Live From IBSS: Cryovac Oven Ease Packaging Moves to Seafood

Now on display at the International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS), Sealed Air’s Cryovac Oven Ease packaging for frozen seafood enables consumers to buy raw seafood items at retail, store them in their home freezers and cook them in the oven inside the same material in which it was packaged.

According to the 2013 Power of Meat Report, published by the American Meat Institute and the Food Marketing Institute and sponsored by the Cryovac brand, fewer than one-third of consumers express a high comfort level in knowing how to prepare fish and seafood, so the convenience of Oven Ease packaging allows food manufacturers to capture the considerable population segment concerned with ease of cooking and cleanup.

“Cryovac Oven Ease for seafood enables seafood processors to remove the guesswork from home cooking by providing them the opportunity to develop products that can be seasoned or marinated prior to packaging, with simple preparation instructions included on the products’ exterior package,” said Don Smith, director of marketing for poultry and seafood for Cryovac at Duncan, S.C.-based Sealed Air.

At IBSS, Smith told Progressive Grocer that the identical technology from Cryovac had already proved a successful solution for other proteins, and that Orca Bay Seafoods (also exhibiting at the show) was the first seafood manufacturer to adopt the packaging for its products.

Adding to Oven Ease’s convenience is innovative brand technology ensuring seal reliability, which is key to eliminating messy oven splatter.

“Our technology makes sure the Cryovac Oven Ease material bonds tight, with seals that retain their integrity throughout cooking,” noted Smith. “This is a big concern for consumers, since a key motivation for purchasing frozen seafood items in ovenable packaging is more convenient meal preparation. By eliminating oven splatter, the Oven Ease product prevents the time-consuming cleanup work involved in removing stuck-on seafood residue from consumers’ ovens.”

Exceptionally clear Oven Ease packaging for seafood results in a freezer-ready product and accommodates cook-from-raw or reheat applications. After cooking, the solution offers impressive holding time, keeping items hot in the package long after it has been removed from the oven.

Oven Ease material runs on most traditional thermoform rollstock equipment, allowing seafood processors that employ rollstock to enter the ovenable category without having to purchase new equipment.

Co-located with Seafood Processing America and running through March 12, the International Boston Seafood Show is North America’s largest seafood trade event, attracting 19,000 buyers and sellers from more than 100 countries, and more than 1,000 exhibiting companies. The events are produced by Portland, Maine-based Diversified Business Communications.