The simple stretch wrap could make a comeback on the UK supermarket shelf if the emphasis on natural products continues, according to packaging specialist Automac UK.
Michel Willems, on the Automac UK stand at PPMA, said: “Stretch wrapping keeps the product in its natural state, and the trend for eating naturally is taking off in the UK.
“The market has moved away from stretch wrapping in recent years, preferring modified atmosphere packaging because it means that consumers can do one big weekly shop.
“But the way that products are packed in the countries where people traditionally eat well, particularly in Europe, differs from the UK and the US - and stretch wrapping is still the top packaging product in Europe. You cannot sell an industrial-looking pack to a housewife in Italy or France because she will not accept it.
“But UK retailers are all about money, money, money, and more importance has been put on shelf-life than quality.”
The company does 40 per cent of its business within the fresh produce sector.
Willems added that supermarket chains govern packaging trends. He said: “When the big multiple retailers decide they want to go back to selling products in more natural packaging, we could see the return of the stretch wrapper.”
Automac UK is trialling a new partially breathable film for stretch wrapping which will be ready by the end of 2007.
But the stretch-wrapping specialist has ventured into modified atmosphere packaging with the UK launch of the AtmoPack machine at the PPMA Show.
Silvano Zaccariotto, an Automac UK technician, said: “This is our way of keeping in line with the market.”
The Automac UK stand at PPMA also showcased its TopLid machine prototype which will be available commercially early next year.
