Packaging solutions for meal kit and food delivery
Due to the fact that meal-kit subscription delivery companies deliver the box of ingredients that they assemble in the kitchen, their business models seem more sensible compared to the food delivery business which depends largely on the affiliated partners. Some restaurants, which only offer dine-in options before, have started to take similar measures to deliver half-processed meals to the end consumers. From kitchen to the consumers’ table at home, there are a lot of considerations and challenges regarding the packaging of the food.
The driving forces of meal kit subscription services and restaurants joining food delivery
Since cooking at home can generate the sense of being in control during this out-of-control time, meal kit subscription businesses have taken initiatives to capture this quarantine-driven momentum. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has also shown us that restaurants which do little takeaway or delivery business have adjusted to expand these capacities to maintain same level business due to the stay-at-home order.
Consumer behaviour is currently changing short term. However, when the consumers become more comfortable with order-in and meal kit preparation, chances are that their behaviours could be impacted long-term.
Packaging challenges and solutions for food delivery service
Either to deliver fresh food meal kit or to send fresh-cooked food, the process involves complex logistic and packaging challenges to bring the products across the city to the end consumer. The manufactures need to consider how to keep the ingredients fresh, how to prevent the liquid such as soup or sauce from leaking, and how to save employees’ time if the food is packed manually.
While packing all the ingredients in the meal could not be perfectly automated in the standardized serving size, here are some most-requested food delivery packaging automation solutions:
– Meat, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables: Putting the ingredients in the sealed bag protects the food go wrong quickly. Vertical form fill seal (VFFS) machines ensure high packaging speed and accuracy.
– Spices and sauces: Sachet and stickpack machines automatically form, fill, and seal small packets of ingredients like spices and sauces.
– Cold packs: Another emerging application is the packaging of cold packs for shipment of the ingredients to consumers’ homes.
