Flying the flag for the UK at Fresh Summit
A four-man delegation will head for PMA’s Fresh Summit in Anaheim in October as the company bids to introduce its products to the fresh produce market.
Sirane can be found at stand 570 - but visitors shouldn’t struggle to find the stand – as an image of two giant flags created entirely using fruit and vegetables forms the focal point.
The Union Flag and the Stars & Stripes took 18 hours to make and used more than 1,000 blueberries – each of which had to be washed and polished by hand.
Sandra Evans, sales manager for the US, said: “The Union Flag has been everywhere this summer, especially during London 2012, so we thought why not create a fruit version?
“But that would have left our American friends out, so we got the Stars & Stripes as well. The stars apparently proved a bit of a challenge, but eventually a species of cauliflower was found where the florets will naturally form a star-like shape.
“However, the results exceeded all our expectations – they are spectacular. They should provoke a bit of a stir at the show and create a great talking point.”
Sirane is a leading packaging development-to-manufacture company in Europe, with a high level of expertise in areas including shelf-life and absorbency.
Sandra Evans, sales manager for the US, said: “Our products have been selling well across the globe, but we are still relatively unknown in the United States.
“However, no-one in North America is doing the kind of innovative packaging that we are making, so we think there is a big gap in the market. We expect significant interest.
“We’re hoping after Fresh Summit everyone in the fresh produce trade will know us and understand just what we can offer to the market across the Atlantic.”
Products including fruit pads offering ethylene absorbency and anti-fungal properties will be shown at the expo – the Dri-Fresh range is aimed at allowing the fruit or vegetables to stay in the best possible condition for the longest possible time.
Also on show will be Sira-FlexTM Resolve - a film with incredible shelf-life extending properties which has caused a bit of a global stir. The film, also available in a bag format, has been shown to add five days or more additional shelf-life to some fresh produce.
Sira-FlexTM Resolve is made from a natural bio-polymer – so is fully bio-degradable. The film’s astonishing qualities mean it self-regulates the conditions inside the pack. The perfect atmosphere is maintained inside the pack even if the storage temperature is variable.
The film could lead to far less food being thrown away by customers and retailers. MD Simon Balderson said: “Shelf-life extension is the holy grail for the fruit and vegetable industry. A huge amount of food is wasted because it goes off before it is eaten.
“Using this film could reduce the amount of food waste and significantly reduce costs. We can also make it more likely that the consumer will get a quality product in good condition.”
Mr Balderson said the new technology has broken new ground – food will not dry out, there will be no ‘fogging’ within the pack, and no mould or bacteria growth.
Sirane also produces a range of cooking bags, which are perfect for cooking vegetables or fruit-based desserts in a conventional oven or a microwave.
These bags include Sira-CookTM Self-SealTM, Smart-Release and the Si-bagTM.
Jeremy Haydn-Davies, director of sales for food packaging, said: “We’re finding interest growing in cooking bags. The bags are great products, which have so many uses - straight-to oven or microwave food doesn’t have to sacrifice on flavours.