News

French packaging machinery firm Rosas is looking for partners to help it finalise a project that could extend the shelf-life of fresh produce from 21 days to 21 weeks.

Rosas, based near Paris, developed a prototype thermoformer last year with finance provided by OSEO, the French organisation for development.

The machine removes oxygen from fresh foods packs using two different chambers under controlled atmosphere: one to remove the oxygen from the food, and the other to ensure an airtight thermoformed pack.

“Although the process itself works fine, we are facing a problem with the quality of the plastic film,” said Rosas spokesman Didier Drouaire. “Once heated and thermoformed it doesn’t maintain a completely airtight seal. It is good enough to keep the food fresh for 21 days and more, but not for 21 weeks.”

The firm now needs to carry out tests to see how long the plastic film, once thermoformed, can last.

Rosas said it had also developed a way to save up to 20% of packaging film on the upper and lower rolls of its thermoforming unit using a gas-injection system that operates inside the tray sealing enclosure, rendering the sides of the film unnecessary and cutting film usage.