Meeting Consumer Demand for Sustainable Food Packaging
In today’s food packaging landscape, sustainability is no longer optional — it’s a priority. Consumers are actively seeking out products with eco-friendly packaging, and businesses that adapt are not only meeting this demand but also securing a competitive edge. A recent survey* revealed that across all age groups, 82% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging, a figure that has grown year-over-year since 2021. For Gen-Z shoppers, that number rises to a staggering 90%, underscoring the shift in purchasing priorities.
Moreover, 71% of consumers have chosen a product in the last six months based on its sustainability credentials. These statistics reflect a clear message: food packagers need to adapt to meet consumer demand for greener solutions or risk falling behind.
Why PVC Dominates Tray Overwrapping
For decades, PVC film was the go-to material for tray overwrappers. Its exceptional ability to grab, stretch, and form tightly around trays made it indispensable for packaging fresh food products like meat, poultry, and produce.
In addition to its functional benefits, PVC film delivered aesthetically pleasing results, enhancing product presentation on retail shelves. However, it comes with some environmental drawbacks — it’s not recyclable and releases harmful emissions during production and disposal.
As sustainability becomes a key focus for consumers, the search for eco-friendlier food packaging options has grown more urgent.
PE Film: A More Sustainable, But Initially Flawed, Alternative
Polyethylene (PE) film is more sustainable compared to PVC film. It is recyclable and releases fewer harmful chemicals during production and disposal. However, food packagers historically avoided it due to known performance issues. PE film struggles to grab, stretch, and conform to trays as effectively as PVC film. Indentations or pressure marks on PE film can remain, affecting product presentation and buyer interest.
These shortcomings made it difficult for food packagers to embrace PE film, despite its sustainability advantages. Enter: the Omori Heat Tunnel.
How Omori’s Heat Tunnel Unlocks PE Film’s Potential
Omori’s Heat Tunnel innovation solves the historical issues with PE film, making it a viable — and highly effective — alternative to PVC film for tray overwrapping.
Revolutionizing PE Film Performance
By optimizing airflow, heat distribution, and film control, our Heat Tunnel machine ensures PE film performs on par with PVC film in tray overwrapping applications:
- Tight Seals and Forming: PE film now stretches and conforms seamlessly, creating secure, visually appealing packaging.
- Eliminating Memory Issues: Indentations no longer persist, allowing packaged products to maintain a polished and professional appearance.
A Sustainable Choice Without Compromise
With Omori’s Heat Tunnel machine, food packagers can confidently switch to PE film, meeting consumer demand for sustainable packaging while preserving the efficiency and quality of their tray overwrapper operations.
Drive Your Food Packaging Toward a Greener Future
The shift toward sustainability is more than a trend — it’s a necessity for staying competitive in today’s market. By combining PE film with Omori’s Heat Tunnel machine, food packagers can reduce their environmental impact, meet evolving consumer expectations, and maintain high-performance packaging standards.
Ready to lead the way in sustainable food packaging? Contact Omori North America to learn how our Heat Tunnel and PE film solutions can keep you competitive and satisfy consumers.
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August 2026
Most food processors and manufacturers rely on a simple manual step for padding trays before packaging meats, proteins, fruits, vegetables, etc. While this process appears straightforward, it introduces hidden costs that often go unnoticed across the packaging operation
As production demands increase and consistency becomes more critical, many processors are discovering that manual tray preparation can quietly become a bottleneck, when a more efficient pre-padded tray solution is available.
Understanding the operational impact of this step helps processors identify opportunities to improve efficiency and packaging consistency.
Labor Demands in Manual Tray Padding
Manually inserting absorbent pads into trays requires dedicated labor. Employees must handle trays, align pads correctly, and maintain pace with upstream product flow. In high volume operations this task often requires multiple employees across different shifts making sure inventory levels are maintained.
This dependency on labor, especially for a task that does not directly add value to the product, is the biggest inefficiency and contributor to unnecessary cost.
Facilities that rely on manual tray padding may frequently experience:
- increased labor costs
- difficulty maintaining staffing levels
- slower line preparation
- inconsistent workflow
When staffing levels fluctuate, tray preparation can quickly fall behind production demands. This forces downstream packaging equipment to slow down or stop while operators catch up.
Inconsistent Pad Placement
Another challenge with manual tray padding is consistency. Pads may shift, fold, or sit slightly off-center depending on how quickly trays are assembled.
Even minor inconsistencies can impact the final package quality. Improper positioning may lead to wrinkled film, poor absorption performance, or compromised product presentation during handling and transport.
Common issues include
- uneven pad alignment
- wrinkled film during wrapping
- inconsistent product presentation
- increased package rejects
Consistency is critical in food packaging. Small inconsistencies upstream can lead to quality issues further down the line.
Production Slowdowns at the Packaging Line
Efficient Packaging lines depend on smooth upstream preparation. When trays are not ready as when product arrives, the entire operation is disrupted.
These delays often occur during peak production periods. when high-speed equipment is most sensitive to interruptions.
Operations relying on manual tray padding may encounter:
- packaging line interruptions
- reduced throughput
- increased operator intervention
- higher downtime
While individual delays may last only seconds, repeated interruptions throughout a shift can significantly impact total production output.
The Efficiency of Pre-Padded Trays
Complex packaging lines often rely heavily on operator expertise to manage different product formats. When settings change between shifts or operators interpret adjustments differently, packaging performance becomes inconsistent.
Flexible tray lidding technology reduces this dependency by standardizing the sealing process.
Automated controls and repeatable machine settings allow operators to select the appropriate configuration for each SKU while maintaining consistent performance. This approach helps eliminate the trial-and-error adjustments that often accompany frequent format changes.
Building Packaging Flexibility in the Line
Modern food processing requires packaging systems that can evolve with product portfolios. Equipment that supports only a narrow range of formats quickly becomes a limitation as product offerings expand.
Flexible tray lidding machines provide processors with the ability to introduce new SKUs without redesigning the entire packaging line. By supporting multiple tray types and sealing materials, the equipment allows production teams to adapt quickly to market demands.
Omori’s Lid Sealer by Frimaq is designed with this flexibility in mind. The system supports rapid format changes while maintaining stable sealing performance and consistent packaging quality.
Packaging Technology That Keeps Pace with your Product Line
SKU complexity is unlikely to decrease. As consumer preferences continue to evolve, processors must manage more packaging formats while maintaining operational efficiency.
Tray lidding technology that supports flexibility allows manufacturers to respond to these changes without sacrificing line performance.
Omori North America provides the Lid Sealer by Frimaq, a tray lidding solution engineered to handle diverse packaging formats while maintaining seal integrity and production speed. By combining flexibility and machine design, we help processors manage growing product portfolios with confidence.
Interested in exploring how Omori can help your operation manage SKU complexity while maintaining reliable packaging performance? Fill out the form below and our team will connect with you.