Multivac presents FreshSAFE concept for Fruits and Vegetables:
Optimised Packages for Extended Shelf-Life

FreshSAFE by Multivac is an innovative packaging concept for fruits and vegetables. It offers a solution for one of the most important requirements made by manu¬facturers and importers of produce: guaranteeing that the products reach consumers fresh, even with long supply chains, and that waste is reduced enormously.

Customised packaging solutions

FreshSAFE is a comprehensive concept for produce packaging that extends the shelf life of products considerably and keeps them fresh much longer. Up to double the shelf life is possible with some products like asparagus or strawberries. The concept is based on the fact that there is an optimum combination of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen for every harvested product, with which shelf life and freshness can be extended appreciably. For that, extensive information from the Univer¬sity of Gent and the University of California has been evaluated. In the case of packaged products, this optimum solution can be guaranteed by controlling the atmosphere in the pack.

FreshSAFE implements this know-how in individual packaging solutions: customers are provided with a comprehensive system consisting of the film, gas mixture and storage temperature that have the best effect on the product concerned in view of the shelf life required. The result is therefore a "customised" pack, that can be adapted just as precisely to the different respiration properties of whole and cut products as it can to supply chains of varying lengths and therefore enables large savings to be made. Waste is reduced tremendously as a result and optimum product freshness and quality are maintained until the consumer is reached.

FreshSAFE is generally realised with thermoformed packs or sealed trays. Such packs are stackable and provide the products with protec¬tion against damage – something that pays off at the point of sale. On traysealers and thermo¬forming machines, the pack is evacuated and then filled with the necessary gas mixture in a controlled process. This leads to a substantial reduction in gas flushing time and the amount of gas needed.

New process: online microperforation

In this context, Multivac is presenting a technical innovation at Fruit Logistica: a unit to carry out microperforation of one film web shortly before the pack is sealed. This means that the customer can use a standard plastic film as the lid- or rather upper web and turn it into a microperforated film online during the packaging operation, which makes it possible to save considerable amounts of material. With this unit, it is simple to adapt the number and arrangement of the holes exactly to satisfy the requirements of the product being packaged.

For further information, please contact Matthias Maisel (e-mail to matthias.maisel@multivac.de).

About Multivac

Multivac is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of machines for packaging food, sterile medical products and various industrial articles. The corporate motto “Better packaging“ reflects the company’s mission to supply every customer the best possible packaging solution: Multivac tailors the machines systematically to meet the individual production and product requirements of each customer. The extensive product range consists of thermoforming machines, traysealers and vacuum chamber machines. Over 30 subsidiaries and more than 40 agents on all continents provide a comprehensive service and sales network for customers.

Multivac’s corporate history started literally in a garage. Today the Multivac Group has more than 2 000 employees around the world, about 1 000 of them at the main location in Wolfertschwenden (Allgaeu / Germany), where the design and production of all machines are concentrated. More than 100 000 Multivac machines have been sold worldwide since the company was established in 1961. The present turnover of the Multivac group is over 400 million Euro a year.