growth.

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