The ricotta gnocchi with spinach and tomato sauce will be packaged in Caspak’s fibre
modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) tray and the L2025 lidding film. I chose this
packaging as it is a sustainable alternative to the traditional plastic packaging while still
providing the same level of convenience, preservation, safety and containment. The fibre
MAP tray is made from FSC certified bamboo and then layered with a thin film of plastic.
This plastic is designed to be easy to peel away from the tray so that the film can be recycled
through RedCycle soft plastics and the tray can be either recycled in kerbside paper recycling
or home composted (Bate, 2022). Omar et al. (2022) argues that replacing plastic with
bamboo is one of the most effective and safe ways to solve the problem of food packaging
pollution. Bamboo is a fast growing crop that regenerates from its root system so does not
require additional land clearing for cultivation, it produces 35% more oxygen than most tress
species and does not require pesticides or fertiliser (Chen et al., 2023). To slow food
decomposition and increase the shelf life of my gnocchi I’ve used a modified atmospheric
packaging system whereby the oxygen is removed and replaced it with an inert gas (Belay et
al., 2019). I also selected this packaging as both the tray and lidding film are microwavable,
which is essential for the gnocchi to be sold as a convenient heat and serve meal (Caspack
packaging, n.d.). Additionally puncture resistance of the lidding film and the strength of
bamboo tray also protects the product in transport so that meals can be shipped without
any damage. Finally the lidding film is anti-fog which will enable the consumer to view the
product before purchase.
Bate, C. (2022, April 27). Aussie-first bamboo-based map meat tray. PKN Packaging News.
https://www.packagingnews.com.au/food/aussie-first-bamboo-based-map-meat-tray
Belay, Z. A., Caleb, O. J., & Opara, U. L. (2019). Modified atmosphere packaging for food
preservation. In C. Galanakis (Ed.), Food Quality and shelf life (pp. 235–259).
Academic Press.
Caspak Packaging. (n.d.). Fibre Map Tray. https://caspak.com.au/trays/fibre/
Chen, X., Chen, F., Yang, Q., Gong, W., Wang, J., Li, Y., & Wang, G. (2023). An environmental
food packaging material part I: A case study of life-cycle assessment (LCA) for bamboo fiber
environmental tableware. Industrial Crops and Products, 194, 116279–.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2023.116279
Omar, F. N., Hafid, H. S., Zhu, J., Bahrin, E. K., Nadzri, F. Z. M., & Wakisaka, M. (2022). Starchbased composite film reinforcement with modified cellulose from bamboo for sustainable
packaging application. Materials Today Communications, 33, 104392–.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2022.104392