How to choose the right tray sealing solution?

Three choices

Each of these steps relate to the three choices you’ll need to make when choosing your ideal solution.

1. Which trays do I choose?
2. Which lid sealing film do I choose?
3. Which tray sealing machine do I choose?

1. Choosing your Food Trays
Choosing the types of tray to suit your product is the best place to start. Start by understanding which materials suit your type of product.

If your product is packaged fresh, snap-frozen or goes through major temperature changes in its final packaging, like being microwaved or oven-cooked from frozen, then a CPET food tray will suit you best. CPET stands for crystallizable polyethylene terephthalate – put simply, it’s a food grade plastic than can withstand extreme temperature changes, is made from up to 80% recycled material and can be recycled after use.

2. Choosing your Lidding Film
The next step is to visualize how you want your end product to look when it’s on the shelf. Do you need to weigh products and label them? Do you want your customer to see the food itself? Is brand consistency and recognition your driver? Answering these questions will help you choose the right lidding film

MSS small volumes
If you are just starting out, or only produce small quantities of food products, a well-built manual tray sealer like the Audion MSS would be the best choice. In general manual tray sealers rely on the operator to load the trays into the sealer, seal them and after that the excess lidding film must manually be removed. A big advantage of the MSS is it’s contour seal which results in an better presentation of your product.

AMAPS high volumes with MAP
If you are scaling up from small volumes, a semi-automatic tray sealer like the Audion AMAPS would be a good fit. Semi-automatic tray sealers take some of the legwork out of tray sealing. For example your staff might load food trays into the sealer and remove them manually, but the sealer will automatically apply the seal and spool any off-cuts of film.

Unique about the AMAPS is the patented gas flush system. This gives the AMAPS one of the highest output on the market. With this gas flush system also called MAP system you extend the shelf life of food products. The technology substitutes the atmospheric air inside a package with a protective gas mix. The gas in the package helps ensure that the product will stay fresh for as long as possible. The gas mix is depending on the type of product you would like to pack.